Lunch at Frau Gerold's Garten

It's Open Season for the freibads this week so we've overdone the outdoor swimming a bit and the girls wanted a change. I had just one thing in mind - after an outdoor dip my favourite place to be when the sun is shining is Frau Gerold's Garten in Hardbrücke.

This amazingly warm and friendly meeting place began in summer 2012 as a temporary project ‒ a beer garden complete with kitchen garden ‒ at the foot of the Prime Tower. It has since grown into a hip and trendy institution, with shops, art, and a community garden.

We somehow managed to bag the best table on the roof terrace thanks to my eldest daughter who charmed the pants off a couple who beckoned her over when they were leaving, telling her to bag it before anyone else did! Our corner table gave us welcome shade, with prime views of the rest of the garden, the railway tracks and snow-capped mountain peaks in the distance.

The girls enjoyed cans of orange and lemon zesty fizz, I had a beautiful rhubarb drink and we shared Bratwurst, Cervelat, Gerold's special potato salad, hummus and pitta bread. The food was lovely and plentiful.

The place is open until midnight (except Sundays) all summer and is reduced to a charming wooden hut serving fondue in winter.

I hear with a sad heart that Frau Gerolds Garten’s days may be numbered, with plans for a shiny new convention centre to be built on the site. Recent plans failed but it's a horrible thought. However, the garden has been built with temporality in mind - the containers and vegetable beds can easily be packed up and moved elsewhere, so I guess the garden will find a new home if this happens. It just seems so perfect where it is right now though.

www.fraugerold.ch/