While in Lausanne, we wanted to try traditional Swiss cuisine. Cafe Romand was the second recommendation and the best of the two traditional restaurants that we tried. What possessed us to think we could walk into a popular restaurant on a Saturday evening without reservations is still mystifying, but that's what we did. We started out early, but one wrong turn later, it took over an hour to walk there from our hotel. The place was packed and there was a line out the door, but we stood in it nonetheless and waited our turn. As each couple made their way to the front of the line, we kept hearing the same sentence repeated over and over. "You must have a reservation to be seated; we are fully booked."
Hearing this in English helped the frustration level increase to the point where I tugged on my companion's sleeve and suggested that we leave before we had to be embarrassed with heads hung, as we slunk out of the place. "Just wait", was his reply. That sounded rather self assured for a typically impatient fellow. I suspect he had hoped that by the time it was our turn, a table would be free and we would walk to it, triumphant in our quest. Before we crossed that bridge, I insisted we hatch Plan B. After investing all this time, I wanted to get to the end of the rainbow. I whispered my plot and hoped for the best.
As we approached the head of the line and we heard the waitress ask if we had a reservation, I could see my companion's eyes dart across the room before he answered a resounding "yes"! It was Plan B in action. He gave our name, but the waitress couldn't find it, to which he responded, "But the hotel made our reservation this afternoon for 8 p.m.." The waitress moved quicker than her age would indicate possible, to find us a table. She came back with bad news, an apology, and requested the name of our hotel. Unflappable, my companion gave her the name of 5 star hotel. She scoured the list again, dashed across the filled dining room and unseated a party of 3 from their table.
My genetic predisposition towards guilt kicked in, and almost caused heart palpitations, at the thought that people were being removed from a table because of my desperation to eat dinner there and the dishonest, dastardly Plan B. As luck would have it, they only had to give up one of two tables that they had been using, and were almost finished with dessert anyway. Still clearly rattled from the entire experience, I failed to write down any names of the dishes I present to you now in the form of photographs.
It is safe to assume that the first photo is of a potato side dish called Rosti. The second is a sausage and sauerkraut classic that seemed to satisfy my companion's desire for Swiss food. We stopped the quest after this meal.
My desire to pursue Swiss cuisine was also on the decline after this meal. My heart's desire was a traditional cheese and potato dish in the first photo that was so rich, it couldn't be finished in one sitting. The beautiful and delicious apple tart was what felt like a very light finish to a very heavy dinner.
Café Romand
pl. Saint-François 2
Phone:+41 (21) 3126375
Fax:+41 (21) 3211025
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