The Best French Food in Switzerland

Fine antiques, sparkling chandeliers, and a terrace over the Rhine set the stage for Peter Knogl's three-Michelin-star French haute cuisine in Basel. The cooking is precise and restrained in the way that only very confident kitchens manage, with clean flavors and technique that never announces itself. A tasting menu or à la carte, both backed by a sommelier whose wine list treats the occasion with appropriate seriousness.

Regulars have called it simply "Crissier" for decades, which tells you something about its place in the Swiss culinary imagination. This is formal French fine dining at three Michelin stars, built on a succession of legendary chefs and now in the hands of Franck Giovannini, who keeps the Gallic classics precise and unfussy. The wine list, handled by a young sommelière, holds its own. Service is polished without the usual performance.

Art Nouveau light fixtures hang from the high ceilings, marble columns flank the room, and a wine cabinet runs nearly floor to ceiling, which gives you a sense of the scale of ambition here. This is a classical French fine dining room inside the Mandarin Oriental on the lakeshore, holding two Michelin stars. Tasting menus run three, five, or eight courses, with a vegetarian version and a cheese course you can add on.

Inside the Giardino Mountain hotel, this two-Michelin-star fine dining room is where the Engadine winter gets its proper send-off. The chef's French-rooted cooking has a seriousness of purpose that the alpine setting only amplifies. A pâté en croûte filled with venison, pork, and goose, served alongside red wine mustard ice cream, tells you the tone immediately. The front-of-house team runs the room with the kind of warmth that doesn't feel rehearsed.

A glass cube overlooking Lake Lucerne sets the scene for one of Switzerland's more serious tasting-menu restaurants, where the chef runs a six- or eight-course creative French menu that folds in Japanese and Scandinavian moves without announcing it. The kitchen holds two Michelin stars, the wine cellar runs to tens of thousands of bottles, and the chefs come out to walk you through each dish themselves. Book well ahead.

The dining room inside the Lausanne Palace holds two Michelin stars, and the lake view from a window table gives you something to stare at between courses. This is modern French fine dining, rooted in classic Gallic cooking but pulled in unexpected directions with open-fire technique and globe-trotting instincts. The kitchen treats high-end produce as the argument and lets it speak. Service runs at the kind of quiet precision that makes you feel watched over without feeling watched.

A bell jar tribute to Tête de Moine cheese sits on each table at this two-Michelin-starred fine dining room in the Jura hills, where the watchmaking region gets a nod from a watch-case bearing the restaurant's logo. The kitchen works from deeply local ingredients, and trolleys of aperitifs, digestifs, and artisan cheeses roll through the room with the unhurried confidence of a place that has nothing to prove.

A table-bar just inside the entrance sets the tone: mocktails and appetizers prepared in front of you before the main event begins. This is Anne-Sophie Pic's two-Michelin-starred fine dining room in Lausanne, perched above the lake after a full renovation, with leather interiors and a kitchen that leans heavily on garden produce and a strong regional accent. The evening runs to seven or eight courses, lunch to four or five.

Wainscoting, white tablecloths, and a few well-chosen modern touches give this countryside inn its particular charm. Perched above Lake Morat in a small village, it's the kind of classic French-Swiss restaurant where the cooking leans on regional produce and serious technique without ever feeling stiff. The husband-and-wife team run the room with warmth that reads as instinctive rather than rehearsed. It holds a Michelin star.

A terrace cut into the vineyards above Lake Biel, with the water spread out below and a shaded table waiting, is a fairly convincing opening argument. This Michelin-starred restaurant in Ligerz serves a set surprise menu that changes with the season, country cooking sharpened into something more precise. The front-of-house team knows the local wines well and will steer you without being asked. Park in the lot and walk up; the few extra steps are part of the mood.

A suspended table made from Saint-Louis crystal sits at the center of the room, which tells you everything about the register here. This is the fine dining restaurant inside the Hotel President Wilson, where the chef works under Michel Roth's direction to turn French classics into something more sculptural. A Michelin star. Floor-to-ceiling windows frame Lake Geneva, and the service is the kind that anticipates without hovering.

A restored historical château just outside Riedholz sets the scene for Le feu, a fine dining room where the courtyard alone could sell the reservation. The chef runs a modern French tasting menu alongside à la carte options, working with careful sourcing and a European wine list that reads like someone actually thought about it. One Michelin star. The kind of place that makes you sit up a little straighter without being told to.

A 19th-century mansion on the edge of Fribourg, with a plane-tree terrace that makes the whole thing feel slightly unfair to every other restaurant in the canton. This is refined contemporary French cooking, the kind that earns a Michelin star by pairing Atlantic cod with sea urchin and folding pork into something involving mint and shellfish. The wine list moves easily between Switzerland and France, and the service reads the room without being asked.

A Michelin-starred country restaurant sitting in the middle of working vineyards just outside Geneva, Domaine de Châteauvieux has been around forever and carries itself accordingly. The terrace looks out over the hills, the service runs quietly and well, and the French cooking moves between classical and modern without making a fuss about either. Guest rooms are available if the wine list proves persuasive, which it tends to.

A classic French restaurant tucked into a quiet Bernese village, Du Cerf holds a Michelin star and leans into it without apology. The chef trained at Crissier under two of Switzerland's legendary names, and the surprise menus carry that pedigree, drawing on local produce and a kitchen garden out back. The wine list travels thoughtfully between Swiss and French bottles, with solid options by the glass for those who can't commit.

The watchmaker and the chef share billing here, which tells you something about how seriously Geneva takes both crafts. This Michelin-starred bistro on Rue du Rhône is polished but not stiff, with wood paneling and coffered ceilings setting a room that hums without shouting. The Modern French menu moves through produce with quiet precision, and the sommelier clearly enjoys the job. Dress as though someone might recognize you.

You ride the Gütsch Express cable car up to 2,344 meters to get here, which is a reasonable amount of effort for lunch. This Michelin-starred mountain restaurant pairs classic French cooking with alpine views from a terrace that doubles as a viewing platform. The room inside is unfussy and modern, matching the chef's no-nonsense style. The wine list holds its own against the scenery, which is saying something.

Four tables. That is the whole restaurant, tucked inside Hôtel Royal, where the chef plates and explains each course himself, which is either charming or a little intense depending on your mood. This Michelin-starred fine dining room runs on serious French technique: Bresse poultry, Brittany fish, Swiss veal, all handled with obvious ambition. Book well ahead, especially evenings, and treat Bogie's Bar next door as part of the plan.

Wood and stone set the Alpine mood at this fine dining room in Crans-Montana, where the chef runs a five-to-eight-course discovery menu that moves with the seasons rather than fighting them. The cooking is classical French with a modern lean, and the front-of-house team is polished enough to make you feel watched over rather than watched. A Michelin star. The Valais wine list alone could anchor an argument for a second night.

A farmhouse-style fine dining room in the Geneva countryside, La Chaumière holds a Michelin star and feels like the chef spent years cooking elsewhere before quietly landing here and getting serious. The kitchen leans modern French, ingredients chosen with the kind of care that borders on obsessive. In good weather, the terrace pulls you outside, and there's a private car park, which in Geneva counts as its own small miracle.

A one-Michelin-starred restaurant in a handsome stone building at the center of a quiet village near the French-Swiss border. The two chefs run a seasonal French kitchen with a light Mediterranean pull, using mostly local produce, and the cooking is precise without being stiff. Service matches: polished but warm. In good weather, the terrace is the obvious choice. Elegant rooms upstairs if you'd rather not drive home.

A Michelin-starred contemporary French restaurant inside a former railway station, which means the setting does a fair amount of heavy lifting before the food even arrives. The chef's cooking leans into confident combinations, pairing delicate seafood with caviar and tomato water, or pigeon with hoisin-touched aioli. The room is warm and the front-of-house runs it with genuine energy, which in Geneva is not something to take for granted.

The dining room at EHL's hospitality school, which holds a Michelin star, has a view of the Alps and a brigade that includes several Meilleurs Ouvriers de France on the teaching staff. The food lands somewhere between classic French and quietly contemporary, technically sharp in a way that reminds you these students have something to prove. It is, in the most productive sense, a classroom you can eat in.

The fish on the menu reads like a Brittany postcard, which is the point: this Michelin-starred French seafood restaurant in the Geneva suburbs sources direct from the Roscoff and Audierne fish markets, with diver-caught scallops from Norwegian waters. The cooking is precise, the portions generous, and in good weather the terrace opens up. Book the kitchen table for five if you want the full theatrical version.

A Michelin-starred restaurant in a village outside Basel, run by a husband-and-wife team who have been here long enough to feel like the furniture. He cooks modern-leaning French classics rooted in Alsatian instincts; she trained as a pastry chef and manages the room with the ease of someone who actually enjoys it. The wine list leans heavily on the chef's family background in winemaking, and the terrace is the reason you book ahead.

The dining room was designed by Mario Botta, so the bones are serious before a single plate arrives. This is fine dining with a Michelin star, and the kitchen runs a modern French menu that leans on careful saucing and premium produce. A casual diner would recognize the pedigree in the technique, particularly in the coffee-laced fish dishes. Vegetarian options arrive on request, and the alcohol-free pairings are more considered than the gesture usually is.

A curved wall of bay windows frames the Alps in a way that makes the amuse-bouche feel beside the point, though it isn't. This Michelin-starred fine dining room in Crans-Montana runs a modern French kitchen with a quiet international drift, Swiss produce landing alongside miso and ponzu without anyone making a fuss about it. Evenings are full whites-and-crystal; lunch pulls back to something looser. The wine list by the glass is quietly serious.

Perched on a hillside above Steffisburg, this Michelin-starred fine dining room earns its name: on a clear day the terrace looks straight out at Thun and the Alps, which is either romantic or mildly distracting depending on your dining companion. The kitchen runs a set menu of four or five modern French courses, classical in structure but pared down and punchy, built around regional ingredients. The wine list comes with staff who know what they're talking about.

Under a vaulted ceiling that stays cool through summer, this one-Michelin-star contemporary French restaurant sits quietly in the middle of a Swiss village, near the bell tower. The kitchen runs on seasonal instincts, and the pastry side, including the house bread, comes from the same family. A cafe section offers a brasserie menu if you'd rather not commit, and there's a cigar lounge for those who consider dessert optional.

The view from up here takes in Rigi, Pilatus, Lake Lucerne, and the Bürgenstock all at once, and the kitchen has a Michelin star to match the scenery. This is an evening-only fine dining restaurant serving a creative modern French set menu with Japanese and Mediterranean touches, three to five courses in either an omnivore or vegetarian version. A listed funicular runs up from Kriens, which is the kind of detail that makes the whole thing feel slightly cinematic.

A flower-lined terrace with the Jura mountains on the horizon sets the tone for this Michelin-starred classic French restaurant outside Yverdon-les-Bains. The cooking is rooted in the Gallic canon but moves with the times, built on careful sourcing and a four-course signature menu that reads as precise and unfussy. A well-chosen list of regional wines keeps things grounded, and the warmth from the team running the room comes across as entirely unperformed.

A Michelin-starred restaurant in the small town of Trimbach, where the chef has been quietly turning out technically ambitious French contemporary cooking for a long time. The room is chic without being stiff, and the front-of-house team clearly knows which end of the table to stand on. The wine list leans deep into bottles worth lingering over. Set menus at both lunch and dinner keep things focused.

Old ceiling beams and wood paneling set the scene at this Michelin-starred country inn, where classic French cooking leans hard on what's in season. The kitchen's sauces are the tell, the kind that take all day and remind you why French technique has staying power. In summer the vine-shaded terrace under a chestnut tree pulls everyone outside. A husband-and-wife team runs the room with the sort of quiet attentiveness that makes a long lunch feel like a reasonable life choice.

A family-run village auberge perched just above Lake Geneva, with a terrace that makes the lake views feel like a bonus rather than the point. The menu splits between bistro classics and a longer gourmet menu, all built on seasonal, largely regional ingredients, with the occasional Asian detour to keep things honest. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand. Book ahead: the locals have already figured this one out.

A Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant in a village square outside Lausanne, where the chef holds the MOF distinction and cooks contemporary French menus that rotate often and lean on local produce. The room has that easy, come-as-you-are warmth that's hard to fake, largely because the chef's partner runs the front of house with genuine warmth rather than practiced hospitality. Prices land well below what the cooking might justify elsewhere.

Floor-to-ceiling windows flood a room dressed with bookshelves and a large mural, giving this bistro in the Lucerne countryside the feel of a well-loved library that also serves excellent food. Seasonal French cooking drives the menu, with multi-course set menus at dinner and a lighter option at lunch. A Michelin Bib Gourmand. Before you leave, the attached shop sells cheese, wines, spices, and cakes, as if one reason to come weren't already enough.

A narrow alley off Rindermarkt leads to a wood-beamed dining room that feels like it's been keeping secrets since forever. The kitchen runs on French technique, with sharing menus and à la carte plates that reward coming in a group. The wine list has a "Unicorn" section, which tells you something about the crowd and the seriousness of the cellar. A Michelin Bib Gourmand for what is, at heart, a very convivial neighborhood restaurant.

A Bib Gourmand bistro tucked into a hotel that has been around forever, this Carouge spot serves careful, seasonal French cooking with a lightness of touch that belies the old stone setting. The rear terrace is exactly what you hope for on a warm Geneva evening. The front-of-house team likes talking you through the menu, in the good way, not the hovering way. The wine list is well worth lingering over.

Fried cheese balls with your aperitif is the kind of instruction you should always follow, and the malakoffs here, gruyere-flavored and golden, make a strong case for the habit. This Bib Gourmand restaurant inside a design hotel near Le Brassus runs seasonal menus built on regional ingredients, with sauces that taste like someone actually spent time on them. Floor-to-ceiling windows frame the Risoud forest, which does a lot of the decorating.

Medieval cross-vaulted ceilings and 18th-century Solothurn stone columns set the stage for a brasserie that leans into seasonal, regionally sourced cooking without making a sermon of it. It's the more casual sibling to the fine dining room next door, which makes it the smarter choice for most people. Lunch narrows to a tidy set menu, dinner opens up. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand, which tracks with the price-to-effort ratio.

A chandelier made from old copper pans sets the tone for this old-school French bistro in Geneva, where the original tilework and wooden banquettes have been kept rather than gutted. The menu is short and changes with the kitchen's mood, leaning into classic bistro territory done with care. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, which in Geneva feels like a minor miracle of value. Bring cash-conscious friends who still want a proper meal.

Sandstone arches and whitewashed timber beams set the room in the historic center of Cossonay, with a summer terrace facing the Protestant church on Temple Square. This modern French restaurant earns a Michelin Bib Gourmand for cooking that stays grounded in classic Gallic technique without feeling museum-bound. The sommelier runs regular wine-pairing evenings and is worth consulting before you order. Book ahead.

The window tables here look out over Lake Geneva with the kind of view that makes you forget you ordered anything. This is the more relaxed sibling of a fine dining room above Montreux, a bistro running contemporary French food at prices that don't require a second mortgage. The Michelin Guide awards it a Bib Gourmand. Regional touches run through the menu, from Lake Geneva pike to local lamb, and the chocolate tart is apparently non-negotiable.

Cement tiles, bare bulbs, and banquettes set the stage for this classic French bistro near the Fine Arts School. The menu leans into seasonal ingredients with real care, running from braised lamb shoulder to a risotto-style celery with truffle. Regulars fill the room most nights, which is reason enough to book ahead. The Michelin Guide has given it a Bib Gourmand, and there's a pavement terrace when Geneva cooperates.

Tucked beside the cathedral in Solothurn's old town, this French restaurant earns a Michelin Bib Gourmand for cooking that pulls from both French and Swiss traditions without making a fuss about it. The terrace is a reliable spot for watching the town happen around you, and the wine list runs to around 150 labels, with a decent spread of half bottles for anyone who can't commit. The wine bar inside handles nightcaps with equal ease.

The conservatory-style façade at Hotel Cailler's restaurant gives the game away: this is a place that takes French cooking seriously without taking itself too seriously. Seasonal menus lean on lake fish, Swiss meats, and whatever the market delivered that morning, with the kitchen applying classic Gallic technique throughout. A summer terrace and a wine list heavy on local bottles keep things grounded. Smart-casual, unhurried, and worth dressing slightly better than you planned.

A converted manor house outside Monthey with a terrace that looks out over the Valais valley, the kind of view that makes you order another glass just to stay put. Inside, the coffered ceiling and old parquet floor set a quietly formal tone for French contemporary cooking served as a short set menu. Five guestrooms upstairs mean you can treat the whole evening, drive and all, as someone else's problem.

A former Cistercian monastery tucked at the edge of the forest makes for a setting that does most of the heavy lifting before the food arrives. This farm-to-table restaurant leans hard into regional organic sourcing, with multi-course menus built around sustainability and thoughtful wine pairings that favor biodynamic and natural producers. The terrace draws a crowd that looks like it commutes by cargo bike and means it as a compliment.

A forest-edge inn in the Neuchâtel mountains where the kitchen leans into lake fish and game alongside the occasional more surprising ingredient, all cooked in the straightforward, satisfying way that regional French cooking does when it's not trying to impress anyone. Both the lunch and evening menus need to be booked in advance, which keeps things properly unhurried. A handful of guestrooms means you can skip the drive back down the mountain.

Old sewing machines repurposed as side tables give away the mood before the menu does: this is a classic French restaurant where nostalgia is part of the décor, not a complaint. Set in an old stone mansion outside Geneva, it leans into rich sauces and seasonal produce with a confidence that never needs to explain itself. The steak tartare, mixed tableside to your specification, is the kind of ritual that makes you slow down.

Classic French cooking with a contemporary lean, served inside a boutique hotel in the Swiss Alps with a terrace that makes the mountains feel like a backdrop someone arranged on purpose. The menu runs traditional or vegetarian, with à la carte options alongside, and the warmth of a family-run room where the proprietress and her daughter seem to know exactly when to appear and when to disappear.

The terrace looks out over the mountains, which goes some way toward explaining why you need to book well ahead. This is the classic French restaurant inside Hotel Balm, where the cooking is old-school and deliberate, built on good ingredients rather than clever plating. The menu runs three to five courses, and the Chateaubriand is meant for two, which tells you something about the mood. The wine list is carefully put together.

Floor-to-ceiling windows and Art Deco touches set the tone at this modern brasserie a short walk from the train station. The kitchen runs mostly French, precisely turned out, with the occasional Asian lean showing up in things like a ponzu-dressed tartare or a lemongrass-and-vanilla lobster bisque. Classic cuts for two share the menu with regional braised meats. The terrace is a genuine bonus when the weather cooperates.

A moat-side terrace shaded by old plane trees sets the mood before you've even ordered. This is a classic French brasserie tucked into a historic castle estate, the more relaxed sibling to the fine-dining room next door, sharing its wine list. Beef tartare, moules marinière, blanquette de veau, a chateaubriand for two: the menu reads like a Parisian brasserie that hasn't felt the need to modernize, which is rather the point.

The kitchen window in the corridor is the first clue that this place takes itself seriously without being stiff about it. A classic brasserie in the grand hotel Les Trois Rois, it serves beef tartare and sole meunière alongside more contemporary plates, all framed by Rhine views and a wine list that leans hard into France and Switzerland. Sundays bring brunch; the room brings linen-and-leather polish.

A chic bistro in central Geneva where the mood sits somewhere between polished and genuinely convivial, which is harder to pull off than it sounds. The chef leans into seasonal French cooking with enough technical ambition to keep things interesting, and the wine list skews heavily French with room for the occasional outlier. The kind of place where lunch runs longer than planned.

The terrace here hangs over the River Aare in the shade of old trees, which is a strong opening move for a brasserie lunch. Inside, the room occupies a grand cultural hall in Berne's Old Town, all high ceilings and historic bones softened by bistro ease. The menu runs modern French with Italian leanings, a set menu in regular and vegetarian forms, plus à la carte and large cuts of meat meant for sharing between two.

Opposite the Lucens railway station, this family-run classic French restaurant has the kind of polished service and buzzy room that suggests it's been feeding the town well for a long time. Lunch and dinner menus lean into serious technique, with a kitchen that treats Swiss produce as the point rather than the backdrop. The wine list skews Swiss and comes in formats ranging from half bottles to magnums, which is a sensible way to handle a table.

Antonio Colaianni's fine dining room sits inside a former warehouse in Albisrieden, sharing a building with his more casual Trattoria next door. The five-course Italian-French menu leans on tradition without hiding behind it, and the orecchiette, made by his mother Maria and served with polpettine and tomato sauce, tend to stop the table cold. Colaianni brings most dishes himself, which is either charming or unnerving depending on how you feel about celebrity chefs.

Floor-to-ceiling glass puts the Eiger North Face directly in your sightline, and the kitchen doesn't try to compete with it. This fine dining restaurant in a boutique hotel leans on seasonal regional ingredients, offering a set menu or à la carte, with sharing welcome. The wine list runs to some 500 labels, a remarkable portion available by the glass, and the sommelier clearly enjoys the job. The terrace, when the weather cooperates, makes the whole thing feel slightly unreal.

A moat-encircled medieval castle just outside Basel, reached by wooden bridge, is the setting for this fine dining room. Classic French cuisine arrives as a four-to-six course set menu, served in an 18th-century stone hall where the original stuccowork still earns its keep. The cheese trolley does the rounds, the wine list is properly considered, and the courtyard is there for an aperitif if the castle hasn't already done enough.

Stucco ceilings and valley views through tall windows set the tone at this formal fine dining room inside the Carlton hotel. The kitchen leans on regional ingredients and something the menu describes as nutritional principles, which sounds more austere than it tastes. A plant-based tasting menu sits alongside classic French preparations and a few showpiece dishes for two. Aperitifs by the fireplace next door, with a pianist, is the sensible move if you arrive early.

A contemporary French restaurant spread across two elegant floors with a generous terrace when the weather cooperates. Chef Jacques Allisson runs a tight, precise kitchen where modern French cooking comes with menus at three to five courses, or à la carte if you'd rather roam. The wine cellar leans heavily on French and Swiss bottles, which given the address feels less like a choice and more like the obvious thing to do.

Old wood panelling lines the dining room at this classic French restaurant in the Altstadt, giving the whole place the warm, slightly creaky feeling of somewhere that has never needed to update its look. The kitchen turns out dishes like veal strips in a mushroom cream sauce alongside the kind of French-leaning mains that reward a long lunch. Booking is not optional; the room fills fast and often.

Swiss stone pine panelling lines the walls of this elegant hotel dining room in Pontresina, giving the place the warmth of a mountain lodge with the table manners of something considerably grander. The kitchen works a quiet line between classic French and Italian, with set menus or à la carte, and the pressed duck, carved tableside for two, is the kind of dish that makes ordering anything else feel like a missed opportunity.

The terrace alone could sell you on lunch, but this is a brasserie worth visiting in any weather. Tucked inside the Royal Savoy, it runs on old-world timing: polished service, French-leaning cooking, a wine cellar tended by a duo of sommeliers who know every bottle. The menu moves through seasonal market courses with the unhurried confidence of a room that has never needed to impress anyone, because the regulars already know.

Whole fish brought to the table intact and filleted in front of you sets the tone at this French restaurant on the first floor of the Hotel Schweizerhof. The kitchen moves between modern French and Zurich classics, so Zürcher Geschnetzeltes sits comfortably alongside the more Gallic options. Service is polished without being stiff, and the wine list opens with staff picks that are genuinely useful.

A husband-and-wife team runs this polished contemporary French restaurant in a quiet village just outside Neuchâtel, where the cooking leans cosmopolitan and the sourcing is taken seriously. The Michelin Guide has it selected. Evenings offer a flexible multi-course format; lunch is more contained. The wine cellar gets mentioned approvingly by people who know what they're looking at, and the patio is the right call in good weather.

Floor-to-ceiling windows look straight out over Lake Geneva, and on a clear day the view does most of the talking. Le Deck is a French-Mediterranean restaurant in the hills above the lake, running a monthly-changing menu built around serious seasonal produce. In summer, the outdoor bar pulls people in before they've even thought about a table. A good excuse to sit by the water longer than planned.

Floor-to-ceiling windows frame Lake Geneva on one side and a summer terrace on the other, making it easy to overlook the food, which would be a mistake. This is a fine dining room inside The Woodward hotel, built around seasonal contemporary French cooking that leans heavily on vegetables without making a fuss about it. The produce is serious and the plating is precise. Breakfast and afternoon tea also run here, and both are handled with the same care.

The format is part of the pitch: you pick 10 or 15 small tasting portions, they arrive in courses, and the table shares everything. It's a contemporary French restaurant inside a luxury Alpine hotel, and the room earns its keep on its own, reclaimed wood, dressed stone, herringbone parquet, an open fireplace, and a terrace view that makes the food briefly irrelevant. Local ingredients run through the menu, and the staff are the kind that notice things.