Chez quartier

Another tip for a lazy afternoon in the weekend (or any other day of the week except mondays) is Chez Quartier. You can easily spent whole afternoons in this tearoom, drinking your coffee (or whatever you like to drink), reading the journals and serving yourself  from the banquet. In front of the café you'll find a wide range of homemade pastries like small quiches, pizzas,  croissants filled with tuna salad and  fruit cakes. There are also many different small sandwiches: like  ith roast beef , with st moret and watercress or with small shrimps and avocado. The small pizzas with bacon and the avocado shrimp sandwiches are by far my favorites. In the end when you pay the bill, you just tell the waiter all the things you have taken to eat and apparently they trust their clients to be honest in this matter. Personally, I'm always afraid that I forget to name one or two things. This is because often I can't stop taking things from the banquet and I lose count of what I've taken. The cafe is a very popular spot among locals but small, so don't be disappointed when there is no more place inside.

Chez Quartier. Address: 24 Rue Voltaire, 1201 Genève, tel: 022 - 3445321 Open from Tuesday till Sunday from 7 till 7.

Mozzarella burrata

 If there is a God, I think He will eat this mozzarella everyday for lunch. The mozzarella burrata (burrata means literally "buttered") comes originally from the southern Puglia region. The mozzarella has a firm outside and on the inside it is very very creamy (as you can see on the picture). Best is to add as little as possible to this mozzarella. A few slices of  a good tomato (like the italian San Marzano as I use on the picture) and a few leaves of basil or a few slices of spring onion will do the job. You even don't need to add  any olive oil.  You can even eat it just like this, but maybe this more for the pigs among us. Anyway eating this mozzarella is as if "an angel pisses on your tongue" (a Dutch expression).  In Genève you can find this cheese at Manor (my favorite supermarket ever). And as all good things in life, this mozzarella doesn't come cheap: 3,65 per 100 grammes.

Mozzarella Burrata: CHF 3,65 per 100 grammes at Manor food court, Rue Cornavin 6 , 1201 Genève  

Fleurs de Marie

Where to go in the weekend if you want to eat a nice brunch? Well, I know a few nice places. To start with Fleurs de Marie, I just ate there this afternoon actually, so I'm digesting their food right at this moment.We find Fleurs de Marie in the Quartier des Grottes, a nice quiet neighborhood behind the station with many nice bars and restaurants, which for some bizarre reason is a bit left aside by locals and visitors of the city.

The choice of food we find here is quite typical for a brunch café: salads, eggs prepared in different ways (cooked, baked or scrambled) and a wide choice of home made cakes and quiches. As you'll see on the picture above the cakes are beautifully presented together on a table. I tried the quiche à la moutarde ancienne and the crumble aux framboises. Both were very delicious and I'll soon go back to try their Chocolat fondant and their cupcakes. To finish I have to note how very nice this bar is decorated from the inside and the outside. Very colourful and full of flowers: A dream bar for most girls (at least for my girlfriend.)

Opening times (if I understood well, but excuse me if I'm wrong):  From Wednesday to Friday 8.30 - 15.00, Weekend: 10.00-16.00. Address: 8, rue de la Faucille 1201 Genève, tel: 022-7334730. Mail: fleursdemarie@bluewin.ch website: http://www.fleursdemarie.ch