European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 3, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Review Chow line by sgt. Ret Clement Lounder i Don t know How you regular followers of the choline feel about horror Type stories but i come across one the other night that had the Little hairs below my Block Cut standing straighter than a private first class at an article 32 hearing. It was one of these creature from the Sluice pit stories name of deadly rot and it was material so powerfully frightful that it took three cognacs afterwards to get me Calm enough to hit the rack. And even then i had Joleen Call me every hour to Check that her Beau had not been turned into obit material. Being fiction though deadly rot does t hold tallow to that most classic of put a shiver Down your spine horror books Sybil that True Story about the girl who had More personalities than a recruiting sergeant which is to say about 47 of them. As i recall she was constantly having to give these other folks inside her equal time and so one Day she d be in the fourth Grade and then maybe the next time her turn would come around she d be at her senior prom. This created a situation that basically played hell with her learning new math As you can no doubt imagine and it took about $2.7 million Worth of head doctors to finely Square her away. But hey i figure the Book was a Best seller and maybe she broke even on the Deal in the Long run. I bring up the whole matter of your split variety of personality Only because my buddy Hector Johnson and me were in the land of the Yodel the other week and i got to honestly say right Here that there is no country around that has got More trouble figuring out who it is than Switzerland. I swear every time you tank up in that country the pump boy is speaking a different language. You do not know Hector but i am willing to bet there Are certain Large numbers of females among the readership who would be interested in correcting that Pronto like because Hector is a handsome Man a mix of mex with a Little Tex his Mother being this tiny mexican woman who puts out an awesome Chicken mole and his father a Pale Drill fitter from Odessa with weak genes and a very tiresome habit of sighing All the time. The end result of their marital Type Union is that somehow Hector ended up looking just slightly better than the one character on that motorcycle cop show. Hector and me first got to be buddies Back in Texas when i was running this big barn of a me shall where All the japanese rocket students in America would come to eat double helpings of our not too tasty Sheet cake. I put Hector in charge of eating is serious business in Switzerland. Controlling the Kitchen help a slow working Bunch of local boys who. Had this Nasty habit of trying to move very copious numbers of goods from the store room to the trunks of their Chevrolet. Sadly Hector came Down with a very ugly Case of the shingles in 1976 and the army yanked his food handler s card forcing him to leave military service and open up a very successful string of sushi restaurants out in California where people i understand do not mind choking Down uncooked fish As Long As they can Wear sunglasses while they Are doing it. Low overhead Hector always says about his Success. No  but i am rambling. Hector and me were tooling through Switzerland stocking up on Toble Rones and taking slides of some of the big mountains they got there when we accidentally found ourselves in the Southern part of the country in Bulle a Little town which i got to say does not have much to recommend itself being mostly a few businesses hunched on both sides of a main Street. The  Friendly enough though even if most of them speak Only French and the town is so anxious for outsiders to visit that the parking tickets they give out to tourists say thank you for visiting Bulle. This one is on us in about 11 different languages. The Only place to Graze that we could find was the cafe de Commerce a Little storefront kind of place that looks like it was yanked off the set of one of them Peter Bogdanovich movies. Inside there is lots of deeply varnished wainscoting and a ceiling fan and very simple Wood tables and chairs the former being covered with Linen cloths. Plenty of regulars some of them whole families were camped in there eating lunch and there were a few handfuls of other Folk sprinkled around the Corners sipping wine or Light coloured Beers and Reading papers off wooden rods. Hector and me parked in a Corner table right by one of the big windows up front. There were two Semi elderly women doing most of the waitressing but we landed a Young girl reasonably Fine looking with Rich lips and a Blond new wave hair Cut who appeared out of the Kitchen spotted us and then hustled Over at a Speed which would have impressed Jim Ryan. Like i said Hector is a handsome Man. The girl kind of breathlessly recommended the lunch menu and Hector smiled an of and i ordered some of the red House wine and that friends was that. I do have to break in Here with a word or two about the food of Switzerland especially the variety that is served Down in the South. It is not very Cheek tightening this Chow being mostly Little pieces of meat clobbered with hazy Gravy or maybe a Steak in a thin Cream sauce. Boiled potatoes or Fries and usually some kind of vegetable do Jour is what you get on the Side. Wisely the cafe do Commerce does not try to escape this fact but settles for serving their food in As Fine and simple a manner As possible and the care taken in preparation makes All the difference. We had cuts of beef cooked chateaubriand style with Little vegetables and just a hint of a juice based sauce and of course potatoes boiled and lightly pars lied with a touch of butter and what i took to be sour Cream. The daily Veggie was Green Beans tossed with sliced almonds and a Little Ham and just a half a dash or so of Olive Oil. Simple solid Chow. Michelin is obviously not going to be naming a tire after this place but if anyone gives out awards for simple Quality eats maybe the cafe do Commerce should be in right up there in line. Hector and me dropped a whopping $11 at the place we also had a couple cups of Coffee each before hitting the Road and considering Switzerland and considering the direction the Dollar has been taking these last few months that is a bargain of the basement kind. Also the girl insisted that Hector take her address. The cafe do Commerce is on the main commercial Street in Bulle Switzerland about 40 minutes South of Bern. Hector and me give the place 3 pointy fingers. Ratings b 3 s a a awesome eats. We re talking Paradise on a plate Here. Pc b b b very Fine dining. Crack service an memorable food and drink. B a a solid Chow. Good food of atmosphere and pleasant service. A s decent. About equal to a Ponderosa Steak House. A Jug path butt. Crummy Chow so so service Semi ratty Interior. Apri 3,1986 stripes Magazine 17