Five years ago when we first embarked on this little adventure we call The Lausanne Guide, we were two women who loved to write and were determined to learn to take beautiful photographs in order to tell the world (er, our five original readers) of the great places we were frequenting in Lausanne. The rub was that we were pitifully inexperienced in web design and continuously bumped up against issues that we couldn’t resolve on our own.
Enter Gabriel.
Gabriel was a colleague who had become a friend. And we were just shameless enough to exploit his tremendously good nature to edit the code, explain the function of meta tags, implement SEO strategies, and generally to bounce ideas off of someone who actually knew what they were doing. We say everyone needs a digital genius in their lives!
That’s why we’re so excited to announce that beginning in 2017, Gabriel has agreed to join The Lausanne Guide team as a partner and digital guru. He has already been working on some gorgeous projects that we cannot wait to share (ahem, like maybe newly designed website? … …) and will be featuring more and more regularly with his photos and culinary discoveries.
A man of many projects, Gabriel is also an independent photographer, foodie, and talented home chef. With the same ethos that has motivated this site from the beginning, Gabriel explores the world from behind his camera lens and through his sense of taste. And yet, he does this from a man’s perspective, which we think everyone will agree, can only help us to better paint a picture of living well in Lausanne.
Enough from us! We want to you hear from Gabriel himself:
Gabriel, you’re originally from the beautiful country of Argentina. Tell the good people of Lausanne what brought you here.
Like all good stories, this is a love story. Don’t worry I will keep it short! My wife received a Swiss Government Excellence scholarship (!) to come to Lausanne for 3 months. She worked at the University of Lausanne, and I was a freelancer. We packed only what was necessary to survive for 3 months abroad–laptops and winter clothes–and we hit the road looking for new adventures.
Here we are, six years later with a nice group of friends that we call Family.
You love to eat (like any good Argentinian). What would your last meal be?
I hope that for my last meal I am surrounded by friends and family, enjoying an Argentinian BBQ in my parents’ backyard. For me, it is all about good company and excellent meat.
If you could only eat at one restaurant in Lausanne every day for a year, which one would it be and why?
Tricky question. I work at IMD, which is famous for its awesome on-site restaurant, so I already get to eat at a great place every day.But if that is not an option, I would say my place! I love to cook and I’m actually not that bad. I use 2 apps with super cool recommendations: 1) KPTNCOOK, 3 daily recipes under 30 minutes and they disappear after 24hs, you can only save your favorites 35 recipes, next day? 3 new recipes! I like that most of the recipes use organic/healthy ingredients. 2) TASTEMADE, also super cool app, based on video instructions with more options than KPTNCOOK, where you will find very simple good recipes from breakfast to cocktails.
In town, I find myself going again and again to Brasserie de Montbenon, Chez Xu, Ningbo and Pinte Besson for some good local food (have you been inside this place? It is beautiful!)
What Lausanne secret were you most excited to discover?
Not including the two of you and The Lausanne Guide? Awwwww…For me, the most fantastic thing about Lausanne is that there are so many creative people in such a small city. You just walk around the city, and you discover all different types. I am lucky to collaborate with so many different types of creative people.
What’s your favorite thing to do on the weekend in or around Lausanne?
I love to spend my weekends in the vineyards around Grandvaux. It is a magical place no matter the season. With the colors changing from pure white during winter to bright green during spring/summer and the lake and the mountains making a perfect postcard picture, it’s a great place to recharge your batteries. It’s also really easy to access from Lausanne and has plenty of good spots (and wine!) for a picnic with friends.
What do you wish you would get for your next birthday?
I decided last year that I don’t want any more gadgets or objects unless it’s something I pick out myself. Instead, I prefer tickets to travel to a new place I’ve never seen.
Finally, tell us about the two gorgeous ladies in your life…
Valeria and I have been together for 15 years now! It has been such a wonderful adventure. Moving to Europe was a huge step for us. We found ourselves surrounded by nothing more than friends, empowered of taking care of ourselves. We always want nothing less than the very best for each other.
A year and a half ago we welcomed our daughter Abril. Her arrival changed everything and nothing all at once. Living with a kid is even more fun and brings more joy into our lives. Abril is such a jetsetter. We are big believers in traveling around the world with kids, so we take her everywhere with us!
So, our party of two has become a party of three, and we couldn’t be more delighted! We hope you’ll enjoy Gabriel’s perspective on Lausanne and the direction he helps take this project in the future.
Bienvenue à Gabe!