5 Saisons Chez-Vous

The Restaurant Hotel de Ville in Crissier in Switzerland, a Michelin 3-star establishment, was for many years better known by the name of the chef who ran it, Fredy Girardet. Girardet was succeeded in turn by Philippe Rochat and Benoit Violier, but since 2016, Franck Giovannini has been chef de cuisine.

This large format (12 x 12 inches, 276 pages) book features full-page photographs of dishes from the restaurant's menu during Giovannini's tenure. Recipes appear on the opposite page, accompanied by a secondary photograph of a more casual yet still refined presentation.

The dishes are arranged seasonally, and summer is divided into early and late, reflecting the change in available harvests. Recipes are marked with the year they were created. There is an abundance of fish, which might seem surprising for a restaurant in the Alps until one recalls that Lake Geneva is nearby. But also included are the likes of lamb with a pine nut crust and eggplant confit; chicken roasted with mushrooms, fava beans and peas; and foie gras and pears with warm winter spices.

Unapologetically ambitious cooking.

Prefaces by Fredy Girardet and Guy Savoy.

In French. Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.