This year marks my 11th year in Geneva. It was a hard transition but many things I have adapted to or gotten used to (I shall discuss my hardships in a future post). However, one thing I have NOT gotten used to are the restaurants here. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of restaurants in Geneva and lots of variety thanks to the international community here. But I can never get used to the eating out experience in this city.
Just recently, my partner and I went to an Italian restaurant that was supposedly praised as “one of the best Italian places in Geneva”. We ordered two pizzas (one with ham, another with sausage) and a bottle of sparkling water. How is it possible that the total came out to be 60 CHF ($72 USD)? If this were top-notch quality, I would’ve gladly paid. However,the pizza crust was hard (which is a crime) and tasteless. And the service was sub-par at best.
Perhaps I was spoiled, having lived in gastronomic hotspots such as Tokyo and Lima. I am also very well aware of the high cost of food, rent, staff, etc in Switzerland in general. But the prices I pay at restaurants in Geneva are something I just cannot justify. As a result, I typically turn to cooking at home.
One of the best recent purchases I made was a bread making machine from a second hand store (which I also bought for 60 CHF). The beauty of this machine is that I literally just dump the ingredients in and press the start button, and it does all the mixing, churning, proofing, and even baking. It can also prepare doughs for you, which explains our recent obsession with making pizza at home from scratch.
The pizza dough mode takes 45 minutes to complete, so during that time I prepare the tomato sauce, chop up the toppings, and preheat the oven. Once the machine is done, I carefully take the dough out of the machine, roll it out and layer on the sauce, toppings, and cheese. It goes in the oven for 10 minutes and voila, homemade pizza with fresh dough. The crust is just right – neither too hard nor too soft, but chewy on the inside – and the flavors of the sauce and toppings are nicely balanced.
For the same price as one mediocre restaurant outing, this bread machine been a lifesaver. I guess the only way to compensate for a disappointed dining experience is to take the matter in your own hands (or rather, the bread machine’s hands in this case).
But in the mean time, if anyone has good and affordable restaurants in Switzerland, please do let me know.
