Whirlwind week out West

forest pasta, misdiagnoses

Here at Bindella, expect all the bells and whistles– beautiful people, real leather, and a tiramisu to die for

Little plans, mostly vibes.

Food of the week:

Zurich slipped through my fingers– too little time, too much cold, and not even a scarf to shield my laziness. I may have missed the hailed Kronenhalle, but I’ll sing the praises of the fluffiest tiramisu and veal scaloppini with tagliatelle which you swirl in the citrusy butter sauce at Ristorante Bindella, and the thick (but not gluey) hot chocolate at Confiserie Sprüngli.

As for today’s food and drink combo below, I discover the best on offer at Bancone, which has revived itself from the dust it found itself laying in post-Covid.

Science of the week:

A doctor recently asked us over at Amili if our gut health test could diagnose IBS. As much as I believe in testing, let’s get real– an accurate gut health report is still not a medical verdict. It’s a snapshot, not a prophecy, showing correlations, not certainties. Your microbiome shifts daily, influenced by so many things like diet, stress, and sleep, so while the report can guide you, the real game-changer is testing, tweaking, and seeing what actually works for you.

Insight of the week:

Origin Story by David Christian has been a hefty, somewhat technical read, but it’s packed with gems. Speaking of the gut, its evolution is just as cool. Fire changed everything– cooking made food easier to digest, reducing the workload on our guts and allowing them to shrink over time. With digestion requiring less energy, our bodies could redirect resources to fuel our ever-growing brains, shaping the course of human evolution.

Recipe of the week:

I was inspired to make this forest pasta ever since my aunt, who is pretty much a chef anyway, made this over Christmas and New Year’s. It’s essentially pasta made to stand up in a tin, like trees in a forest, hence the name. Then you layer on chunky meat sauce and cheese-choked bechamel, and the whole thing maintains its structural integrity once baked. It’s fun (and easy) to make and even more fun to eat.