Seidenspinner
Ankerstrasse 120
Cuisines: European, Continental
About
One of the city's most stylish and offbeat restaurants occupies a small but high-ceilinged dining room within what many Zurichers define as a deeply entrenched red light district near Helvetiaplatz, just behind the city's main railway station. It was established a few years ago by one of the city's leading importers of silk, making it the only venue we know of where you can shop for fabrics before dining. Inside the restaurant, you'll find a roster of glass-mosaics, enormous bouquets of artfully arranged flowers, and elaborate table settings that manage to be simultaneously whimsical yet formal, all of this a bemused contrast to the more sordid human dramas occurring on the pavements just outside. The list of food options here is limited but choice, often with no more than four appetizers, four main courses, and four desserts offered for consumption on any given evening. All ingredients are organic and seasonal, listed on an oft-changing handwritten menu, and "spun" into a frequently changing array of dishes likely to include elaborate salads; a "trio" of soups served within three espresso cups (they are likely to include potato leek soup, creamy red beet soup, and a carrot-with-orange soup); homemade ravioli stuffed with ricotta and strips of organic salmon; succulent pastas; roasted filet of lamb served with olives and roasted potatoes; and stroganoff of beef.
