If cheese fondue and rosti is all that comes to mind when you think about Swiss food, it's time to widen your culinary horizons.

While traditional Swiss fare is known for being hearty (and heavy), there is another form of Swiss cooking which is lighter and more delicate, and which draws inspiration from the culinary heritage of the country's four immediate neighbours - France, Italy, Austria and Germany.

It is the latter type of cuisine that Executive Chef Torsten Götz of Park Hotel Vitzau, Switzerland, is currently whipping up at Hilton Hotel's The Harbour Grill & Oyster Bar.

At a media tasting yesterday, I sampled a four-course meal consisting of a starter of yellow fin tuna, Swiss 'must' soup with smoked trout cannelloni, a main course of lamb and a dessert trio of chocolates and passion fruits.

While all the dishes were rave-worthy, the most interesting dish was the lamb (main picture), which was prepared in two ways. If you love lamb, you should really try Chef Götz's creation. One grilled piece had a crust of aragula and pecorino cheese, while two other pieces consisted of an extremely thin lamb fillet, rolled with dried tomatoes, basil and wrapped in parma ham.

While the first preparation allowed one to appreciate the quality of the lamb (which was good, sufficiently tender and had no gamey odour whatsoever), it was the second preparation with the parma ham that really gave a zing to the dish. The multiple layers of thin lamb fillet, sweet tomatoes, aromatic basil and savoury parma ham provided an interesting play of texture as well as taste. Combined, the two preparations gave the dish a sense of balance.

My personal favourite, however, was the yellow fin tuna with truffle sugar pea salad (right). Each tuna slice was coated with fragrant sesame seeds, ("That's an Asiatic influence," remarked Chef Götz) which helped to retain the moisture of the tuna and gave the dish an enjoyable texture.

If you cannot afford to go to Switzerland to sample Chef Torsten Götz's culinary creations, this is the next best thing. For those of you who are keen to learn Swiss cuisine, Chef Torsten will also be conducting a cooking class on Sat at 10am, where he will share his recipes for three of his signature dishes. The class costs $70 per person.

Swiss Gourmet Journey with Chef Torsten Götz is on from today until 12 June, 2007. Set lunch and dinner menus from $65 +++ and $110+++ per person.

The Harbour Grill and Oyster Bar
581 Orchard Road, Hilton Singapore
(S) 238883
Tel: 6730 3393
Opening hours: Lunch is from 12-2:30pm (Mon-Fri); Dinner is from 7-10:30pm (Mon-Sat)