Surprise, surprise, there is a restaurant in town that has maintained a low profile, despite its good food and intimate ambience. Although I can’t find Chamonix anywhere in our local phone directories, I do know (thanks to our waiter) that the restaurant is named after a town found at the base of the Swiss-French Alps.

The main chef is Ms. Ana Lilia Galindo, who also owns the establishment along with her sister and husband. Ms. Galindo states that she has always loved cooking, but received her ‘formal’ training in the culinary schools of Spain. To our surprise, the restaurant has been formally open in San Miguel for three years, when we thought they had just opened six months ago. We only visited because friends had told us the food had been a pleasant surprise, despite the appearance of a desolate establishment.

The best description of the food served is Eur-Asian. They combine European cuisine with Thai and Vietnamese dishes and come up with exotic combinations, which titillate the palate and surprise the taste buds.

We began by ordering from the Antipasto choices: Vietnamese rolls, which were actually delicate transparent rice rolls, stuffed with vegetables and served as a cold-dish, with a peanut-sauce, soy sauce and chile sauce, on the side. They were exceptional for SMA and above average for most cosmopolitan cities. The surprise dish, however, I had tasted before in Bangkok during the 60’s…Lettuce rolls, consisting of iceberg lettuce leaves which one would tear and stuff with a delicious hot dish of marinated chicken pate combined with a heavy peanut-sauce, resulting in an explosive but refreshing contrast of a hot and cold taco.

We ordered two different soups: an Artichoke soup and a Brie Cheese soup. They were both excellent and varied in texture. The artichoke soup was mild and delicate, but very rich and creamy. The Brie soup, though delicate and creamy, had a tartness and sandy-aftertaste, obviously left from crust of the Brie cheese, which had been blended into the soup. The soups were both exotic and delicious by themselves, but they were also very rich and filling. Half the served portions would probably have satisfied the normal client, if he or she planned to proceed with a Main Entree.

We were offered some specials for the Main Entree, but stuck to the main menu...Rosti, an entree consisting of thinly grated potatoes, with finely chopped mushrooms, and chunks of marinated delicate beef, covered with a red wine cream-sauce, which was tasty and delicate. The Curry Chicken was fair, but the curry was too creamy and salty for the majority of our tastes...ni modo...The Vietnamese Steak was a very tenderized ‘sandwich steak’ that had been marinated in lemon and covered with sesame seeds and cracked black-pepper, roasted and lay upon a bed of fine rice noodles on lettuce, with a side condiment of ‘tomato-ginger and sesame oil sauce’. Another surprise entree was the Chicken Shish kabobs, which consisted of a marinated grilled chicken, laying on a bed of vegetables and white rice, and a Satay sauce (a popular peanut sauce found throughout Southeast Asia)...it t’was maaaaveloussss...

Desserts consisted of a variety of pies: Apple pie, cheesecake and key-lime pie were all fair-to-middling. The wine shared was a Chilean red, Casillero del Diablo...

Observations:
* The restaurant is open between 1:00-10:00pm, Monday - Saturday, closed on Sundays. During the week it is virtually abandoned, despite the fact that it is on one of the main streets surrounding the Jardin.

* The staff was friendly, but at least one of our waiters was poorly trained. He had no idea what the plates consisted of, and since many of these plates are foreign to both Mexicans and Americans, it would only help to be able to explain and describe them with a certain “gusto”. We were not offered coffee, tea, or an aperitif by the waiter, a mistake and lack of training by the establishment.

* Live entertainment consisted of a gentleman on an electronic-keyboard, mostly pleasant non-obtrusive music. Both, inside and outside dining areas were clean...and comfortable.

* Prices varied: Antipastos: $40-98pesos; Soups: $50-62p; Salads: $54-89p; Pastas: $80-105p; and Main Entrees between $89-170. The wine list: average price per bottle between $300-500p.

Suggestions:
* Invest money in advertising and public relations. There is absolutely no reason not to be listed in the telephone directory.

* Train your staff! You have an excellent product, but it is ‘foreign’ to many people. Your waiters are your salespeople.

* Make yourself friendly to the lunch crowd, offer a “business peoples” luncheon, smaller portions at a set price.

* Loving to cook does not make you a successful “restaurateur”, learn from the best managers, go to Tío Lucas and observe Max, there are very few in the world like him. I do not mean to take attention away from your ‘House’, I would just like the option to continue enjoying good to excellent food in our town. I want you to stick around and succeed.