Chef Kaspar Donier and his wife Nancy gather good things from the garden of their country getaway near the Canadian border.

Superimposed against the Alps and the sturdy wooden houses, these gardens seemed like some sort of Platonic ideal, far nicer than any real garden could be.

"I want to go home and rip out all our flowers and put in vegetables," said Betsy, only half joking. I compared the lush rows of lettuces and squash to the meager plants relegated to a few back rows in our garden and was humbled. I wanted to have the kids shipped over so we could stay in Switzerland forever, sipping that soft white Fendant wine made from the obscure Chasselas grape and eating the fondue and raclette made with those incredible Swiss cheeses. I would pause now and then for a crisp salad garnished with bright red beets and blazing orange carrots made sweet and juicy in the glacially enriched soil.

The Swiss do have a way with food and wine and vegetable gardens. So when Swiss-born Seattle chef Kaspar Donier and his wife Nancy invited us a few weeks ago to spend the day at their garden near the Canadian border, we jumped at the chance. I thought a trip to his garden might refresh those already fading memories of the gardens we saw in the Alps. Besides, when a chef like Kaspar Donier is the host, a good meal is guaranteed.

Spaetzle is a German-style noodle that Donier learned to make as a boy in Switzerland. He uses fresh herbs from his garden in Sumas to give his version a Northwest kick. "Some chefs," says Donier, "transfer spaetzle out of the poaching water and place them on a greased baking sheet to cool. Just before serving, they melt butter in a nonstick pan, and pan-sear spaetzle until golden brown. You might also want to toss the noodles with a half cup of grated Parmesan cheese." Serves 4 to 6

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup milk, lukewarm 3 eggs Pinch of salt Fresh ground pepper, to taste Pinch of nutmeg 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs (thyme, basil, chives, marjoram, dill, fennel, oregano, lemon balm) 2 tablespoons butter 1. Place the flour in a mixing bowl and form a well in the center. Pour the lukewarm milk, eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg and herbs into the well. 2. Mix all ingredients with a wooden spoon until it forms a dough; ingredients should be well incorporated and smooth. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. 3. Boil water in a large pot and add a pinch of salt to the water. Push the spaetzle dough through a colander into the simmering water. Poach the spaetzle for 2 to 3 minutes or until all of them float. 4. Transfer the spaetzle with a slotted spoon into a serving bowl. Add fresh butter to coat. Season with salt and pepper if desired. Print friendly version.

Actually, "good meal" doesn't even come close to describing the experience that awaited us. When we arrived at Springhill, the Doniers' name for the place, we were drawn to the stone grill and clay oven Kaspar built beside the garden. Boned legs of lamb, rolled with herbs and garlic, were slowly browning to perfection on the grill; chickens were roasting in the clay oven. A cassoulet of white beans and rabbit simmered beside the lamb. On a rustic wooden table, a huge bowl of Greek salad with sweet peppers, purple onions, cherry tomatoes and black olives occupied one end while a basket of Kaspar's famous focaccia, redolent with rosemary and still warm from the oven, held down the other.

The Doniers' friend, Randy Finley, who owns Mt. Baker Vineyards just up the road, arrived shortly with a huge selection of wines — including a few bottles of the white wine he makes under Kaspar's label. What a pleasure to discover it contains Chasselas, the very grape in the soft Fendant that captured my imagination in Switzerland.

Kaspar Donier grew up in eastern Switzerland and moved to Zurich when he was a teenager to begin an apprenticeship at the Hilton Hotel. He graduated to five-star hotels in St. Moritz and Lausanne. In 1976, he came to North America to work first at The Hotel Vancouver and then at The Four Seasons in Vancouver, B.C. In the early 1980s, The Four Seasons sent Donier to Houston to be executive chef at the Inn on the Park.

Donier, though, was smitten with the Pacific Northwest, and as soon as they could, he and Nancy found their way back. In May of 1989 they opened Kaspar's, which immediately started raking in accolades.

Meanwhile, the Doniers secured a getaway in the foothills of Mount Baker. Every Sunday, when the restaurant was closed, the couple sneaked away from the city and restored their sanity in the country.

"We had a little place on the golf course," says Donier. "And it was only 20 minutes from the ski slopes at Mount Baker. But there was no garden. We used to drive by this place where an older couple sold herbs and firewood, and stock up on herbs for the restaurant. We started thinking that maybe we could have a bigger place like that one and actually grow our own herbs."

The place the Doniers admired had a spectacular garden. More than a thousand herb plants covered a quarter acre in one corner and a huge vegetable garden occupied another. A row of greenhouses yielded hundreds of pounds of tomatoes. A natural spring was set up to deliver the best imaginable drinking water. The 10-acre parcel belonged to the Groh family, and the Doniers let them know that if the place ever came up for sale, they would love to buy it. Unfortunately, when the Grohs were ready to sell, the Doniers had just bought a new restaurant, moving to their present home near Seattle Center. Another major purchase was out of the question, so the land went to someone else.

Five years ago, the land came onto the market again and Thelma Groh, having carried the contract for the initial buyer after her husband's death, let the Doniers know they had a second chance. This time, they were ready. When something is meant to be, fate has a way of making it happen. And to see the Doniers at Springhill is to see the happy hand of fate at work.

"If Kaspar had his way, we'd have goats for milk and chickens for eggs and we'd never leave," says Nancy Donier. "But we still have the restaurant, and I'm a city girl, so we only come on weekends." Since they bought Springhill the Doniers have had two children, Wendy and Liza. "Actually," says Donier, "now that we have the girls, we only come up about every other weekend. I have to save the other weekends for laundry and housework." Such is the way of the world.

Sometimes, when the Doniers are in the city, Thelma Groh returns to tend the garden. "We'll come back after being away two weeks and discover that a row has been weeded," says Donier, "and we know that Thelma has been there."

"Oh, I don't really do much," Thelma says, "but I do like to come back and wander around the garden."

Who wouldn't?

Greg Atkinson, Canlis executive chef, is the author of "In Season" (1997) and "The Northwest Essentials Cookbook" (1999) from Sasquatch Books. Mark Harrison is a Seattle Times staff photographer.