Star Chefs
Nik Gygax: Mussels, Turbot and King Crabs
Three times a year, Nik Gygax (Thörigen) hosts the „Festival aux Fruits de Mer.“ A declaration of love to Brittany!
March 3, 2019
Text: Patricia Heller Photos: Olivia Pulver
One-man show at the „Löie.“ Those who haven’t seen it with their own eyes can hardly believe it: Bianchi sends the finest fish and crustaceans from Brittany to the Landgasthof Löwen in Thörigen BE. Delighted guests enjoy well over a dozen dishes. And all of this is prepared outside in the kitchen by 18-point chef Nik Gygax (almost) solo; only cook Köbi assists him. Nik does it with stoic calm. And with class: every course is a „hit.“ The guests witness it firsthand: they collect their plates themselves from the kitchen. „Löie-style“ indeed, very charming.
The appetizer buffet in all its splendor, leaving nothing to be desired.
Fresh oysters for slurping, served on ice with lemon.
Tuna with avocado.
Crab meat lovingly wrapped with the first green mini asparagus.
King crab artfully arranged on various vegetable purées.
Princess potatoes with fresh lobster and spring blossoms.
In love with Brittany. Of course, the „Löwen“ Thörigen also offers local specialties: one of the best „Cordon bleu“ in the country, hearty pig’s trotters with truffle („Sphères de pied de porc au diamant noir de Provence“). But his greatest love belongs to Brittany. And Provence. He travels there again and again. Even on vacation. Even for a weekend. Nik: „Köbi and I were quickly at the truffle market in Richerenches. Always an experience.“ The best from Brittany comes to the table at rapid pace during the „Festival aux Fruits de mer.“ Mussels of all kinds (Creuses de Cancale, Palourdes, Couteaux, Oursins), giant fish: the classics turbot, Saint Pierre and bar de ligne, but also baudroie. „I want it with the head on,“ says Nik, „not so easy to get.“
Fresh mussels bedded on moss: cooked in a cast-iron pan on the Green Egg.
Nik’s signature: the fantastic bouillabaisse with rouille.
The reduced lobster bisque, served in the sea urchin shell with the extracted lobster claws.
What a bisque! This is how it goes when Gygax calls for the seafood buffet battle: champagne, oysters and oven-fresh giant braided bread (three kilos of flour!) are served outside in the garden even in winter temperatures. Inside, bowls, small bowls and plates await: an inspiring appetizer buffet with lobster in apple jelly, razor clams, ceviche, tuna with avocado and crab meat in a mini asparagus wreath, lovingly served under a glass cloche. Then the duel of soups: a fantastically reduced lobster bisque with powerful sauce rouille and Nik’s magnificent bouillabaisse, already a signature of the „Löie“ kitchen.
Skate wing with vegetable balls and jus.
Noble lasagna: with lobster, corail and saffron sauce
Scampi with pea purée, tomatoes and burrata.
Turbot with carrots and fresh morels in a cream sauce.
Saltimbocca of monkfish on barley, tomato and jus.
Lobster, scampi, skate. Actually, that would be enough. But now the 18-point chef fires up the stove and Green Egg, serving 12 (!) impressive hot dishes. The Breton lobster has particularly captivated him: lobster lasagna with coraille, lobster with potatoes and saffron sauce, lobster claws with zucchini blossoms. The crispy scampi came with pea purée and burrata (!). Skate and rouget had their appearance and of course also a wonderfully succulent turbot: on giant morels, with peas and carrots. A huge effort, but Nik Gygax doesn’t see it that way: „I enjoy such a Fruits de Mer festival myself.“ His former cooks and apprentices obviously do too: for the already quite fully booked dates in March, they come to Thörigen. Not as guests, but as reinforcement in the kitchen.