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Lausanne, Switzerland: Le Baron Tavernier

Our conference ended up with a final dinner meeting for the conference committee. We convened at this beautiful location for a wonderful dinner. Not only could we enjoy the view and the food, but the wine came from the lands surrounding us.

We started with this amuse bouche. It was entirely vegetables. Unfortunately, I was too busy talking to spend too much time identifying the ingredients.

Our next step was this beautiful pheasant foie gras. I wasn't sure what to expect from pheasant. It wasn't at all gamy and gave a very subtle flavor.

Our main course was this delicate lamb. The bed of mashed potatoes included neatly arranged layers of meat bits and gravy.

Our dessert was this beautiful ice cream in a melange of fruit.

We debriefed on the meeting with coffee and, this being Switzerland, some beautiful chocolates. The bottom chocolate was a truffle. The top chocolate was an amazingly delicate construction: a very thin chocolate cup filled with a lemon custard filling.

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