8 years and 400 kilometers apart

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I got done with the last meeting on this trip early this morning, which left the rest of the day for strolling around the city.  After resting up back in my room at the Mandarin Oriental Geneva, we went out around the old town, and eventually ended up at Carnivor du Centre to grab some lunch.

As a treat for finishing a week of meetings, I ordered myself a glass of Kir.  This used to be my go-to drink in French-speaking territories, and I still enjoy it from time to time.

I haven't been getting enough veggies and fruits for the last few days, so I figured I owed myself some greens.  This salade verte au mesclun de jeunes pousses cost CHF 7...

I didn't want to wait a long time for the restaurant's signature rotisserie baby chickens, so I got something else for my main course:

Cassolette de foies de volaille, riz - us Chinese grow up eating chicken livers, so this was something I was happy to dig into.  Worked well with rice, but of course the Swiss couldn't cook proper rice to save their lives...

We strolled around the southern bank of Lake Geneva after lunch, admiring the clear water and, of course, cracking a few jokes about Jet d'Eau.  At some point I turned away from the lake and began heading to the one place I wanted to visit while I was in town...

Immeuble Clarté is the only UNESCO World Heritage Site within Geneva.  It was designed by Le Courbusier, and looks surprisingly modern considering the design was from 1930 and construction finished in 1932!  It did go through renovations back in the mid-70s.

We strolled back through the Old Town, and eventually ended up hanging out at Le Lacustre by the lake to kill time by watching the tourists go by.

For dinner, I was meeting up with my friend Ralph again.  I last saw my high school friend 8 years ago when he was still living in Paris, and I was glad to have the chance to hang with him after his move to Geneva.  I wanted to check out Le Bologne, the other restaurant highly recommended by a group of foodies, and thankfully it really was just around the block from my hotel.

Our amuse bouche was cured salmon with a little crème fraîche.

Pithivier de faisan et foie gras, jus au vin jaune - I could never resist ordering pithivier whenever it's on the menu...  On the side we've got celeriac and chives.

Stuffed inside the pastry we've got diced pheasant, foie gras, and hazelnuts.  Not bad at all.

Pluma de pata negra teriyaki, mousseline au wasabi - once I was the word 'pluma' I was sold.  This was very tender, and very tasty.  I didn't mind the teriyaki sauce one bit.  So glad I ordered this tasty Spanish pork.

The mousseline au wasabi was OK... In fact it wasted more like the horseradish they use in those tubes of fake wasabi than the real thing.

I wasn't greedy when the dessert trolley was wheeled next to our table.  Only picked out three...

Millefeuille

Paris-Brest

Crème caramel

We WERE greedy when it came to wine tonight, and ended up with two bottles between us. Naturally, my French friend was more thirsty than I was...

Benoit Courault Gilbourg, vintage unknown - initially muted, later flinty and steely.

2014 de Montcalmes Les Terrasses du Larzac Rouge - fragrant nose with woodsy and eucalyptus notes.

This was a simple and very tasty meal. Once again, the foodie circle delivered on the recommendations. And I really enjoyed hanging out with my old friend... we stayed for nearly 5 hours! We walked back to my hotel and I bid him goodnight. Hopefully it won't be another 8 years before I see him again.

P.S. the poor pictures were, once again, taken with my old iPhone in low light...