St Gotthard rail tunnel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The miners digging the new St Gotthard train tunnel, which at 57 km will be the longest in the world, Tuesday 16 June celebrated the final boring of the 7.5 km Erstfeld-Amsteg leg, completing the eastern side of the tunneling project.
Archives for June 2009
Dinner with Fredy Girardet
by guest Ellen Wallace, editor, GenevaLunch I’ve been waiting for years to say I had dinner with Fredy Girardet. Unfortunately for me, the world’s chef of the century (New York Times labeled him thus) retired and closed his restaurant in Crissier before I managed to get there for dinner. You can imagine my delight, then, […]
New Vaud AOC wine rules spark battle for top slots
Féchy, Vaud, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Wine producers in the small (population: 700) village of Féchy, above the lakeside town of Rolle, met Friday 12 June for the annual “baptism” of their Vigne du Monde, vintage 2008. It was a remarkably charming event, held next to the landmark hillside white chapel, with the sun shining, the […]
Terroir: getting down and dirty in Féchy
Soil is not just soil, believe me. Friday 12 June I had a chance to see something we normally only get to read about: the soil under the grapevines, one of the most basic elements of terroir. If at any point in your wine-drinking life you’ve pooh-poohed terroir as being an over-rated French notion, and […]
Cleaning vinegar: Old-fashioned, economical cleaning product for kitchen hygiene
Cleaning vinegar: an ecological, economical multipurpose cleaning product White distilled vinegar is still a standard cleaning product in Switzerland. It can replace many of the more expensive, name-brand cleaning products with all their “new and improved” claims and hefty price tags. It’s not new, and it’s not improved, but it serves hundreds of purposes around […]