Déguster le Foie Gras à Yvoire

In 2022 I made my way to Geneva, Switzerland for the International Congress of Clinical Neurophysiology for work. I was excited to get back to Europe and made plans to take a week off after the conference so I could visit my host family in Germany. I was also excited to hang out with my new coworkers Tate and Bianca. Tate is from Montana and was a new employee through an acquisition. Bianca was my European counterpart based in Bucharest, Romania.

Bianca happened to have an old school pal who now lives in Geneva and he offered to take us all to dinner, one night, in France. Tate wasn’t known for hanging out most of the time, but we convinced him to join us on this little adventure. Our gracious host took us on a small drive from Geneva to the town of Nyon so we could ferry across Lac Léman (Lake Geneva).

The short ferry trip took us to the medieval French town, Yvoire. We spent around an hour walking around the charming old village. Our dinner plans were at the restaurant and hotel Le Pré de la Cure, which had a beautiful view of the lake.

To make it on the last ferry back, we sat for dinner right when the place opened and were the only diners there for a while. Bianca got us started with a bottle of local red wine. We each ordered an appetizer for the table. I ordered the foie gras.

I’ve wanted to try foie gras for years! It was on my culinary bucket list and there was no better time and place. I will never forget the whole dining experience that night. Spending time with my colleagues and our Genevan host was one of those work experiences that can’t be taken for granted.

The French dining experience can be long and we narrowly made it on the last ferry of the night.