Tables were adorned with a thick plastic checkered cloth boasting metal tins full of sliced baguettes which were crispy and moist. Small saucers of unsalted mixed nuts laid the foundation for a monkey dish piled high with an array of black and green olives. Shortly after we began to devour the leavened loaves, the waiter appeared – offering up a choice of red or white wine. Both were 1998 vintages from the Vin De Pays Des Cotes Du Tarn vineyard in southwest France by the river Tarn. The white was a pleasing ensemble of Mauzac and Mascadelle grapes, while the red was an innocuous selection resembling rural farmhouse guest wine. The dining party consumed both with zeal and compassion.

An oval dish with two small crocks of butter and anchovy spread bedecked the table, and a plastic water pitcher was placed nearby. Cobalt blue votive candles with matching ashtrays completed the setting. The greenhouse-styled building arched to the center, and was covered with blond retractable wooden blinds. As we waited for the meal service to commence, Mr. Beggs challenged the group to surmise the number of hours the group had spent in planes, trains and buses since the trip began; his calculation was an astonishing 38 hours.

The appetizer burst into the room and consisted of celestial mushrooms simmered in a white wine cream sauce, ladled generously into the center of a decapitated roll, with its top toasted and replaced. The flavorful sauce and savory mushrooms were a promising beginning. The noisy din of the establishment was well suited to our jovial mood.

The entrée arrived after a brief reprise. This reviewer selected the whitefish, a moist and nicely grilled offering. It was perched precariously atop a substantial mound of whipped potatoes smothered in cream gravy laced with chopped scallions. Due to its bony nature, I gained reassurance by confirming that Nurse Sullivan was fully skilled in the Hiemlich maneuver. Dr. Becker and Nurse Toyne were on call at the next table. The potatoes were creamy and the gravy fine.

My venturesome fork wandered off onto my neighbor’s plate to test a bite of steak. It was grainy as suspected from the grass-fed bovine of this region. This reviewer longed for a good corn-fed slab of Kansas City Angus. Shortly thereafter, a plate stacked high with youthful green beans smothered in butter was served La Familia style. Interestingly enough, a plate piled with hot salty fried potatoes followed – perhaps a bit late since most were finished with their meal. French fries may seem at home in a French restaurant, but I have always thought they actually came from grease. But I must say they were thin, tasty and quite enjoyable. Enterprisingly enough, I saved a baguette for the entrée, which was fortuitous since additional supplies were not provided.

However, good company is always the most important ingredient of a good meal, and this reviewer says:

The line to the hot food was too long for this reviewer, so the cold line was selected. I selected a slice of Farm House Pie, a slaw dominated by carrots, a rice salad dish, a green salad and three slices of nutty wheat bread. The Farm House Pie was substantive and dense. The vegetables and potato blended well and pastry was thin and flaky. The slaw was laced with a creamy lemon binder that accentuated the carrot and cabbage mixture nicely. The rice dish was sweet, grainy and contained other accents that seemed to be somewhat out of place—this reviewer did not care for it. Although the grainy bread was good, one couldn't help but miss the crusty breads of Switzerland and Germany. A bottle of sparkling water topped off the meal. Other comments heard throughout the meal were that the crisps were excellent, the vegetable pie both creamy and tasty, the English bacon was as lean as ham and that the beans may well have come from a can.

We bused our own tables and departed for Oxford University.

This reviewer’s handbook indicates that a cafeteria rarely deserves any stars but this eclectic celebration of corporate cuisine easily gets:

The tables were draped with a thickly starched scarlet cloth accentuated with bright pink napkins. The yellow roses in the shiny chrome had no thorns. The water pitcher was reminiscent of a beaker from a laboratory. The tightly woven basket offered half a dozen different varieties of rolls. The onyx colored octagonal salad plate came with a nuussli salad - a green that our guide noted was both exclusive to the region and very expensive - with shredded carrots and pickled carrots with a tomato wedge accent. The dressing was a tart, opaque concoction. The wine was an Italian selection from the Montepulciano D'Abruzzo region—an Italo Pietrantonj from the Antica Casa Vitivinicola. This impetuous selection was dry, slightly acidic with strong oak notes.

Lunch arrived on blond scalloped plates and featured a now familiar array of Zurigeschnezeltes mit Rosti. The minced veal was tender, the sauce brothy and the potatoes crisp and greasy. A large dollop of unsweetened whipped cream dotted with chopped scallions occupied center of the plate. The fried potatoes reminded this reviewer of a specialty at the local Denny's.

The desert was a Caramelkopfli, which arrived on a smaller version of the salad plate with choice of coffee or tea. The cream caramel custard was accented on four sides by additional piles of whipped cream. The custard was light and airy and the cream, once again, had no sugar. It was a fitting meal for this agrarian setting and this reviewer gives it:

Today, we dined at the Novartis Executive Cafeteria. Immediately upon entering our well-appointed reserved area, the formally dressed wait staff offered a choice of a 6 oz. Tumbler of fresh squeezed tomato or orange juice. Upon the crisply placed yellow linens was a bowl of salted, skinned almonds juxtaposed with a trio of multi-grain rolls which bore a freshness not before experienced during our journey. Lunch began with a salade panache—an ambitious combination of tomato, pickled baby cauliflower florets, bean sprouts, watercress, yellow pepper, goat cheese, red cabbage, curly endive and an exotic shredded celery marinade. A pleasant Maienfelder POLA 1995 Blayburgunder quickly joined the sparkling water on the table. This delectable course was but a precursor of the exciting entrée to follow.

The entrée burst into the room as the salad plates were professionally and courteously removed. A Swiss scaloppini de veau and Swiss tranche de filet de boeuf decorated the plate marvelously, complemented with sauce béarnaise, gratin dauphinois and petits legumes. Both meat dishes were braised to perfection and presented in heated china. The petite legume was an exhilarating array of baby squash, celery, cucumber, carrot, green bean, red pepper, snow pea and baby corn. This reviewer resisted the temptation to nibble the corn as Tom Hanks so aptly demonstrated years ago in Big. The bouquet of the entire presentation actually weakened this reviewer to the knees.

And if this was not enough, the experience was completed with a delicate vanilla-bean influenced ice cream spheres nestled between mounds of fresh of whipped Swiss cream, finished with a fan shaped wafer, piercing the apex of the mounds. The entire concoction was drizzled with a creamy milk chocolate glaze.

Lunch was served at the Executive Cafeteria of Siemens AG in Munich, Germany. The cafeteria is located on the 7^th floor of the visitors’ center, a architectural mastery. The cafeteria (most certainly a euphemism for this nicely appointed area complemented with a cappuccino machine, faux bar, white linen) accommodated our group at two long tables, but of different lengths, and was surrounded by a smattering of two- and four-tops, most of which were occupied with diners.

Lunch began with a very nice salad comprised of carrots, tomatoes, green and red bell pepper, iceberg lettuce, endive and cucumber, with tangy balsamic vinaigrette. The salad was accompanied by crust-encased multi-grain bread, which was fresh, moist and firm. I was unable to eat the salad without spraying dressing on the starched white cloth like shrapnel from a gourmet explosion. There was Pellegrino wasser mit gaz for all to wash down the delectable green menagerie.

It was a round room—mostly glass—with an oval skylight of at least 5 meters in diameter, which brought the blue sky indoors for all to enjoy. The large surround windows provided a panoramic view of the rooftops of Munich. The entrée was a nice rigatoni with procietta, button mushroom and peas in a delightful cream sauce. The sauce was airy, the mushrooms a tad overdone, and the rigatoni just a smidgen past al dente.

A small cookie was tucked in the sterling spoon that accompanied the cappuccino. The coffee was superb and the cookie was a triumph.

There was a bit of uncertainty midway through the meal. When asked the location of the rest room, our waiter did not understand what water closet, bathroom or WC (water closet) meant. Miss Haake quickly and astutely suggested I try "El Bano" with the garcon. Indeed he was Spanish, and this reviewer’s brief moment of panic subsided. Upon completion of the meal, the tour continued, with all diners renewed and invigorated.