Iron Chef Shellie
 

The Swiss Festival & The Swiss Club

Dining at The Swiss Club in anticipation for the upcoming Swiss Festival.

Travel & Dining

The Swiss Festival & The Swiss Club
February 10, 2013
Dining

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The Swiss Festival & The Swiss Club

To all the new readers, hello! And thanks for stopping by 🙂

For those who are new or don’t know, I am half Swiss and half Malaysian. Please don’t comment on how cool it is that I’m half Swedish and half Malaysian. I get that all the time, and the two are rather different.

Dad is the Swiss one out of my parents. He and my Grandfather used to play the live music at The Swiss Club for 17 years, and when I was 3 days old, my first outing was to The Swiss Club. We had a Saint Bernard as a dog, and we still eat cheese fondue and fondue bourguignonne (meat fondue) at least once a year. Dad is the master of the cheese fondue, mum is the master of fondue bourguignonne and spaztli.

Swiss people are renowned for being neutral and sitting on the fence. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my dad sit on a fence 😛 But we are both known for our Swiss precision when it comes to arriving on time to places/appointments.

As you might know, Switzerland has four languages; Swiss French, Swiss German, Swiss Italian and Romanche. They do make some of the finest chocolate in the world, Ragusa is our absolute favourite; and we have one of the greatest tennis player of all time…. and we gave him a cow!

If you want to try some Swiss food, Swiss beverages and hopefully get your hands on some of that amazeballs Ragusa chocolate that you should absolutely try before you die, may I suggest you come to the Swiss Festival happening on February 17 at Queensbridge Square in Southbank.

There will be traditional and modern dancing, yodelling, singing and music to accompany the authentic Swiss food and drinks. So come down for an om-pa-pa and sausage!

I was invited back to the Swiss Club to try some authentic food, and may I just say, it was just as good as my Grandmother and Mum (who may be Malaysian but has mastered Swiss cuisine cos she is just amazing like that), make it.

I took my highly non-Swiss friend Katie down with me, and for someone who hadn’t had rösti before had two in one night!

We shared the entree and it was gooooood! I’ve heard my parents and their Swiss friends talk about Raclette cheese but didn’t have a memory of ever trying it. Glad I finally got to!

Katie had a very, very moist and tasty schnitzel with more rösti. She wanted rösti as opposed to just potatoes or garden salad so she could embrace the Swiss-ness of it all, as well as the om-pa-pa music.

I had trouble deciding what to have… so I asked the waitress to help me choose. We established due to the fact that I did like sauerkraut I should have this dish. I asked if I could have the spatzli instead of potatoes as I wanted to see how it compared to my Mum’s one.

I was terrified I’d have this big meat fest on my plate that I wouldn’t be able to finish, so I was very relieved when the plate came out with a good portion of each meat, and a glorious mound of really good sauerkraut. I was transported to dinners at Grandma’s in a heartbeat… and the spatzli, ever so different to my Mum’s but still very good!

We were just way too full for dessert. So I’ll be checking out the desserts at the Swiss Festival to make up for it.

The Swiss Festival 2013, Australia’s largest Swiss event, will be held on Sunday 17th February 2013 from 11am on Queensbridge Square, Southbank, Melbourne.

Groups, organisations and companies representing all four national languages and all 26 states of Switzerland are part of the Swiss Festival 2013, where the Swiss community showcases its unique culture and traditions.

Visitors will experience a day of Swiss-ness including traditional and modern dancing, yodelling, singing and music as well as authentic Swiss food and drinks.

Come down and enjoy it!

 Iron Chef Shellie and Katie dined at the Swiss Club as a guest.

Comments

14 comments on “The Swiss Festival & The Swiss Club
  1. Tina @ bitemeshowme

    Very interesting mix. I knew you were half but I never knew what.

    February 11, 2013 at 8:01 am
  2. Daisy@Nevertoosweet

    YAY!!! SO SO SO happy that you posted this 🙂 you have TOTALLY sold me! I am SO dragging Ricky to the Swiss Festival!
    I love Switzerland!!! Even though I’ve only been once but I totally adore cheese fondue!!! Do you think you could share a recipe with me? 😀

    So excited about going to the festival!!!!

    February 11, 2013 at 10:03 am
  3. CheezyK

    Oooh, this is going to be difficult to fit into my Sunday but I think I will have to try … looks and sounds like a lot of fun! Is the restaurant open to all or do you have to be with a member?

    February 11, 2013 at 1:00 pm
    • Damian

      Everyone is welcome at the Swiss Club restaurant and you don’t need to be a member. The restaurant is open five days a week for lunch and Wednesday to Friday for dinner, for more information go here http://swissclubvictoria.com/restaurant/

      February 23, 2013 at 3:40 pm
  4. Cara @ Gourmet Chick

    I love raclette so much – just the perfect warming thing when you are skiing in snowy Switzerland!

    February 11, 2013 at 2:30 pm
  5. Mr Horat

    Grüezi mitenand! Love your blog Michelle.

    Somewhere there are photos of me wrestling at one of the Swiss picnics 🙂

    Will there be Nussgipfel at the festival?

    February 12, 2013 at 10:40 pm
    • Iron Chef Shellie

      Hey Mr Horat! 🙂

      Those pictures sound interesting haha!

      I’m not sure if Nussgipfel will be at the festival, but I hope so! I haven’t had one in ages.

      February 13, 2013 at 6:27 am
  6. April

    I love potato rosti, especially if it’s done well and nice and crispy! Maybe when you have your corn fritters party you can also make us all rosti with cheese fondue. Demanding much? Haha 😀

    February 14, 2013 at 1:56 pm
  7. Vicki

    Looks like a wonderful ethnic mix – the food that is 🙂
    I so love fusion dishes like this.

    February 15, 2013 at 3:07 am
  8. Agnes

    I like Raz’s idea. Corn fritters and rosti. You’re game, right?? :p

    February 16, 2013 at 8:20 pm
  9. Heidi - Apples Under My Bed

    I just adored this post, so lovely, so nostalgic 🙂 My mum used to visit! My Dad’s mum’s partner is Swiss. We rarely see them but mum has some memories of the swiss club! I have schnitzel envy.
    Heidi xo

    February 21, 2013 at 12:24 pm
  10. msihua

    I’ll just come over to your house and you can make me some *wink*

    March 2, 2013 at 6:03 pm
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Shellie Froidevaux

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