7. December 2010: Restaurant Opus

The monthly Gunther’s Weinpalaver at the Restaurant Opus in Lucerne can be easily described: a great experience! This time, the topic of the degustation was “Top Shots” and not particular region. The selection of wines was a mixture of wines from all over the world being top shots.

As a starter drink we got a glass of champagne, followed by the Amuse Bouche (kind of scalloped potatoes) which tasted quite good. The top was crusty and the rest tasted like fried mashed potatoes.

For the first course, a selection of four different red wines was offered: 1) Merlot Castello Luigi (2005) by Luigi Zanini; 2) Hermitage “La Chapelle” (1998), Paul Jaboulet Ainè; 3) San Roman Tinta Cosecha (2005), Bodegas Vinedos Maurodos, and 4) Schwarz-Rot (2007), Johann Schwarz. Personally, I liked the Schwarz-Rot the most because to me it had the fullest flavour of them all – but none of them was outstanding (in my opinion).

The starter course was a salad with raspberry vinaigrette, wild hare cubes, artichokes, dried tomatoes and Parmesan chips. The combination of the spicy dried tomatoes and the Parmesan chips (really tasty by themselves) with the raspberry vinaigrette was really interesting – the mix of spice and sweet.

To the main dish, another four wines red were served: 1) Ornellaia (1996), Tenuta Dell’Ornellaia; 2) Opus One (1999), Robert Mondavi; 3) Mentor Red (2002), Peter Lehmann; and 4) Almaviva (2001), Ph. Rothschild / Concha y Toro. Personally, I liked most the Ornellaia and second the Mentor Red by Peter Lehmann (Opus is offering a Peter Lehmann wine degustation event next year on the 1st of March 2011). The Opus One on the other hand, notably the most expensive wine of the event (bottle price of CHF 249.00) was a major disappointment though.

The main dish was Roastbeef with Sauce Bernaise, potatoes, and vegetables. The roastbeef was very tender but it had to thick a layer of fat (about a forth of the piece was a layer of fat). The sauce Bernaise was quite good too. Somehow it didn’t taste like freshly made though. The potatoes and the vegetables were good – just regular potatoes and vegetables.

To the desert we had two sweet wines: 1) Zilliken Saarburger Auslese (1997), Weingut Forstmeister and 2) “Scacco Matto” (2000), Fattoria Zerbina. The Scacco Matto was really great in taste. The desert itself, a burnt cream with Amaretto tasted delicious, the cream was smooth and pleasant.

The waitresses are friendly and helpful, correct at all times and serve you with what you need within minutes. The atmosphere is nice and beatiful as always – it’s usually pretty crowded so you don’t have a lot of space at your table. For this time it was a bit expensive though accounting for CHF 140.00 this time.

It is highly recommended to reserve a table for the Weinpalaver a few months in advance because usually, the Weinpalaver is booked out because it has a very limited amount of tables at disposition for the event.

The Restaurant Opus is located near the oldtown of Lucerne and easily reachable on foot from the main station. There are quite a few restaurants and bars in its vicinity: The Restaurant Mardi Gras, the Sopranos Café, the Lounge at the Hotel des Balances, the Restaurant Schiff, the Restaurant La Gondola, or the Brasserie Bodu.

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Contact Details:

Restaurant Opus

Bahnhofstrasse 16

6003 Luzern (CH)

Tel.: +41 41 226 41 41

Fax: +41 41 226 41 42

E-Mail: opus@remimag.ch

Homepage: http://www.restaurant-opus.ch

About the Author: Sven

I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org. Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City.