Bottoms up. Tops off!

Have you ever considered the possibility of skinny-dipping in a moonlit lake? Of course you have and after a few hours under the dappled Como sun flirting with glass after glass after glass of Pinot Bianco and undoubtedly seated next to a mischievous playboy of some note you'll realize anything is possible, even likely.

Tuck yourself into Harry's Bar in Cernobbio and if you're lucky you'll manage to carry out at least five of the seven deadly sins before sundown.

Harry's Bar

1 Piazza Risorgimento

Cernobbio. 39-031-334-7057

Jet Set Efficiency

http://www.navigazionelaghi.it/

Will it be Vienna or Basel or Munich or lunch in Champagne or drinking champagne in Epernay? Or perhaps it will be the Venice Simplon-Orient Express?

Perhaps you'll go to Milan or Salzburg or Amsterdam-anything seems possible when looking at the destination board at the main rail station Hauptbahnof in Zurich.

A good bet is the 6:09 am to Como S. Giovanni. Arriving at 10:03 you'll have plenty of time to luxuriate in the charming streets of Como as you make your way to the Navigazione Laghi ferry to Cernobbio.

Before the morning advances too far grab yourself a table at Harry's to get involved with your first mimosa of the day and toast to your stroke of genius and jet set efficiency.

Viva la Villa

http://www.ville-esclusive.com

Travel is the frivolous part of serious lives, and the serious part of frivolous ones.


(Anne Sophie Swetchine)

Circus Circus

www.kaufleuten.ch

After almost a week in Switzerland you may find yourself craving if only for a night, a little less Cucinelli and a little more Pucci. Book at table at Kaufleuten to cure what ails you.  Theatrical curtains, dramatic chandeliers and circus-like frescos contribute to the vivacious atmosphere.   Reserve one of the tables by the mirrored wall; use the reflection to your advantage and pore over the social exploits going on around you.  While the “main bar” and “dance floor” beyond the restaurant’s main floor may appeal to a crowd more “pedestrian” than your liking the “Lounge” with it’s well thought out comfy wooden chairs strewn about is the superb place for a nightcap. 

Kaufleuten

Pelikanstrasse 18

8001 Zurich

Tel: 0041 44 225 33 40

Culinary Conditioning

www.restaurant-lumiere.ch

Switzerland has more than one official language and there is a constant verbal toggle between your best Swiss German, German, French, Italian, Swiss French, Swiss Roman-you get the idea.

Take a break from all the “lenga franca” ambivalence and fall into Lumiére. At this cosy “aide memoire” of the 6^th arrondissement everyone speaks “moules” et “pomme frites” avec Château Clerc Milon.

Of course the spécialité maison is “Ojo de Agua” – premium quality Argentinian beef. Revel in the cultural involvedness of it all and consider it a primer for your summer ski trip to Las Leñas.

Lumiére

Widdergasse 5

CH-8001 Zürich

Tel: +41 44 211 56 65

Die Kleine Bar

www.widderhotel.ch

Smoking anywhere, particularly indoors these days feels so illicit and "verboten",  it's enough to make you want a to light up.  As you order your afternoon “pick me up” from the Widder Bar’s superlative 250+ single malt scotch collection and light your first Gauloise of the afternoon the thrill and exhilaration of it all may all but swallow you up entirely.

You’ll be stirred and encouraged by the words stamped on Widder’s exhaustive cocktail menu, 

“You can never plan the future by the past but you can always enjoy the very moment.”

Go ahead and enjoy this moment.  Like the way of Armando’s Beach Club, smoking indoors in Switzerland will soon be just a exquisite memory.

Widder Bar

Widder Hotel

Widdergasse 6

Tel: (044) 224 25 26

Jugendstil Flair

 www.odeon.ch

Take an aperitif or digestif at the historic corner Café Odeon. Patronized by such figures as Lenin, Trotsky, Mata Hari, Mussolini and James Joyce you'll feel quite at ease at this Old Town legend. Tuck in, order an Armagnac and enjoy the clever tête-à-tête swirling around the air at this grand café. 

Cafe Odeon

Limmatquai 2 

8001 Zürich 

Tel 044 251 16 50 

Restaurant Kronenhalle

www.kronenhalle.com

The Swiss Bank of food. Bring money, eat well. Sit with the ghosts and works of Juan Miró, Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso and Robert Rauschenberg. Don't dare order anything other than the famous Kalbfleisch geschnetzelt "Kronenhalle" with rosti. Oh and "dress".

Restaurant Kronenhalle

Ramistrasse 4 – 8001 Zurich

Telefon 044 262 99 00

Lu

www.lu-zh.ch/

If you want to really get to know Zurich you really need to get to know Lu. Zurich IS Lu. Lu IS Zurich. Actually Lu IS a former world-class supermodel who now owns a charming boutique selling equally beautiful and attractive things to “garnish” your home. Crystal, china, pottery, candles, frames, a lovely assortment of ideal silver-plated trays are among the fine treasures but Lu herself is the exceptionally unique offering.

Like all one-named phenoms that have gone before (Gandhi, Halston, Liberace) Lu’s inimitable spirit truly brakes the mold and you’ll wonder how you ever muddled through without her. Get to know Lu and if you’re fortunate enough she’ll not only share her favorite restaurants with you but also grab the phone and make reservations for YOU at HER best tables around town. All the while you’ll be flipping through Lu’s portfolio of work sipping the Gosset Brut de Brut she’s poured in distinctive Kosta Boda flutes.

You’ll no doubt return promptly at 10.00 the next morning to prove to yourself that Lu was not just an illusion brought on by too much Kalbsleber geschnetzelt mit Zwiebeln with Rösti and to say “Danke!” and regale her with tales of the exquisite evening you enjoyed at Kronnenhalle’s best table.

She’ll have your cappuccino waiting.

Lu

Schipfe 4

CH-8001 Zürich

Tel. 044 222 17 17

Offshore Banking & Brunch

Whether you’ve conveniently planned your quarterly appointment with your private division advisor at UBS or Credit Suisse or are just looking for a dash of urban escapade after your time in the mountains you’ll no doubt be famished after the three hour Swiss rail journey to Zürich HB.

Sprüngli is the place in Zürich. Here’s how to give the impression of being “local”:

http://www.sprungli.ch/

1. Stroll up to the restaurant on the 2nd story.
2. Give off no visual clues of being besieged by the assembly of well-heeled financiers, International Foreign Affairs Advisors and Ambassador’s wives assembling with their old friends from Leysin.
3. Order a ham & cheese croissant. It's just what you do here.
4. Place your order straightaway from either a) your waitress or b) trot up to the pastry display and order there.
5. Don't blow your cover by waiting around the counter while they melt the delicious cheese, your waitress will bring the savory delight to your table along with your bill.
6. The final potential snag. Knowingly pay your "bill" (of course you never use the word "check" while on the continent) at the cashier near the stairs.

Sprüngli’s deliciously wrapped chocolates, tuffles and macaroons are the superlative gift for everyone back home but you have an afternoon of shopping to do on the Bahnhofstrasse and cocktails with Lu to get on to. Good thing all the “locals” know there is a Sprüngli outpost just past passport control at ZRH.

Confiserie Sprüngli AG
Bahnhofstrasse 21
CH-8022 Zürich

+41(0)44 224 47 40

More Than 5 Stars

www.kulmhotel-stmoritz.ch/

It would be criminal to not plunge headfirst into the Kulm Hotel which has a 6^th star explicitly dedicated to turning your “special personal dreams into reality.”

You’d think that your “special personal dreams” would be fulfilled by a trip to The Sunny Bar, the Kulm Hotel legend. Here “suspended from the ceiling is a pair of gymnasium-style rings, for extra self-confident athletes to flex their muscles in demonstrations of prowess.” Oh mein Gott!

The Sunny Bar

You’ll find however that when getting ready to set off from St. Moritz your “special personal dream” may be finding “gratis” Internet access to pin down your dinner reservations at Kronenhalle in Zürich. After being welcomed by the congenial Kulm doormen you’ll find the computer tucked into a corner down the small set of stairs to the right. Be assured you’ll have the desk to yourself; no one else would dare suffer the indignity of being seen cruising the information superhighway here. You too will see it as just so “common” after having spent all this time tucked into the self proclaimed “Top of the World”. Promptly make your dinner reservations, review the current Navigazione Lago Di Como timetable and be on your way.

It’s Pronounced “Clo-Stirs”

The St. Moritz outpost of Loro Piana is closed on Sundays so why not spend the day messing about the rest of the Engadin Valley and scamper on to Klosters for lunch. Spend the extra 5 chf. and enjoy the generous windows of the “Panoramawagon” on the achingly clean and efficient Swiss Rail and you won’t miss a bit of the “chocolate box” quaint scenery en route.

http://www.sbb.ch/en/

Depart at 10:06 and you’ll arrive in Klosters just ahead of the noon lunch hour. Saunter through town and pick up a classic Swiss felt hunting hat - the very Klosters Swiss twist on the “cowboy hat” and THE way to keep the snow out of your eyes here.

Take lunch at Chesa Grischuna. The definition of cosy is “enjoying or affording comforting warmth and shelter especially in a small space” or “having or fostering a warm or friendly and informal atmosphere”. The exactness to which Chesa Grischuna delivers on “cosy” is almost implausible. Their lavish use of pinewood is splendid.

http://www.chesagrischuna.ch/

If possible make your table reservations beforehand and know that Chesa Grischuna also doubles as one of the "Historic Hotels of Europe" so should you find the enchanting Greübunden atmosphere too irresistible to leave or you've taken too much pleasure in the Weingut Donabaum Riesling there’s a convenient place to hang that new hat of yours for the night.

Big Choice of Cheeses from the Trolley

http://www.post-haus.ch/

Post Haus is Mathis' more "urban" outpost in St. Moritz Dorf. Deep leather club chairs and a roaring and appropriately "mod" gas burning fireplace add to the welcoming yet contemporary mood in the lounge & bar.

Feast on one of Mathis' signature white pizzas with truffle topping while you drink in the crowd of to the manor born Russian supermodels tangling with their off duty tycoon escorts and definitely a few Bichon Frises who you should expect will be wearing a mink coat and boots far superior to yours.

It is here we learned from an off duty PA (that's Personal Assistant) that it's 1.5 hrs from London to St. Moritz by PJ (that's Private Jet, of course.) A vital and critical fact that probably deserves it's own post.

Post Haus also offers more formal dining in the adjacent restaurant where they serve "Gross Auswahl gereifter Kase vom Wagen". Translated "big choice of cheeses from the trolley"- clearly the place sells itself.

Swiss Miss

Among your new Moncler jacket, boxes of Hauser's world famous truffles and of course a few token Gauloises it's entirely reasonable to expect to pick up a characteristically milky, creamy complexion while in Switzerland. This is afterall the illustrious home of the equally milky and creamy Gruyère and Vacherin-Mont-d'Or cheese.

One could easily spend an entire afternoon in a Swiss “apotheke”. Drop the dreary visions of Duane Reade, these glittering Swiss outfits not only furnish all of the effective remedies to restore you to perfect health (read: these would be buried far under the counter stateside) but are a bastion of thrilling lotions, miraculous creams and magical elixers.

These three little French words will change your life and your completion.

La Roche-Posay

http://www.laroche-posay.us

From a French "laboratoire pharmaceutique", found in a Swiss "apotheke" and available for delivery to you anywhere in world; we're bestotted.

The breathtaking results of the "Beruhigende Feuchtigkeitsmake" will have you yodeling all the way home.