SWITZERLAND. Autogrill Swisse has officially opened the revamped Altitude restaurant, now called Le Chef, at Geneva Airport.
Opened at the end of February, Le Chef was created by chef Benjamin Luzuy and Autogrill Swisse. The restaurant has a penthouse feeling, featuring large bay windows that offer views of the runway and Jura mountains. Natural light illuminates the space, while Edison-style lamps provide warmth and additional light over the tables. Furnishings are lightweight to provide fluidity and contrasting building materials give depth and personality to the surroundings.
Besides the main restaurant area Le Chef features a bar and lounge, six private rooms for hire and a terrace which is open all year.
The restaurant menu, created by Benjamin Luzuy, is defined by four cooking methods. Le Chef’s on-site team create experimental cuisine which draws on customers’ different senses, allowing them an intuitive choice based on what they feel like at that moment. Dishes include straw-smoked Collex-Bossy wapiti tartare, cubeb pepper house yogurt and spinach shoots with almond oil, grapevine canes-barbecued beef pavé, deconstructed carrots and juniper-berries juice, steamed cheesecake, yuzu confit and tonka beans.
Autogrill Suisse Head of Business Development Théo Hofstetter emphasised the importance of developing a location which offers a final taste of local cuisine before flights, without falling into the trap of classic traditional dishes. “We wanted culinary offers which were both contemporary and authentic,” he noted.
Benjamin Luzuy commented: “It has always been a series of excellent encounters and opportunities which have presented themselves to me. Concerning Le Chef, I was enticed by the possibility of proposing a unique concept embracing four cooking methods. Thanks to the utilisation of local Swiss Romand produce, foreign visitors can also discover our specialities and taste the result of reinvented produce from the “terroir”, at the same time as our local clientele.”
*FOOTNOTE: The fifth Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Conference & Awards will take place in Geneva from 29 June to 1 July. The Opening Cocktail, sponsored by Autogrill and HMSHost, will be held at Le Chef.
