Dining

One dining experience you should enjoy is the excursion to Muottas Muragl, a mountain hotel restaurant near Pontresina and Samedan on the way to the Bernina Pass. You take a funicular up to the hotel, which has a truly spectacular location overlooking the valley. Go just before sunset (The funicular runs every half hour, 8 a.m.–11 p.m.) and watch the lights come on in the valley. Reserve in advance (081-842-8232) and get a window seat.

The great hotels of St. Moritz boast equally famous dining rooms. The Palace owns the ancient Chesa Veglia (081-837-1000) standing in an original Engadine farmhouse dating back to 1658. The real draw here is the ambiance. Dine in the Chadafö Grill where your meal will be cooked over fire. Be ready to leave around €80–€100 apiece for your meal if you have a starter, grilled meat or fish and flaming dessert.

For one of the area’s top gourmet spots try Jöhri’s Talvò (081-833-4455; photo above), a two-star Michelin restaurant in nearby Champfèr. The owner, Roland Jöhri-Tanner, is one of Switzerland’s best cooks. Reservations are necessary and plan on spending up to €130. The fixed-price lunch menu is around €55.

The restaurant at the Steinbock Hotel has tasty, reasonably priced Swiss cuisine. The Soldanella Hotel also has good meals and prices.

To demolish your budget and add an unforgettable dining experience, lunch at La Marmite (reservations required for noon and 2 p.m. seatings; 081-833-6355), a gourmet restaurant atop Corviglia with fabulous views. Treat yourself to the truffle dishes. Meals will set you back €45–€130. The restaurant is in the funicular station near the self-service restaurant. Brasserie, run by the same owner in the same place, costs half as much. Don’t miss the mountain hut, El Paradise, on the left side of the Corviglia. It has great views of the lake and tasty food. Locals say it has the best crème cake in the world. It also has daybeds and beach chairs for lounging on sunny days.

The Hotel Steffani (081-836-9696) has its Le Lapin Bleu where the daily menu can be very affordable—between €20 at lunch and €30 for dinner. It also houses the top Chinese restaurants in town, Le Mandarin, open for dinner only where the daily menu costs €30–€60.

Waldhaus Am See (081-836-6000, fax 081-836-6060) has excellent lake views and is a romantic spot for dining. It features the world-famous whisky bar and also boasts an outstanding selection of wine and rum. Fish dishes, grilled meats and fondues are house specialties.

The Stüvetta (photo above left), a cozy corner of the restaurant building at the Marguns lift station, is great for lunches, particu-larly pasta dishes. And the last stop of the day should be the Alpina Hütte, the St. Moritz ski club hut in the shadow of Piz Nair. Order a Café Grischa, a traditional hot coffee and liqueur-filled pot with drinking spouts for four. This is where the locals hang and the views can’t be beat. One of the most reasonably priced restaurants in the area is Veltlinerkeller (081-833-4009), downhill from Dorf toward Bad, which serves wonderful local dishes.

The acclaimed Italian restaurant, Grissini (081-836-2626) in Hotel Crystal, is very affordable for lunches. The daily lunch menu is between €12 and €15. Dinner is much more expensive heading up to €52.

Dinner at Meierei (081-833-3242; fax 081-833-8838; photo right) which looks across the lake to the town, is very romantic. Ask for a table with a view. The restaurant is in an old farmhouse about a 20-minute walk from town (or take a horse-drawn sleigh). The daily menu starts at only €15 and a la carte can range up to €60.

Another excellent restaurant is Chasellas (081-8333854) in the Hotel Suvretta House. This great place to catch a bite right after you leave the slopes becomes a des-tination for gourmets craving Italian haute cuisine at night.

The new Post Haus restaurant (formerly the Posthotel) was designed by star architect Lord Norman Foster. Check it out for reasonably priced lunches, €15. In the evenings, it costs more but still is not expensive. There’s also a nice bar and lounge.

Recommended budget places are the Engadina (081-833-3265) for fondue, Hanselmann (081-833-3864) for breakfast and lunch, and Trattoria Bellaval (081-833-3245).