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La Marmite, at Mathis Food Affairs

The restaurant is located more than halfway up the mountain in the funicular station at Corviglia. This place is an institution: a slightly cartoonish rendering of a high-end gourmet restaurant, with a menu focusing on foie gras, truffles, lobster, venison, gravlax, and caviar. You get the idea. Needless to say, it's a popular spot with the Russians. The waitresses wear ruffled lace aprons à la Heidi, and there's a man singing Simon & Garfunkel songs in a dubious accent. It's all just a little silly, but the food is remarkable—light and fresh, a relief after days of fondue and pasta. "I combine the best local products with exotic flavors," says Reto Mathis, chef and proprietor and all-around local dynamo, whose father founded the restaurant in 1967.