Michelin increased the number of Swiss two-star restaurants by two and awarded eleven first stars in the Michelin Switzerland 2012 Hotels and Restaurants Red Guide. Switzerland has two Michelin three-star restaurants.
Michelin awarded stars to 96 Swiss restaurants to reach new records for the European country with the highest number of Michelin stars per capita. The top Michelin three-star restaurants remained unchanged at two (Schauenstein & Philippe Rochat), while 18 Swiss restaurants now have two stars and 76 a single star. The Michelin 2012 Switzerland Hotels & Restaurants Red Guide reviews 1,728 establishments including 864 hotels and guesthouses. The Swiss red guide is on sale from November 17, 2011.
New Star Restaurants in the Michelin 2012 Switzerland Guide
Michelin increased the number of Swiss star restaurants in the Switzerland 2012 Hotels & Restaurants red guide to a record 96 establishments. Two one-star restaurants from 2011 were awarded a second star, 8 one-star restaurants were demoted while 11 restaurants received their first stars. Two restaurants were identified as rising stars with the possibility of a first star in the near future.
As before, the top two Swiss restaurants with three Michelin stars are “Schauenstein” (Andreas Caminada) in Fürstenau (Graubünden) and “Philippe Rochat” (Philippe Rochat & Benoît Viloier) in Crissier (Vaud).
The two new 2012 Swiss Michelin two-star restaurants are “Mesa” in Zürich and “Le Floris” in Anières (Genève). Both were upgraded from single stars.
The number of Michelin one-star restaurants in the Switzerland 2012 red guide increased by only one – although eleven restaurants were awarded their first stars, eight others were demoted and two promoted. Switzerland has 76 Michelin one-star restaurants.
Bib Hotels and Bib Gourmands Restaurants in Switzerland 2012
Michelin also increased the number of better value Bib hotels (“good accommodation at moderate prices”) and Bib Gourmand restaurants (“good food at moderate prices”) in the 2012 Switzerland red guide. Switzerland remains an expensive country to visit with the cut-off upper limit for Bib hotels CHF180 (€145) for a couple per night including breakfast and Bib Gourmand restaurants having to serve a three-course meal for less than CHF60 (€48). (Michelin Bib awards in other European countries are generally around €100 and €35.)
Despite the high price cut-off level, Michelin could only find 38 Bib Hotels amongst the 864 hotels reviewed for the Switzerland 2012 red guide. Michelin praised the wellness centers (day spas) of 81 hotels while 98 hotels were described as being particularly pleasant establishments for its specific price class.
The Switzerland 2012 guide describes 87 Bib Gourmand restaurants – 16 received the award for the first time in 2012, while 8 restaurants were scratched from the 2011 list. As usual, Michelin remains discrete on whether the restaurants became too expensive or declined in quality.
Buying the Michelin Hotels & Restaurants Switzerland 2012 Red Guide
The Michelin 2012 Switzerland guide reviews 864 restaurants and 864 hotels. The Michelin Switzerland / Suisse / Schweiz / Svizzera guide describes establishments in either French, German, or Italian according to the predominant language spoken in the town where the hotel or restaurant is located. This may present little problems to the Swiss but less polyglot readers may find it annoying having to rely on pictograms only, or giving the lexicon a decent work out. The extensive introduction comments are in English too.
The Michelin 2012 Switzerland guide retails in Swiss book shops for CHF33 while the price is closer to €25 from Amazon Deutschland and France. British buyers can obtain the guide for a mere £12 (CHF18) from Amazon UK.
See also Michelin 2012 red guides for Germany and Benelux Bib Gourmand restaurants guide.
