Zurich: Caduff’s Wine Loft

Caduff’s Wine Loft
Kanzleistrasse 126
CH-8004 Zürich

Date of Last Visit: Friday, June 26th

The Victim: Former London restaurant blogger Howard

The Damage: A lot. It was all in Swiss Francs so honestly, I have no idea.

The Background: You remember Howard, right? Howard of the blog Food & Drink in London? Well, he’s moved to Zurich, Switzerland. And I needed to be in Switzerland for a wedding that required all sorts of planes, trains and automobiles to get to, so I figured I’d fly to Zurich on Friday night, have dinner with Howard, and then head to Bellinzona on Saturday. A good plan.

Howard has chosen the restaurant. He’s also on-call for work for the evening, which I’m a bit worried about. What if I end up eating alone? Defeats the whole purpose of the pit-stop, no? Luckily, I needn’t have worried.

The Entrance: Caduff’s is large and airy and light during the daylight. Once the sun goes down, it gets really really dark in the restaurant. Practically only candle light. Really. It was very dark. We’re shown a table in the back corner and I start to eavesdrop on the very international crowd while we start looking things over.

The Weinkeller: Caduff’s is famous for it’s Weinkeller. I forget how many bottles they boast, but it’s a lot. Our server sends us downstairs to pick our bottle. Now this is fun. Lots of dusty bottles lying around, and a very nice and very multi-lingual host to help us out. Howard is up for spending some cash. I’m not, and I think he will remain forever disappointed in me because of this. Sorry, Howard. We eventually agree on a half bottle of something I can’t remember. (I am trying to take it easy because I have to get up at the crack o’dawn the next day. And we’ve already had a beer at my hotel and then aperitifs at the restaurant. And we’re getting something by the glass for our starter. And I just know already that there will definitely be a dessert wine.)

The Starters: See how dark the restaurant is getting? That’s a very generous portion of scallops with a lot of breadcrumbs (which you can’t see) covered in summer truffles. Lots of summer truffles this month. The scallops are large. But they taste a little old or maybe just a little overcooked. Also, I kinda think the presentation is a bit 1980s roadside inn. Some sort of clamshell on a bed of sea salt. Hmm. It’s good. I suppose.

The Mains: Howard and I get the same thing…pigeon wrapped in cabbage served on ratatouille. This is a hugely generous portion. I end up giving half of my pigeon to Howard, it’s so big. And the pigeon isn’t as tender as I imagined it being. It’s tough. Not dry. But not tender. And there’s so much ratatouille. I am a little overwhelmed. I take a disliking to the cabbage wrapped around the pigeon. I sorta regret my order and wish I had opted for the vegetarian pasta something or other instead.

The Verdict: This is probably a good place for one of those work dinners where you have to entertain 10 people from 10 countries. The Weinkeller alone is pretty cool. Food-wise, I applaud the restaurant’s “local, seasonal” ethos, but taste wise…eh. Not for me. That being said, it was great to see Howard again. I THINK I may have convinced him to start a Zurich restaurant blog. He takes such awesome photos and is an excellent writer. Don’t you think he should?