Restaurant des Quais

A restaurant kitchen that travels

Restaurant des Quais is a restaurant at Chemin du Lac 43 in Grandson, in the canton of Vaud, and it runs a catering service (service traiteur) for private and professional events. Its catering page names weddings first among the occasions it serves and puts the promise in one line: "Du cocktail au banquet, nous créons un menu sur mesure" (from cocktail to banquet, we create a made-to-measure menu). The page says the catering is prepared to the same standards of freshness and flavor as the restaurant, and that the team travels throughout the Suisse romande, the French-speaking part of Switzerland.

For a couple marrying in western Switzerland who likes the idea of a restaurant's cooking at their own venue, that is the offer in short: a real à la carte kitchen, with a menu written for the wedding.

What the catering page offers

The introduction frames the service around the restaurant itself: couples who want "la qualité et le savoir-faire du Restaurant des Quais" at their own event get menus made to measure, for a banquet, a wedding, a birthday or a seminar, and the team says it does everything to meet expectations. The contact block closes with an invitation to talk an event through together, which is how the process starts.

The page splits the service into 4 areas. Weddings come first, with the line quoted above and a promise of refined flavors and elegant presentation. Corporate events cover seminars, business meals and jubilees. Private evenings (soirées privées) cover birthdays, christenings and family events, and here the page names the formats: "à la carte, en buffet ou en service à table", à la carte, buffet or table service. Deliveries cover apéros, cocktails and events at home, at the office or anywhere else, and the page adds: "Nous pouvons également mettre à disposition du personnel de service, pour une expérience sur-mesure" (we can also provide service staff for a tailored experience).

For a wedding, that means a couple can choose between food delivered for an apéro and a full served dinner with the restaurant's own staff, and the three service styles apply to the meal itself.

The page also says the restaurant is listed ("référencés") at many halls in the region, and that it has built solid partnerships with large companies that use it regularly for their events. A section headed "Ils nous ont fait confiance" (they trusted us) presents references, which appear as logos rather than names in the page text.

The restaurant's own cooking

The menu page gives a clear picture of the kitchen, and it is a useful guide to what a wedding menu could draw on. Seasonal starters include a tomato carpaccio with burrata and basil pesto, tuna ceviche with passion fruit coulis, an Asian-style beef tartare and grilled octopus with romesco sauce. Meat mains include slow-cooked pork belly with a foie gras sauce, a black Angus roast beef, a beef fillet and a côte de boeuf aged on the bone for five weeks with chimichurri. The fish section lists a tuna tataki burger, a fish board depending on the catch with a kaffir beurre blanc, sole meunière, and perch fillets "du lac de Neuchâtel", pan-fried, with a saffron Chasselas sauce or tartare sauce, marked as regional and subject to availability.

A vegetarian corner lists a Greek salad, trofie with red pesto and a summer salad with burrata and melon, and vegetarian dishes are marked throughout. Desserts include a cherry gazpacho with yogurt ice cream, a "Piña Colada" tiramisu and a chocolate moelleux with blood orange sorbet, plus a plate of regional cheeses.

What the prices tell you

No catering prices are published: the page asks couples to "Demander une offre", to request a quote. The restaurant menu does give the price level of the kitchen. A lunchtime menu du jour is 34.- and a plate of the day 21.50.-. Starters run from 8.00 CHF for a green salad to 25.00 CHF for the octopus, meat mains from 34.00 CHF to 69.00 CHF for the côte de boeuf, perch fillets 38.00 CHF or 42.00 CHF depending on the portion, and desserts 12.00 CHF to 15.00 CHF. These are restaurant prices, not a wedding rate, but they show a kitchen working at a good mid-to-upper level rather than a budget caterer.

Booking and opening hours

The catering page has its own inquiry form (first name, last name, company, email, request) plus the email restaurantdesquais@bluewin.ch and the phone number 024 445 24 84. The contact page says table reservations go by phone and other requests by email, which makes email the natural first step for a wedding inquiry from abroad.

The restaurant is closed on Monday and open from 9h to 23h Tuesday to Saturday and from 9h to 17h on Sunday. Those are the hours when the phone is answered.

What the site does not settle

• Language. The site is in French only and does not mention English. A couple who does not write French should ask in the first email whether the planning can be done in English.
• Guest numbers. The catering page gives no minimum or maximum, and the restaurant does not describe its own room for private events.
• Dietary needs. Vegetarian dishes are marked on the restaurant menu, but the catering page says nothing about allergies, vegan or other diets.
• Equipment. Service staff are offered; tableware, furniture and rentals are not mentioned.
• Terms. Deposit, cancellation and booking lead time are not published.
• Travel. The page says the restaurant travels across the Suisse romande but does not say how travel is charged or name specific halls.

Who it suits

Restaurant des Quais suits couples marrying in French-speaking Switzerland, especially around Lake Neuchâtel and northern Vaud, who want a restaurant's à la carte cooking brought to their venue: lake perch, aged beef, a served dinner or a buffet, and an apéro to open the day. The published restaurant menu makes it easier than usual to judge the style before asking for a quote, and the offer of service staff covers the dinner itself.

It suits less well a couple who needs to plan in English without checking first, or who wants one company to handle decoration, flowers and rentals as well as food, since the page describes only menus, delivery and service staff. The catering page is brief, so the quote is where the real detail begins.