It seems a given that anyone visiting the beautiful city and region of Lucerne,  Switzerland, will be asked more than once if they have visited Bürgenstock, the vast eagle’s nest resort at the top of a 3,600-foot mountain of the same name in the Uri Alps, reached by a funicular after a breathtakingly beautiful boat ride from the Lucerne Europaplatz docks.

    Now composed of four hotels, private residence suites, two spas, a wellness center and nine restaurants, the resort dates back to 1873 as the Grand Hotel and then the Park Hotel. From 1925 to 1996 the complex was owned by the Frey-Furst family, and immediately a parade of international notables came to marvel at the resort’s vast splendor, from Sophia Loren and Audrey Hepburn to Sean Connery, who stayed there while filming the Alps section of the 1964 movie “Goldfinger.”

    In fact, Bürgenstock has the remote look of a fabulously wealthy Bond villain’s lair, and the funicular would make for a great action scene. After several transfers of ownership and management over the subsequent years, the resort was bought by the Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, wholly owned by the State of Qatar, and since 2013, more than 485 million CHF has been invested, with a total re-opening in 2017.

    I haven’t the room in this column to detail all the attractions and amenities of the Bürgenstock, except to say that it ranks with the best of its kind as a mountain resort anywhere in Europe or the U.S. Its modern rooms have been carefully situated to take full advantage of the stunning panorama of Lake Lucerne, the trails into the woods are as very beautiful as they are restful, and the pool and spa offerings as up-to-the-moment as any.

    I was able to dine at two of Bürgenstock’s restaurants, the casual and very handsome Spices  and the more formal gastronomic dining salon, The Ritzcoffier.

    Spices has a wrap-around window dining area with a large show kitchen (left) featuring Asian food culture that takes in China, Japan, Thailand and India, including sushi and dim sum. My wife and I enjoyed the six-course 80CHF lunch that began with a grilled chicken and tamarind salad; fried wonton with crabmeat and chili; a lovely, aromatic Thai coconut soup with sea bass; tandoori chicken with naan; wok-seared beef with black pepper sauce;  steamed jasmine rice; and a chilled mango pudding. There is also an extensive à la carte menu.

     At the time we dined at the Ritzcoffier, a new, more casual dining room and open kitchen (below) was being built for the restaurant—now open—but we dined splendidly in an adjacent, more formal room, where we put ourselves in the hands of Chef de Cuisine Bertrand Charles, who works with France’s Marc Haeberlin on the sumptuous menu. Courses are remarkably well priced for this level of haute cuisine: three courses for 125CHF, four for 155CHF and five for 185CHF, with tax and service included.

    Charles told me, “I work with local farmers, and they tell me what is ready and when to cook with.”

Among the dishes we thoroughly enjoyed was Haeberlin’s silky foie gras with gelée and brioche bread we learned was made with equal amounts flour and butter; the season’s sweet white asparagus with crayfish, a dollop of caviar and seaweed dehydrated to look like “soil”; an odd dish of a whole onion carved out to contain a rich duck broth with potatoes, truffles and cheese; and gorgeously pink slices of veal tenderloin with carrots, peas and veal bacon. Haeberlin’s poached pear with sabayon and a very moist Black Forest Cake ended the meal. The wine list, I hardly need mention, is one of the finest in the region. Now that the new room is open, I assume the view from a table must be spectacular and, even if you’re not staying at the resort, a trip from Lucerne would make for a highly romantic evening.

    Back in Lucerne itself, just about every kind of restaurant is in ample supply, from Indian to Vietnamese. Assuming, you’d want to have at least one traditional Swiss meal, there are several good options. An old favorite with a beautiful dining room is Wilden Mann (Bahnhofstrasse 30; +41 41 210 16 66), which dates as a hotel to 1860.  The restaurant has two rooms, the Bürgerstube, with country furniture, ceiling beams and fireplace (left), and the  slightly more formal Sauvage (Wilden Mann means “wild man” of the mountains).  In recent years the menu has become more international, but there are still plenty of traditional dishes, from bauernschweins bratwurst pork sausage with onion sauce (26CHF) to Geschnetztes Kalbfleish (veal stew) with rösti  potatoes (39CHF). Desserts are negligible. The wine list is strong in bottlings from Vaud.

    More rustic and cozier is Wirsthaus Taube (Burgerstrasse 3, +41 41 210 07 47), with stucco and wood walls, graceful archways (right) and both a local and tourist clientele that pack the place, not least for the modestly priced menus and huge portions, including a two-course offering of the day’s soup or salad and fried pork schnitzel for 21.80CHF or char filet for 28.80CHF. The menu is large, the wine list poor, so have a good Swiss beer like Ur Bräu. One of the heartiest of dishes is rösti potatoes with a fried egg, tomato, bacon and melted cheese that requires a good walk afterwards.

    Since Switzerland has its German, French and Italian cantons, you can expect excellent examples of their cuisines, not least Italian, which I found at Barbatti (Töpferstrasse 10, +41 41 410 13 41), one of the cheeriest spots in town, with a large dining room decorated with antique furniture, crystal chandeliers and busts of what I assume are ancient Romans (left). The place is packed at lunch and dinner and the staff is very fast paced, with a menu just large enough for the kitchen to maintain consistency at peak hours. For appetizers there are carpaccios, one of beef (24CHF), the other of octopus (23CHF), and a zuppa di pesce (15CHF).  

The pastas number eight selections, and we very much enjoyed the potato gnocchi (right) with sweet tomatoes (a special that day for 21CHF or 27CHF for small and large portions) and light, delicate ravioli stuffed with eggplant in a tomato basil sauce (21CHF/27CHF). There is a mixed grill of local seafood (48CHF) and calf’s liver alla veneziana with sweet onions and balsamic vinegar (39CHF). The wine list is largely Italian and not cheap. They also offer a children’s menu.

    Remember, service and tax are included in the price of the food, so tipping should be minimal, no more than 10 percent for special service.