The Swiss restaurant Baron Fon Due is a wood-lined respite from the muddy construction going on downtown. If you are looking for a quiet place to eat a mid-priced lunch not far from the Kremlin, but as far as possible from the crowds in Red Square, look no further.

Prices are a bit on the steep side for the house specials, which include the Golden Globe chicken filet (270 rubles) and the Zhaba chicken breast (310 rubles) but are worth their cost in terms of portion size. Each meal is served with a garnish of spinach and potatoes and comes with a choice of black currant or cherry liqueur sauce. We had the stuffed veal (270 rubles) and a rolled slice of tender meat filled with fried mushrooms and garlic cloves and lightly covered in pineapple sauce. Surprisingly tasty and not too heavy.

Soup was cream of mushroom and a bit bland, but a few sprinkles of pepper gave it the finish it needed. There is something transparently special about cream-of-mushroom soup on a half-balcony overlooking frozen back-alley Moscow. Kind of like being in a secret world of silent torpor while downtown noisily rushes by.

But soup and veal are hardly the mainstays at a fondue restaurant, and for the awkward American used to fast food, pizza and the occasional all-you-can-eat Thai buffet down by the shopping mall, this special dish took some explaining.

The fondue legend has it that Swiss shepherds out on the grassy fields of the Alps used to boil up a concoction of white wine, cheese and bread crusts into which they would dip long forks all through the midsummer night. Returning home to their villages after such meals, they decided to add what they hadn't already eaten to their cooking and came up with a refined sense of gourmet delicacy.

At Baron Fon Due the main attraction is, of course, their fondue. For 680 rubles the specialty of the house is three types of cheese fondue: Classic, with ementhaler and gruyere cheeses in a cherry liqueur; Italian, with provolone instead of gruyere; and Bourbonne, which adds a Dorbleu cheese and extra liqueur.

The choices don't stop there, however. After the fondue is brought to the table, it sits in a special warming dish and each diner is afforded a two-pronged fork with which to dip. Pork, beef, chicken, rolled balls of spicy dough, vegetables and fish all come on plates for sporadic dipping pleasure.

There is an all-you-can-eat meat fondue for 280 rubles and a one-trip fish-only fondue for 560 rubles that includes syomga (salmon), scoryugi, tuna, battered calamari and king crab with rice. The diners at the table next to us, weary Westerners on a business trip, spent at least ten minutes of their lunch in silence, heartily dipping and crunching away at their fish-fondues, taking small and frequent sips of Spanish house wine in between. When they stopped to catch their breath the smiles on their faces spoke loudly as to their thoughts on the meal.

For dessert there are a few more selections on the menu that, if you have saved room, could tickle your sweet tooth. Drunken pear (70 rubles) and baroness cake (75 rubles) look good, but don't waste time on these unless you are in a rush. For 390 rubles the chocolate fondue, with a choice of white or black chocolate, pineapple, banana and pear slices and full, fresh grapes and strawberries on French honey graham crackers ought to be the only thing you want. It's a big portion, enough for four, though you'll want it all for yourself, begrudging maybe only your dearest loved one a few precious mouthfuls.

Wines are French, Italian and Spanish and start at about 500 rubles a bottle, and there is a Spanish house wine for 95 rubles a glass that more than suffices. Beers on tap include Baltika and Sinebrughoff on the cheap end (20 to 65 rubles, depending on volume) and unfiltered Paulaner at 110 rubles a half liter. Take my advice and stick to wines, though, as beer and cheese make for a heavy stomach that lasts well into the next few meals.

BARON FON DUE
8 Bolshaya Dmitrovka Ul.
Metro: Teatralnaya
Tel: 292-1555
Hours: noon to midnight
Business lunch: 120 rubles