One of my favorite New New York theater restaurants is Maria's Mont Blanc. For thirty-eight years this cozy, somewhat quirky establishment has been serving up Swiss cuisine, a cuisine which ranks as one of New York's most "endangered cuisines." Maria's Mont Blanc is the ONLY true Swiss restaurant in the city. Maria's Mont Blanc has a timeless "old world" feel about it and deserves to be cherished.

On entering Mont Blanc, the owner Maria is there to greet you. Her "greeting" has such a genuine glowing way about it that you feel that you have arrived at a place you have been many times before. Maria's presence is felt all though the evening as she moves from table to table in a maternal way making sure everyone is having a good time. Maria, though a native of Vienna has been associated with the restaurant for thirty-five years. 

Being a Swiss restaurant, Maria's Mont Blanc naturally serves fondue, three types (cheese, beef, and seafood) and the fondues are very good. However, this evening I was not in the mood for fondue, but to explore other Swiss classics; such as the above appetizer, "Viande des Griscon" (fifteen pieces of dried beef) served with tart small pickles. If you like beef, I recommend. 

The entree of "Emince de Veau Zuerichoise," (traditional Swiss Minced Veal, Cream with Mushrooms and Onions) The night I ate at Maria's Mont Blanc it was freezing cold outside, and this dish was absolutely perfect for the weather. Warming, delicious and comforting. What makes the dish special is how it is served in a big deep green casserole pot, and just as I was finishing (savoring every bite) Maria popped up at the table to ladle me more. This dish I enjoyed so much that I tried to make it at home a week later, not bad, but Maria's clearly much better.

Maria's Mont Blanc has two rooms. The back room is quieter and actually ideal for a private party, where the front room has more buzz, is lively and has a little bar as well, but it doesn't get too loud. There is an interesting collection of eclectic art-work at the restaurant; from a rather expressionistic-like painting of Mont Blanc, Europe's tallest mountain, (The mountain is actually in France) to the Swiss artist Kyle Rinquest's acrobats painted on glass on two wall of the front room.

My dining companion had the entree of "Veal Dumplings a la Viennes." It is actually an Austrian dish. Savory and very filling.

The national dish of Switzerland is Rosti pictured above. It is similar to hash brown potatoes, but it is more like a potato paancake. Coarsely pressed, and fried, it contains bacon and rosemary and is crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.

Maria's Mont Blanc has an unusual surreal looking painted mermaid on the ceiling. Interesting enough, but even more so is that no one knows how it got there. When they moved into the building years ago the painting was already there.

Romansh Language lesson - Switzerland is made up of German, French and Italian languages. However, there is a rare fourth language called Romansh spoken by only 22,000 (in population of 8 million) almost all from the Canton of Grisons in the southeast.   It is an ancient language and its origins are from the Roman Empire.  "Hello" (Tgau)  "Thank you"  (Grazia)  "

Interesting fact about Switzerland - The country is broken twenty-six Cantons. Each Canton acts as a separate state and has its own constitution, legislature and government.

Address - 315 West 48th Street    (212) 582 - 9648