Swiss Global Dining's Best of 2024

In 2024, Swiss Global Dining really found its mojo and got swinging after our launch in October 2023. We visited the restaurants and made the national dishes of a remarkable 33 countries between getting married, a serious bout of food allergies, new professional opportunities and even a municipal election victory. Our editor Kieran suffered a great personal loss with the death of his father as well.

In brief, 2024 was a lot. Before we break for the holidays and the new year, we wanted to take the opportunity to look back and reflect on everywhere we went and all the things we tasted.

We both put together a list of our top five restaurants and recipes from the year, places we would love to revisit and dishes we hope to make again (and in some cases, already have) at home. As there are two of us and very little overlap, it's a top ten of sorts, though presented not very late night Letterman-style.

Without further ado...

RESTAURANTS

Amanda's top five restaurants:

1. Le Palais Oriental, Montreux (Iran 🇮🇷)

"Le Palais Oriental is a merger of two old worlds: belle epoque Montreux where the highest circles of Europe met at the Swiss Riviera to relax and escape political turmoil and a piece of old Persia, with the highest culture of cuisine."

2. Yamas, Zürich (Greece 🇬🇷)

"Yamas, means 'cheers' in Greek and surely with enough frequent visits, it would be delightful if this became a place where everybody knows your name – and you are always glad you came."

3. Qin Restaurant, Bern (China 🇨🇳)

"Qin Restaurant makes a point of noting that its specialty comes from Urumqi, the capital of what is known as the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region... the region does not have much autonomy in recent years... a culture that is under serious threat."

4. Churrascaria Assador, Lausanne (Brazil 🇧🇷)

"Churrascaria Assador is everything a Brazilian meat emporium should be, from the fully loaded salad bar, to the proper serving amount and quality of sides including fried plantains, rice and feijoada, and of course, the main attraction, the carnival of meat."

5. EcuaLatino, Genève (Ecuador 🇪🇨)

"To go to EcuaLatino is to enter a Spanish-speaking and wholly Latino in the sense of the Americas world... the ceviche was extra decadent, and completely unnecessary as an appetizer, given the enormity of the portion sizes of our main dishes, though absolutely zero regrets."

Georg's top five restaurants:

1. Brasserie Bärengraben, Bern (France 🇫🇷)

"Brasserie Bärengraben is perhaps one of the nicest, if not the nicest spot for lunch or dinner in the Swiss capital Bern... As far as traditional French fare goes, Brasserie Bärengraben’s delivery is almost always on point..."

2. Sarajevska Ćevabdžinica, Zürich (JUGOSLAVIJA is how Georg noted it; Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦 is how Swiss Global Dining covered it)

"Sarajevska Ćevabdžinica is an old Yugo joint with a most Bohemian owner who doubled as our server for the night... As we ordered our Sarajevsko beer, we were instead offered Serbian and Croatian beer. Of the language... he instead offered 'nashi' or 'ours.' Yes, there once was a country."

3. Pré-Fleuri, Lausanne (Georgia 🇬🇪)

"The wait staff were entirely Georgian men, as familiar with the dishes they were serving as the customers they served. We ordered the most Georgian of Georgian dishes, from khachapuri, also known as 'fondue bread' as our very own Mr. Swiss Global Dining has nicknamed it..."

4. Aladin, Vevey (Iraq 🇮🇶)

"Aladin is located about a block in from the coast on a tiny street, a little oasis that serves Iraqi as well as Moroccan and Lebanese food... There were in total four Iraqi dishes on the menu, all classics, all savory rather than sweet, in addition to traditional Iraqi tea served with cardamon."

5. Restaurant Schäfli, Winterthur (Czechia 🇨🇿)

"Restaurant Schäfli is a classic Bohemian-style establishment in the quaint town of Winterthur... The menu itself is replete with Czech classics, everything from garlic soup to the national dish, knedlo vepřo zelo, and many other favorites."

RECIPES

Amanda's top five recipes:

1. Peking duck (China 🇨🇳)

"Peking duck may be a famous imperial Chinese treat, but its origins are far from the epicenter of Mandarin glory as we envision it in the twenty-first century. The dish... dates back nearly 750 years at least, though its origins are closer to the seat of Cantonese culinary wonder in Hangzhou..."

2. Encebollado (Ecuador 🇪🇨)

"Little precise is known about its origins, but it is certainly the mix of cultures that one finds in the Americas that has enriched encebollado to the point it is at now: hearty, sweat-the-spice-out filling."

3. Moussaka (Greece 🇬🇷)

"Among Greeks, it is said that the finer details are what is most contested... The bechamel too is also open to debate."

4. Khachapuri (Georgia 🇬🇪)

"In Georgia, every village has its own version of khachapuri... In Georgia, the culture of hospitality is truly extraordinary."

5. Crni rižot (Croatia 🇭🇷)

"Stirring constantly is the best way to ensure consistency but also is a tip of a hat to the likely origin of the dish in the Republic of Venice and Venetian rule over the Croatian side of the Adriatic."

Georg's top five recipes:

1. Khachapuri (Georgia 🇬🇪)

Mr. Swiss Global Dining prefers to call the infamous cheese boat "Georgian fondue."

2. Irish stew (Ireland 🇮🇪)

"The dish was made originally by shepherds and rural farmers who had only a limited availability of essential ingredients on hand... Combined with potatoes, onions, and sometimes carrots or other root vegetables, the dish comes together in a single pot cooked for hours..."

3. Fesenjan (Iran 🇮🇷)

"Prior to the twentieth century, ...fesenjan was known as 'the food of royals,' and 'the queen of Persian dishes.' ...To say someone 'just had partridge and fesenjan' is to imply pretentiousness or pomposity in Persian."

4. Empanadas (Chile 🇨🇱)

"Many Latin American nations feature empanadas on their menus... but the Chileans have made their version... their national dish... In Chile, empanadas are served everywhere, as snacks with drinks, at street stalls, in people’s homes and at rest stops along the road as well as in restaurants."

5. Doro wat with injera (Ethiopia 🇪🇹)

"In the South African paper Mail and Guardian, Marthe van der Wolf reflected on her years in Ethiopia, recalling how a friend told her, 'If you can’t make doro wat, your man will eat it somewhere else.'"

Wishing all of our subscribers, viewers, friends and food tasters well and wonders in the new year and we will be back in January to serve up more deliciousness. As always, bon appetit until then!