On the first of May, I arrived at the historic Lausanne Palace for a special Nespresso dinner event with Chef Edgard Bovier, who leads the kitchen of his eponymous Michelin-star restaurant at the hotel. We kicked off the night with an exclusive cooking workshop given by this talented chef. Once in the kitchen, he confessed that we had also gathered on the day of his 15th anniversary at the hotel. It was a lovely surprise and an excellent opportunity to spend the evening learning from one of Switzerland’s culinary stars known for his exceptional hospitality and Mediterranean-inspired cuisine.

For this celebratory event at the Lausanne Palace, Nespresso featured its new Master Origin range — coffees of pure origin from Ethiopia, Colombia, Indonesia (certified Fair Trade), Nicaragua and India. Since 2018, Chefs Edgar Bovier at La Table d’Edgard at the Lausanne Palace and Heiko Nieder of The Restaurant at The Dolder Grand have served as Ambassador Chefs for Nespresso. In this role, they develop coffee-inspired recipes and participate in events, such as the Nespresso Gourmet Weeks held in the fall.

Culinary Workshop – Simple, Elegant Dishes

In his kitchen at the hotel, Chef Bovier — who originally comes from the Swiss canton of Valais, makes cooking look effortless. Combining high-quality ingredients with relatively easy techniques, he showed us how to make two savory tarts. One was with cherry tomatoes and oregano and the other with onions and thyme. These recipes come from his 2009 cookbook, Edgard Palace. A signed copy of which was gifted to us at the end of the meal. We tasted the tomato tart, topped with black olives and fresh basil in the bright spring sunshine on the front terrace of the Lausanne Palace with a glass of Laurent-Perrier champagne.

Along with the savory tarts, drizzled generously with one of Chef Bovier’s favorite products — olive oil, he prepared one of his signature dishes for Nespresso. He combined cod with a Master Origin coffee from Colombia. He showed us how to cook the fish gently for about 12 minutes at only 70° C (158° F) in a bath of olive oil. From there, he placed it into a bed of fluffy cream infused with Jambon ibérique and parmesan. To finish the dish, he sprinkled it with the powdered coffee and finely chopped praline hazelnuts, also made with this coffee. The rich, savory cream with the delicate cod, the crunchy hazelnuts and the deep flavor of the coffee was sublime. It was a warm, comforting and very satisfying dish.

Our Meal – Nespresso Gastronomy

Following our cooking workshop, we took a seat in the elegant dining room of La Table d’Egdard. This multi-course meal in which two of the three dishes featured Nespresso coffee.

First course: The most beautiful dish arrived for our first course. It looked like spring on a plate with tender pieces of lobster and creamy burrata.

Main course: With a sauce that had a smoky coffee flavor, the guinea fowl was very tender. It paired well with the grilled trévise, a type of radicchio.

Dessert: Light in texture, but with a robust chocolate and coffee taste, the souffle was a special treat. It had a brilliant, shiny chocolate layer on top, accompanied by a smooth vanilla ice cream sprinkled with coffee.

For more information:

• La Table du Lausanne Palace at the Lausanne Palace, Rue du Grand-Chêne 7-9, 1003 Lausanne, +41 (0)21 331 31 31, info@lausanne-palace.ch
• Nespresso Switzerland and Nespresso Gastronomy
• Made of aluminum, Nespresso capsules can be recycled in Switzerland. Either by dropping them off at participating collection point or through its “Recycling at Home” service.

Please note: I attended this event as a guest of Nespresso Suisse. As always, the thoughts and opinions expressed in this article are purely my own.

Updated: January 9, 2023