GENEVA, March 8 — Already teeming with culinary talent, Geneva is about to welcome another major chef who is bound to draw foodies from miles around. After making a name for himself in Brussels at his restaurant Neptune, French chef Nicolas Darnauguilhem is reviving the concept on the other side of the Alps as Neptüne.
Like many other chefs from his native Savoy region, including the famous Jean Sulpice, Nicolas Darnauguilhem has a special affinity for nature and for fresh, plant-based ingredients, and he refuses to let the diktat of the critics guide his culinary choices. His bistro Neptune was a reference on the Brussels food scene, as evidenced by a wealth of blog posts filled with high praise and enticing photos of his dishes.
Originally an umbrella store, the venue provided an atypical setting for the new culinary hotspot opened by Darnauguilhem in early 2011. While celebrating the products of his native region, the chef also honoured the best local ingredients, including the fresh farm eggs of the Ardennes.
In the tiny kitchen of Neptune, Darnauguilhem was already working with one ingredient that foreshadowed his future: fish from Lake Geneva. In fact, the chef is no stranger to Swiss culinary traditions and to the city, where he trained at the École Hôtelière de Genève (EHG).
On the planet Neptüne, in Geneva
A year and a half ago, confronted with the limits of the space and the region, Darnauguilhem decided to close Neptune and move on to pastures new. Now he is planning to return with Neptüne, which is set to open in Geneva on March 16. According to a release from the chef, the umlaut in the name symbolizes the encounter of a river and a mountain: the Rhône and the Alps. The eatery represents the culmination of the chef’s 18 months of reflection and research, after which he decided to return to the mountains of his native region.
While the menu is still a work in progress, Neptüne is slated to offer “Alpine food.”
“The Alps are the space of my dreams, the space in which our cuisine will be anchored. From the prickly pears of the countryside around Nice to the cured meats of the high valleys of Valais, by way of the Plainpalais chard of Geneva and the Moscato d’Anti of the Piedmont, we will constantly be searching. We will give our cuisine the flavor of the Alps and of the people who inhabit them. We will bring out the clarity of each bite, so that the beauty and the space are expressed, and so that the flavors are both pure and intoxicating. So that guests are treated to a feast,” he explains.
Neptüne will be open from Monday to Friday. Reservations can be made now by calling +41 22 320 15 05. — AFP-Relaxnews
