I had the opportunity to visit Geneva in early March. This was my second time visiting Geneva, as I had previously visited for a work business trip in November 2019.
Geneva is located in the south-westernmost corner of Switzerland. The city is situated along the banks of Europe’s largest lake, Lake Geneva (Lac Léman), at the mouth of the Rhone River and is bordered by the Jura Mountains to the west and the French Alps to the east. Geneva is geographically surrounded by France from west, south and east. It takes about an hour drive to get from Geneva to Chamonix, France. And about another 45 mins to travel over to Italy.
Lake Geneva is beautiful and the city is old with rich history. It's also very much a business hub. It was pretty cold while I visited but once bundled up, daily walks and tram rides were a great way to explore the city.
Make sure to visit Laderach for some delicious chocolates. There are so many different chocolate shops to try but I did really enjoy the multiple samples of bars they offer.
Below are a few pics.
Now, let’s talk about eating GF in Geneva, Switzerland... A lot harder than you might think 🤔.
I did a ton of research before arriving in Geneva looking for bakeries, good breakfast/lunch spots, and dinner options for pasta and pizza.
This is what I can share:
1. It’s expensive to eat out in Geneva. As expensive as Bermuda.
2. Finding GF food was tough. And finding celiac safe spaces even harder. Fortunately for me, I am not celiac so the worry of cross contamination was not an issue. My picky eater son would find it very difficult to eat out there though.
3. The grocery stores in the city have some products but not a huge variety. There were several good Schar products. A couple of people I spoke to told me that there isn’t a big awareness around celiac disease and eating gluten free in Geneva. Many people actually travel over to Italy to get products since it is nearby.
What I also discovered was that many of the places that were listed as GF either were not open or did not exist! I ended up eating loads of salads and veggies during my stay and feeling so healthy.
4. Places I ate:
Restaurant Les armures (fondue) - I really wanted to try the fondue. Traditional way is to have cheese fondue with bread and boiled potatoes for dipping. They brought me a plate of lovely fresh lightly toasted GF bread to enjoy the fondue and I also had a nice plate of roasted veggies and salad.
https://www.lesarmures.ch/en/restaurant/
Cusina Pizza Leggera - enjoyed a great GF (celiac safe) pizza and a yummy lemon tart dessert.
https://pizzaleggera.ch/rive/
White Rabbit - I ended up here for brunch one day. I was hoping to find some pancakes but they only accommodated GF bread. I had a veggie omlette and delicious GF toast with a tasty cappuccino. Very aesthetically pleasing little spot.
https://white-rabbit.ch/
Aime pouly - This was a gluten full bakery and sandwich spot. The only things I was able to grab were a soup and salad.
Boreal - stumbled across this coffee shop early one morning and to my surprise they had several little GF treats such as cookies, brownies and protein balls to enjoy with my coffee. I forgot to take a photo of the treats, sigh.
https://borealcoffee.ch/
La Bombonneire - delicious hot chocolate. I read several of the chocolate bar ingredients and could not safely confirm if they were GF, save for one milk chocolate bar, which I grabbed for my son. Why is wheat added into chocolate????
https://labonbonniere.ch/en/
Piaf - I took a journey to find this place because I was desperate to find fresh GF bread. When I arrived at the location I couldn’t find any real signage and discovered that this was not a storefront but a bakery kitchen only.
I had a nice chat with the owner, a fellow female entrepreneur, who is specializing in GF breads and bagels. She was so kind and gave me an extra bagel that she had on hand to try. The bagel was truly amazing.
Piaf now has a small store front and they deliver throughout Geneva daily as well as throughout Switzerland. I can't wait to go back and visit the shop.
Piaf breads and bagels can also be found at local grocery stores and restaurants around the area. A few places to note are: Foound, Kiss the Ground and Organy.
https://piafglutenfree.com/
Tupi Healthy GF bakery - This was another adventure on a quest to find baked goods. This little GF and Vegan bakery is within an industrial area near the train stop. They have a variety of vegan and GF treats.
https://en.tupi.ch/
Melrose kitchen (GF) - cookies, protein balls, oatmeal (porridge), smoothies. I enjoyed some of their cookies. Was hoping to make it back for some oatmeal but didn’t get a chance and also ended up finding out that they use Piaf’s GF bread for their sandwiches which I didn't get a chance to try.
https://melrosekitchen.ch/
Breakfast at Tiffany’s - Tiffany Hotel where I stayed was able to accommodate some GF bread to go with my breakfast. They had a great selection of yogurts and fruits. Their restaurant menu however did not wow me in the least and I never ate there.
Some of the places I didn’t make it to or that I looked for but discovered were closed during my visit:
Ou bien Encore (Vegan & GF options)
Alive (GF & Vegan)
Be kind - comes up when you search but is permanently closed
Annecy, France
This beautiful town was not far from Geneva.
I had heard about a fully Gluten free bakery, Liber Art (https://liber-art.fr/en), so I went to check it out.
Enjoyed some brioche gluten free bread with a chocolate spread, a couple of different muffins, and tarts as well as some cookies to go.
