Cheval Blanc - Basel
Classic elegance with real candles
Rating: 19/20
Where: Basel, Switzerland
When: Dinner for 4 on 3 December 2024
Cost per Person: Tasting menu 320 CHF, Wine pairing 110 CHF
Accolades: 3 Michelin Stars
Why: Intensely flavorful, balanced and delicious French cuisine
The city of Basel is located at the meeting point of three countries: Switzerland, Germany and France. So it makes total sense that the only three-Michelin-starred restaurant in this Swiss city serves French cuisine prepared by a German chef. The restaurant, “Cheval Blanc”, is located inside the “Les Trois Rois” hotel on the left bank of the Rhine river that flows through the city. It has held its three stars since the 2016 edition of the Guide, and we had a wonderful meal here soon after its third star was awarded. Eight years later, it was high time for a return visit.
To dispel any confusion: Cheval Blanc is indeed named after the famous Bordeaux winery, but it has no ownership connection with either the winery or the Cheval Blanc hotel brand that is home to an mind-boggling three three-star restaurants in France.
Both hotel and restaurant keep to an old-school style - more early 20th rather than 21st century. Reservations for the restaurant have to be made over the phone, and guests are received in the hotel lobby before being led through a lounge to the actual dining room. That dining room has large windows overlooking the Rhine river, but unfortunately both of our visits were late in the year, and it was dark outside during our entire dinner. The Christmas decorations outside were pretty, but I assume that a lunch or summer-time dinner would have even better views. The dining room was not large, with maybe ten tables, and its decor leaned towards a French chateau style, with white tablecloths and real candles on every table.
Cheval Blanc offered both a tasting menu and an a la carte menu. Dietary restrictions for the tasting menu were accommodated by swapping in dishes from the a la carte menu. A wine pairing was available for the tasting menu for the relatively modest price of 110 CHF, featuring wines from Switzerland, France and Spain. They all went well with the food, and generally were also pretty good by themselves. I liked that the cheese course was paired with a total of three wines: a red, a white and a dessert wine. Usually, one gets to choose at most one of these three, if one is lucky.
The first food to arrive at our table was a selection of breads. There were four different kinds to choose from: a regular baguette, a whole-wheat baguette, an olive roll and a roll topped with grains. The breads were continuously replenished during our dinner, and always warm. Crunchy with clean flavors, they all went very well with the provided salted butter. Not baking wizardry, but very good 17.
Four amuse bouches preceded the main part of the tasting menu. First up was an oyster served in its shell with a sudachi vinaigrette and an oyster leaf. The oyster was of good quality with a firm texture. But this bite mostly tasted of the accompanying sauce, which was a bit sweet, but thankfully had some acidity to balance that. An aromatic and fresh tasting first dish 19. A small amount of wagyu tartare was flavored with Sichuan pepper and sat on top of a tapioca cracker. The cracker had a good, light crunch. The beef was minced very finely, giving it an elegant mouthfeel, but unfortunately was lacking a strong beef flavor. Instead, the dish had mostly an herbal taste 18. The pescatarian alternative to this dish kept the cracker, but replaced the beef with crab meat that had been seasoned with vadouvan (a French curry seasoning). Thanks to the curry, this dish was stronger flavored than the meat version 19.
An espuma made with jalapeños was served over carabineros shrimp. The foam had a silky texture, and only a hint of spiciness. There were some ingredients that provided a crunchy texture, such as little cracker balls and small cubes of what felt like cucumbers. Very nice 19. A macaroon was topped with duck liver, a yogurt crisp and an orange sauce, and whole was seasoned with garam masala. This dish was lightly sweet and had a nice crunch from both the macaroon and the yogurt crisp 18. A vegetarian replacement for the macaroon was a mushroom chip topped with shimeji and shiitake mushrooms, presented in different textures: chopped and as a mousse. A very delicate chip, with a fine mushroom taste overall. But this might have been even better with a bit more flavor oomph 18.
This brought us to the first official course of the tasting menu. Smoked young eel was served with several preparations of red beets - as an espuma, cut into little cubes and as a meringue. The plate had been brushed (painted?) with black garlic and dotted with dollops of wasabi and miso gels. The first impression one got from this dish was its smokiness. But that went very well with the wonderful eel. I have never seen such small cuts of eel before - it was a “young eel” indeed. The black garlic added some umami and sweetness to the dish, and the beets some freshness. Overall, a dish full of intense flavors that were still nicely balanced. Amazing 20.
The next dish was described on the printed menu as “polenta, cream spinach and white Alba truffle”. Truffles are rarely a bad idea, but polenta and creamed spinach didn't sound very promising - a food description more commonly associated with mediocre airline food, maybe. So my expectations were quite low before taking the first bite of this second course. But boy, was I wrong! Let’s start with the polenta: it came in the form of little spheres that had the consistency of airy gnocchi. This was the best “polenta” I've ever had - I never imagined to ever use the adjective “light” in relation to polenta. The next thing one noticed was an intense truffle flavor - delicious! More texture came from the slightly nutty truffle slices and from the spinach leaves that added both some bite and a bit of a vegetable note to an otherwise quite creamy dish. Extremely flavorful and extremely tasty; probably the best dish I've had all year 20.
That second course was obviously a tough act to follow. A scallop was topped with crumbles of chorizo and came with a sauce seasoned with paprika. The scallop was perfectly cooked and juicy and went seamlessly together with the amazing sauce. The sauce had a light bell pepper note and the dish’s texture came from some greens and the chorizo bits. If I had to nitpick, I'd say that the sauce was maybe a bit too creamy, but overall this was another excellent dish 19.
The final savory course was a pepper-crusted filet of venison, served with celery, pumpkin, cranberries and a rouennaise sauce. For me, venison usually falls into one of two distinct categories: either it is gamey to the point of being close to inedible, or it is not gamey at all and might almost be mistaken for a tender cut of beef. Here, the venison managed to avoid these two extremes: there was a hint of gaminess, but not enough to be distracting, it just added some “je ne sais quoi”, so to speak. The meat was tender, and had a peppery spice note. The sauce was flavorful and slightly fruity 18. On the pescatarian side, we were served a filet of red mullet with crispy scales. It came with tomatoes, a tomato vinaigrette flavored with saffron, and a side of buttery potatoes. The fish was cooked perfectly and the scales were nicely crunchy. The sauce was excellent as well - it balanced creaminess, acidity and the fruitiness of the tomatoes. This dish would have been great even without the potatoes, but otherwise no complaints 19.
The cheese cart featured cheeses from France and some hard cheeses from Switzerland. Very good and on par with what one would get in a comparable restaurant in France.
The following palate cleanser was a sorbet made of six herbs that came with a yogurt espuma, a ragout of granny smith apples and an herb jelly. Sweet, creamy and lightly herbal with plenty of tartness thanks to the thin slivers of Granny Smith apples. Yummy 18.
The main dessert consisted of poached pears, peanuts, a salted caramel ice cream, nougat jelly, a miso mousse and cress. Altogether a nice mix of fruity and nutty 18. We also tried an alternate dessert option: a praline parfait that came with hazelnuts and a lemon gelee. An airy dessert, with herbal, nutty and lemony flavors. Overall, it felt a bit less complex than the pear dessert 17.
A wide selection of petit fours concluded our meal. Tonka beans and cherry jelly on a cherry blossom sponge tasted slightly fruity, and were surprisingly heavy for a end-of-the-meal bite 16. A calisson confection was made with Aix-en-Provence almonds and a lime and thyme compote. Sugary with a bright lime flavor 17. A fruit rollup of sorts was made with calamansi, marshmallows and raspberry jelly. Quite fruity as well 17. A millefeuille contained layers of nougat and hazelnut. The ideal dessert for anybody who loves hazelnuts - lightly crunchy and very good 19. On a spoon was a sphere filled with liquid passion fruit, mangoes and a lemongrass espuma. The liquid inside the sphere was quite acidic, maybe a bit too much so 16. A meringue was flavored with coffee, mascarpone and Baileys gelee. The most notable taste came from the sweet liquor 17.
Finally, we were offered a choice among four chocolate pralines. “Milk chocolate” was creamy and sweet 16. “Milk chocolate with yuzu” had a light crunch, and the yuzu flavor was mostly an aftertaste. A very nice combination, though 18. “Dark chocolate” was unremarkable 15, and “dark chocolate with Sichuan pepper” had a savory note without being spicy 16.
Overall: French cuisine with particularly impressive, intensely flavorful but still balanced main courses that were at the high end of the three-Michelin-star range. The appetizers and desserts were not quite at the same stratospheric level, but still very good. I can't wait to come back during a different time of the year 19.
