"I'd recommend this restaurant over any other I've ever been to. My dinner here on 2023/12/13 was one of my most memorable meals, combining the signature precision, invention and craft of fine dining with the care and authenticity you'd find in a special home-cooked meal and the safety and relaxed environment of a low-key Thanksgiving potluck at a friend's Brooklyn apartment. The food, their farm-to-table surprise menu, managed to cover a lot of ground. It brought back flavors and memories, like with the flavorful aguachiles (served, if memory serves, on the crispiest but sturdy tostada, a perfect match for the dish's zest). I remember a variety of thoughtful unabashed flavors in each dish, and of course the textures were all precise and complementary. I unfortunately didn't believe in taking pictures of food at the time I had this meal, but I remember it all being well-presented and really showing off its ingredients, with pleasant color combinations. The service felt especially personable. I remember hearing more wine lore than I've ever encountered elsewhere- learning about not only the flavors and feel of the wine, as well as the regions of origin, but little details like the family dynamics and cultivation strategies of the vineyard owners. It felt like each wine, each coffee bean had been handpicked through a personal bond the restaurant staff had forged with some hidden gem artisans they'd come across in long searches. Each meal came with more detail than usual (even by fancy fine-dining standards) about its sourcing, intentions, backstory, etc. The ambience also felt comforting, really inviting. The music felt accessible- Black Keys, Foster The People; apparently it's a personal collaborative Spotify playlist. The kitchen had the rhythms and flow you'd expect of consummate professionals, but it also seemed to have a certain lightness to it. The lighting and setup felt cozy, warm, a perfect complement to the wide open white mountains nearby. The whole restaurant felt like it was set up to remind us that the more serious, passionate, and determined we are, the more crucial it is that we relax and enjoy ourselves. Everything at least tasted and felt like the people who made it had a lot of fun making it, if that makes any sense; it had the charm of disinhibition. It made me rethink my life a little. Even now when I think of my dining here I feel an energizing contentment. I'm really happy I ate here, and I think this restaurant is going to be as much a reason for my future Zermatt visits as the incredible skiing. If you're reading this review and on the fence, and *especially* if you're a fan of farm-to-table or just unpretentiousness as a concept, in my eyes this restaurant adds as much to a Zermatt trip as the Matterhorn."
