We ate at Cervo Puro last night on the recommendation of the hotel we are staying at. While making a reservation in advance may not have been needed, it secured us a table on the second floor (above the level of the main entrance) in a cozy, lodge-like dining room. While there appears to be some outdoor seating, it was later (and somewhat cool) by the time we got there, so we stayed indoors instead. The service was pretty solid, and I did enjoy that the red and white wines were listed on different menus - one with a red cover and one in white. I had a glass of local white from Valais that was solid...I've had lots of local wines while here, and none of them have blown me away (yet). My wife's iced tea was alight, but as it was sweetened, it was hard to finish off the (very) large glass it was served in.
For food, one can order a la carte or off of the weekly tasting menu, which is what we ended up doing. You can do a 3-course or 4-course tasting, and we went with the former, as there were limited selections for each menu, making it easy to sample everything with the smaller option. My wife's beef tartare was fabulously done - presented as a 'bar' encased between two thin strips of crispy bread and decorated with lots of dill and cilantro. It was a more refined version of the tartare we had had the previous evening, and one could tell that the cut and quality of the beef was a bit richer and fresher as well. My potato gnocchi was a bit less impressive, but the lightness of the cream (served almost a foam), the mushrooms and the walnuts combined with give the plate a nice balance between texture and flavors. The only entree selection available was duck breast served with a brioche-encased 'dumpling' (which seemed to be potato-based and carb-heavy). While the duck was good - and I enjoyed the strawberry-based sauce you could dip it in around the plate - the serving portion was a bit on the large size, and the aforementioned dumplings came off as a bit of 'filler' that detracted a bit from the duck. For desserts, I enjoyed my sorbet, which was a strawberry-based flavor that was on top of what was described as a 'sour cream cake' but came off as a bit of a sweeter tart. Dressed with different herbs, it was a bit of a zestier, fruitier dessert than I had expected, and it was very good. My wife's cheese plate was solid overall, with a nice, lightly-spiced chutney alongside an apricot jam to dress the cheese. A description of the 4 cheeses would have been nice, but it was still a nice selection across the spectrum to finish the meal with.
Cervo Puro takes Swiss cuisine and makes it a bit more upscale. I enjoyed everything we ate, even if it didn't hit all the spots right off. It's expensive - everything in Switzerland kind of feels like it, at this point - but if you're willing to make the slight trek to the northeastern edge of Zermatt (up in the hills, no less) for a meal, it would be worth it to pay a visit. read more