Bric-a-Brac 44
A Swiss winter road trip from St. Moritz to Gstaad and everything in between; a dreamy deep-dive into Burgundy’s wine and art; and packing hacks from Métier’s Melissa Morris
Just back from…Switzerland
While Yolanda and Matt were busy cleansing on the shores of Lake Constance, I happened to be nearby on a much different program, full of lots of cheese, cocktailing and merrymaking in a few hallowed corners of Switzerland. Like many American visitors, I approached the two-week visit with an ambitious itinerary: back-to-back weekends spent St. Moritz, interspersed with stops in Gstaad, Zurich, Andermatt and Milan.
Living in New York City I don’t drive very often, so it remains a novelty for me. With that in mind, I opted to drive myself through the Alps on this lengthy journey, which began in a bleary-eyed way following a red-eye to Milan. Here, I picked up my rental car from Sixt, which offers a more polished fleet of cars than your average Hertz or Alamo, and hit the road in an Audi station wagon packed to the hilt with my very hefty—and very impractical—winter wardrobe. While many of my friends pride themselves on never checking a bag, I’ve succumbed to the fact that I do not travel light, and having the car on hand made lugging my luggage fairly easy, versus navigating the Swiss train system with 3 trolleys in tow. If you don’t want to spend your time behind the wheel, the Bernina or Glacier Express from Zurich to St. Moritz offer incredible views and, if timed correctly, an exceptional dining car.
ST. MORITZ
My first stop was St. Moritz, a reasonable 2.5 hour drive from Milan’s Malpensa Airport, part of which stretches through the Julier Pass, one of the country’s most scenic roads that often experiences its own microcosm of weather conditions. On this bluebird day, the drive was a breeze, but the following weekend a near white-out meant a long snaking line of cars moving at a glacial pace. Despite any extra hurdles, the journey is always worth it, thanks to some of my favorite spots in town.
Badrutt's Palace: The hub for most social activity in town, where the lobby is often bustling with activity at any hour of the day. Opened in 1896 by Caspar Badrutt, the hotel still maintains the same “grand-tour era” charm in its common areas, while her rooms—including the four-bedroom penthouse suite located in the building’s turret—are updated with all of the bells and whistles one expects from a luxury hotel stay. My favorite touch was the digital clock set into the mirror, a tactful tool when getting ready for a night out.
Chesa Veglia: Also owned by Badrutt’s Palace and located across the street from the hotel is Chesa Veglia, a former farmhouse that now houses three restaurants, including the pizzeria, a difficult reservation to snag. However, my favorite spot is the Polo Bar (no Ralph Lauren affiliation!). Housed in what once served as the farmhouse oven, it’s now home to the memorabilia and trophies from past years of the Snow Polo World Championship, and perhaps the best spot in town for a cocktail lovingly made by expert barman, Luciano.
The Cresta Run: The death-defying ice track where those crazy enough—many of them long-standing members—head down the course face-first on a wooden toboggan. It’s presided over by a clubhouse, where race times are posted and the bull shot remains a favorite cocktail.
Sunny Bar: Housed inside the Kulm Hotel, the Sunny Bar is a lunch club of sorts for members of The Cresta, but at night is transformed into a Peruvian restaurant helmed by Chef Claudia Canessa, which is often a welcome break from fondue and veal.
The Olympia Bob Run: Located a stone’s throw from the Cresta is the oldest bobsleigh track in the world. Opened in 1904, the track played host to the bobsleigh events in the 1928 and 1948 Winter Olympics. Today, visitors can experience a ride down the track guided by a seasoned pilot.
The Suvretta House: Set away from downtown St. Moritz is the Suvretta House, which remains a beautiful relic of a bygone era in hospitality. It was here that I had a Beef Wellington so well made I may or may not have shed a tear, and where every facet of a guest’s stay down to the dry cleaning is done with care.
Muottas Muragl: Reachable by funicular, Muottas Muragl is the perfect spot for a long lunch spent watching the paragliders take off from the mountain peaks and taking sun in one of the striped cabana chairs.
Café Belmont: Owned and operated by the dashing year-round St. Moritzer, Silvano Vitalini, Café Belmont is favored by locals for its morning coffee service and evening happy hour where they come together at the end of the day to trade war stories of tourists like you and me.
The Grand Hotel Kronenhof: Located in nearby Pontresina, this sister hotel to The Kulm recently underwent an interior redesign of the lobby and two bars, though the hotel’s skating rink restaurant, Le Pavillon, remains a favorite for me.
Ebneter & Biel: A sleeper hit of a store where Apenzeller belts can be purchased for a reasonable $100-150, depending on the size and style of buckle.
The Dracula Club: A private member’s club where photos are forbidden, but most good nights end here on the dance floor, under the glow of a garlic-shaped disco ball. You’ll need to cozy up to someone with an in to access it.
GSTAAD
The crowds in Gstaad and St. Moritz don’t often mix. While Gstaad attracts a largely French crowd, St. Moritz leans more Italian. The journey between the two is not easy either, calling for a whopping 5 hours of road time, most of which is spent on highways. But for the last hour or so, the drive routes through several one-road, idyllic towns worth stopping into for a snack or break to take in the scenery. This marked my first visit to Gstaad, though its in-your-face ultra-luxe reputation precedes itself, and it was delivered in spades during my two nights there. A few friends served as my impromptu guides, directing me on where and where not to go. Among my favorites…
Gstaad Palace: Like Badrutt’s Palace in St. Moritz, Gstaad Palace is the hub for the town. Its lobby (which includes a bar decorated with a staggering collection of matchbooks) is a hive of activity which makes for A+ people watching, from octogenarians with tiny dogs to students from the nearby private school, Le Rosay, splurging on lunch off-campus. Away from the lobby, though, are the true standout facets of the property, including a wellness center and spa that would feel right at home in Los Angeles, a subterranean disco known to rollick on until daylight, and another five restaurants. It’s the sort of property you don’t have to leave if you’re not compelled to, but of course I ventured into town several times to explore.
Wally’s: My favorite find was Wally’s, a fun and completely unexpected stalwart of the tony town serving up hamburgers and hot dogs from a small service window. Here, all walks of life mix seamlessly, proof that no one can resist a good burger and fries.
Hotel Olden: A more pared-down hotel option in the town center, where the Alpine architecture and interiors shine. Here, the café and bar are a frequent meeting point for locals to gossip and people watch.
ZURICH
The route in and out of Zurich takes you along the lake, making for fantastic views and several opportunities to stop off (which is how I stumbled upon Frohe Aussicht Oberrieden, mentioned below), but one should keep in mind that the rush hour in and out of the city can add a good chunk of time to your journey, and street parking in scarce. My one night in Zurich served as a miniature layover before visiting the Victorinox factory in Ibach, Switzerland, but in just 24 hours I was able to experience a few standouts…
Le Bijou LQ82 Limmat: I haven’t used AirBnb in a bit, but some sort of pharmaceutical conference seemed to have taken up all of the hotel rooms—though the Dolder Grand, Baur au Lac and Eden au Lac are all worthy of a visit, even just for a drink. Instead, I took a chance at booking Le Bijou, which turned out to be a true hidden gem. The two-bedroom apartment features all the benefits of a hotel stay, as well as a terrace, a full kitchen, and an unbeatable location on the bank of the Limmat River, all for about half the price of a hotel room. Best of all, check in and check out are automated using a keypad.
Pelikamo: A menswear destination where we wound up hosting an impromptu celebration of Robert Spangle’s Afghan Style. The shop’s husband-and-wife owners, Sebastiaan Vadasz and Mia Zeltner, have an exacting eye when it comes to producing suiting, knitwear, footwear and just about anything else a guy might need. This also includes a 3-liter bottle of pre-batched Negronis, made using all-Swiss ingredients.
Kronenhalle: Come for the art, but stay for the schnitzel. A meal at Kronenhalle demands a full evening, starting with a cocktail in the adjacent wood-paneled bar and ending with a fluffy helping of chocolate mousse, all while surrounded by blue-chip artworks from the likes of Miró, Chagall and Braque.
Frohe Aussicht Oberrieden: Located on a hillside overlooking Lake Zurich, about 20 minutes from downtown Zurich, this restaurant was a complete fluke of a find when I impulsively took an exit off the highway to find lunch. It’s a small jewel box eatery with a sweeping views of the lake, and a menu of daily specialties like a curry bisque and a mushroom and fig ravioli.
ANDERMATT
My final stop in Switzerland was Andermatt, where I headed following the St. Moritz Snow Polo weekend of non-stop festivities. The drive between the two takes about 3 hours, and ends in the 10-mile-long Gotthard Road Tunnel that really drives home the feeling that you’re entering a sort of Bond Villain lair. In fact, the town was once a secretive military hub where a whopping 6 minutes of James Bond’s Goldfinger was filmed in 1964. Now, it’s home to the strikingly modern, Japanese-influenced Chedi Andermatt Hotel and not much else, which I found to be a nice change of pace as there was no pressure to make this a whistle-stop tour of sights. Though the property does offer a slew of typical Swiss dishes and an impressive glass “cheese tower” room full of just about every cheese known to man, I opted to treat my time there as a cleanse of sorts after ten days of excess. This included ample time spent in the pool and spa, full of Tata Harper products, and a Japanese bento-box lunch, enjoyed in one of the hotel’s restaurants, reachable by gondola.
Zachary Weiss is a New York-based brand consultant, editor, and writer. His work has appeared in Vogue, Architectural Digest, Travel + Leisure, and Ralph Lauren’s RL Mag.
HOW I PACK
I met Melissa Morris last fall in London over drinks with friends, although I already knew who she was because I’m a fan of Métier, her accessories line. The next day I went to visit her in the store to see the whole collection, and was blown away by the geek-out practicality and actual common sense that is hidden inside the beautiful shell of her bags. As she walked me through her design process, she talked about how she lives and travels with her bags. “I am usually packing for a business trip and then tag on a few days to myself at the end to decompress! This allows me to properly enjoy and discover wherever I am visiting,” she said. I knew we had to get her to share her packing tips here.
Go-to luggage?
Without fail, I always bring my Perriand Weekend—it's the perfect carry-on bag for me and with the Stowaway inside, I always have a smaller bag at hand. Then I will also bring a checked bag depending on how long I am away for. Especially in the winter when I have sweaters and boots, I usually have to check a bag, though I always try as hard as I can to avoid it. I pride myself on being very speedy through an airport!
How do you approach the basics?
I wear a lot of classic pieces that can mix and match or layer in different ways, which helps a lot. I always bring my favorite white shirt, black cashmere pullover, black silk cami and blazer—and then I bring different jeans and trousers along with shoes and belts to create different outfits. The same cashmere pullover looks very casual with jeans, a tweed blazer and cowboy boots, or can be really smart with a pair of silk trousers and a simple pair of kitten heels. This helps me to rarely overpack (and then hopefully can have hand luggage only!).
Are you a roller or a folder?
Haha—a combination of both, now that I think of it! I fold my pieces in thirds, just because they stack up perfectly in my bag that way. I also use our packing pouches, which help keep everything organized and compact.
Any other packing tricks or hacks?
It sounds simple, but I have a pouch at home with all my electric adapters so it's always easy to find the ones I need for each trip. Before I did this, I always lost them or got lazy and put them in random places and could never find them! I know I am biased, but our toiletry pouches are also a game changer. There is a hidden zipper pocket underneath the lid for your toothbrush or razor, and I have carefully dimensioned them to fit so much more than you would expect—it constantly surprises clients. The same goes for the makeup pouch I designed with Gucci Westman—it has the same hidden pocket underneath the lid for your makeup brushes and other organization for your makeup, so when you arrive at your hotel, the makeup pouch almost becomes a small vanity.
I also always pack enough yoga clothes to practice every day. I am pretty strict about keeping up my practice when I travel, and I find it helps me so much, especially after long flights and busy days on the go.
What’s your shoe strategy?
I keep it pretty simple—black and brown/ tan, and white in summer—with options for dressing up or down. I have my perfect set of classic pieces that I always feel great in, so I stick to that.
How do you think about accessories?
I wear minimal jewelry, and actually very few accessories in general (other than bags!). I will bring a few belts—and love mixing neutrals, so will wear a pair of black jeans and my black cashmere pullover with a tobacco-colored belt with a gold buckle and then a simple gold chain necklace. For me, less is always more.
Do you have a great travel hat?
Yes! There is an amazing hat shop on the same block as Chez Dédé in Rome, and I found my favorite hat there! I used to wear a lot of hats, actually, but they always got stuck in the security belt at the airport and I would always forget them behind—so now I just tuck it inside my weekend bag so that can't happen again!
What’s always in your Dopp kit/toiletry bag?
My Vitamin C Scrub and a super-hydrating mask (it always feels so good after a flight). I have started to bring sheet masks too on long haul flights thanks to my facialist, Adeela Crown, who has convinced me it is absolutely OK to pop one on in flight. I was a bit unsure, but it honestly makes such a difference, especially if I am going straight into meetings after a flight. It just helps to feel your freshest.
On a plane, what essentials does your carry-on bag always contain?
My sketchbook for sure! I actually love to sketch when I am in flight. I never connect to wifi, so I find it a great time to draw. Then I will always pack my air pods—I listen to music wherever I go—and then I love to read, so I always will grab the latest book I am reading. And finally! I always bring an oversized lightweight cashmere scarf, which feels like a treat to wrap myself in during the flight.
What’s your pharmacy kit?
I have carry-on size sunscreen for my face, and then I just head to the pharmacy at the airport to pick up a fresh bottle of sunscreen. Beyond that, I look forward to the body lotions and shampoos at the hotel—my favorite are the rosemary ones at Il Pellicano. I am obsessed!
Any wisdom on traveling with electronics?
I have a small pocket on the inside of my Perriand Weekend which I designed to hold my chargers and converters, so it's super easy. I worked really hard to create a system of pockets that would be intuitive to use, so without thought you just know where everything is. I find if organization is too complicated or burdensome, I never actually use it—I tried really hard to design my pieces to have a place for everything you need and nothing extra that you do not.
Do you have a travel uniform?
Yes! For long haul flights, it’s black leggings, a t-shirt and an oversized cashmere sweater with converse. For short European trips, I just wear whatever I will wear when I arrive!
THE NAVIGATOR
Milena Berman, co-founder of Hautes Côtes
Tell us about you and your company. Hautes Côtes creates deep-dive experiences surrounding wine and art, with a specialty in France, where we are based. I studied art history and worked in galleries before moving to Burgundy from California 10 years ago. I began organizing trips for art collectors and museum patrons focusing on private access to the exclusive art world, which has evolved in a wonderful way over time. Living in Burgundy and being immersed in wine, the worlds of wine and culture began to naturally blend, so my partner (a wine specialist and winemaker) and I decided to create Hautes Côtes, merging the creative and wine industries. The Hautes Côtes (literally meaning High Coasts) is the wilder, less frequented, and deeply beautiful part of Burgundy where we live. Situated just above the revered winemaking villages of Pommard and Beaune, the Hautes Côtes is symbolic of where we want to take our guests: off the beaten path… or just above it.
What is the sweet spot of your expertise? Terroir, the concept that a wine or any given product can express a sense of place, is at the heart of everything we do. Understanding a wine’s terroir means more than learning about the grape or the winemaker. It means exploring the surrounding ecology, culinary and cultural heritage, geology, the changing climate, and the human influence. I like to apply this to art, too. To understand a work of art or a movement, we look not only at the artist and their history, but also at the social and historical influences surrounding them, their contemporaries, the cultural climate including architecture, fashion, artisan traditions and more. So to properly tell these stories of terroir through travel experiences, we get a 360-degree view on our trips, all around and beneath the surface: that is our sweet spot.
A favorite experience/trip you’ve planned that best represents your philosophy… An immersion in the contemporary wine and art scenes of France for a private group. The art market’s European center of gravity is shifting from London to Paris, so this is a very exciting time here. We begin with experiences in the effervescent contemporary art scene of Paris, followed by a deep-dive into pinot noir and chardonnay in Burgundy. This trip is all about interacting with the makers, the movers and shakers, the stewards of culture and the land, blending the disciplines in both places—think meals with artists and winemakers, gallery and studio visits, private collections, wine tastings in storied cellars, convivial dinners in private spaces, hikes through ancient Burgundian forests, and more.
A favorite hotel/lodge/house you love and go back to again and again… Our friend Tom’s lodge in the village of Auxey Duresses, named The Hungry Cyclist after the novel he wrote about cycling the Americas on a foodie adventure. Surrounded by vineyards and forests, brimming with antiques, well-stocked with wood for the fireplace and a cellar full of great wines makes it cozy in the winter. Tom is a passionate gardener, so the grounds come to life in the spring and it becomes a wild yet incredibly thoughtful flower paradise buzzing with activity. Breakfast with a view on the terrace, hikes and cycles to the surrounding villages, afternoon swims in the pool, and BBQs paired with fantastic wines and the best company. Our favorite Burgundy staycation.
The most memorable meal you’ve had while traveling… In the Jura (Burgundy’s gem of a neighbor, where time seems to stand still), a forgettable restaurant with an unforgettable pairing—I will never forget the first time I had vin jaune with a 36-month-old aged Comté. It remains my favorite wine and food pairing.
A not-to-be-missed favorite experience in your region of expertise… In Burgundy: drink a bottle of Aubert de Villaine’s (unfindable) Domaine de la Romanée Conti (yes, the DRC) white Hautes Côtes de Beaune at Au Petit Bonheur, a cozy bistro with delicious refined yet soulful cuisine tucked away into the Hautes Côtes de Beaune. Bottles from this mythical winery are difficult to come by and astronomical in price, but this simpler Hautes Côtes de Beaune is affordable and has a lovely story. After lunch, hike to visit the ruins of the Abbaye de Saint Vivant, which has an ancient connection to the domaine and the bottle you had for lunch.
Underrated location, overrated location, personal favorite, recent discovery? I recently went to the Luberon on a scouting trip and while this part of Provence is far from being an underrated discovery, being there in the off-season was new for me. I only knew the sun drenched, poolside, lavender field version, which consequently is matched with swarms of tourists. Being there in late November meant that many shops and attractions were closed, but I loved the quiet, the emphasized wilderness, layers of olive trees, pine trees and vineyards, bundled up walks in the forest, the smell of cedar and figs.
What is something you wished we all knew or were better at as travelers? Coming back to the same place again. We are so hungry to see new places, which is wonderful. But finding a few ultra special corners of the world, making friends there, finding a favorite cafe, restaurant or place to stay, and coming back, is so special. A repeated pilgrimage to a place we know we love and go back to go deeper each time, is incredibly rewarding.
How do you want people to reach out to you?
www.hautescotes.com; milena@hautescotes.com; IG: @hautes_cotes
MOODBOARD
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Thank you for this wonderful article.