This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s Travel guide for Zurich
For Dr. H., head of the Zurich police, the Kronenhalle is a second home. He sits at his favorite table under a Miró painting, begins Liver dumpling soup (liver dumpling soup), eats from the car (carving cart), enjoy a bottle Patron Reserve and is served by Emma. And although Dr. H. is a fictional character in Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s 1958 novella, The promise (The promise) the Kronenhalle lives on, with its Miró, Liver dumpling soup, cardelicious wine, attentive service and – most importantly – a diverse audience.
This combination of art, food, service and people has made the Kronenhalle a Zurich home for many since it was bought by the charismatic Hulda Zumsteg 100 years ago. I first visited it in 1984 as a schoolboy whose curiosity was piqued by The promise. I have eaten there ever since; no visit to Zurich is complete without a meal at the Kronenhalle. The Kronenhalle Is Zurich.
For many, the main attraction is art. From Rämistrasse, a street full of galleries, you enter an extraordinary world of modern masters: Bonnard, Braque, Kandinsky and Picasso alongside Swiss artists such as Amiet, the Giacomettis, Hodler and Klee. This is the personal collection of Hulda’s son Gustav and was housed in the restaurant when he took it over in 1958 after a successful career as a silk merchant in Paris.
Gustav, an aesthete through and through, was friends with the Maeght family of art dealers, and his circle included many of the artists he collected, as well as designers such as Cristóbal Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent. The Kronenhalle – already a magnet for local and expatriate artists, musicians and writers – also housed Gustav’s creative circle. Some dedicated works to the Zumstegs or added a sketch to the guest book after dinner.
In a world where restaurant collections are sold off (remember Langham’s in London, the Four Seasons in New York, The Bauer in Venice?), the permanence of the art in the Kronenhalle is striking. Following Gustav’s death in 2005, the restaurant and its artwork are now owned by a foundation that dictates that his paintings must remain where he hung them.
Entrepreneur and FT columnist David Tang once recommended that the Kronenhalle should be “the Mecca for budding interior designers.” Indeed, the beauty of the space – a collection of inviting and appealing rooms – goes beyond its collection of paintings. The Brasserie is a large dining room where regulars such as Dr H and the CEOs of Swiss banks have their preferred tables. Andrew Grima, the legendary British jeweller (whose shop was at 1 Bahnhofstrasse), always preferred the intimacy of the “Swiss Gallery” upstairs or a seat near the blue sunset in the Chagall Room.
It is also a restaurant with many styles: a mix of Central European middle-classpatrician Zurich and cosmopolitan chic. The quality of the materials is extremely reassuring: red or green leather, polished brass, mahogany and teak, green felt and acres of white linen, perfectly starched in the restaurant’s laundry on the upper floor, and sitting on woven green undercloths, still based on a pattern that Gustav found by chance in the Paris Puces.
Hulda Zumsteg was as happy serving beer and free meals to impoverished students (and James Joyce) as she was entertaining the likes of Andy Warhol, Yves Saint Laurent, Bertolt Brecht and Sophia Loren – and that sense of generous democracy is still felt today. The Kronenhalle is remarkably unpretentious and versatile; its style and menu make it suitable for virtually any occasion. My fondest memories include attending a glamorous Bulgarian-Swiss wedding reception, overhearing the sale of a Stradivarius violin and celebrating a Swiss investment in the Caucasus.
Zurich-based photo consultant Diana Poole first met Magnum photographer René Burri in the Kronenhalle at the start of her career. She remembers: “René, elegantly dressed in a fedora and scarf, entertained me with stories about Che Guevara, Le Corbusier, Picasso and Giacometti.” Darker dramas also played out in the posh pews: Marcel Ospel, former president of UBS, is said to have been booed after the bank announced losses of 20 billion francs in 2008.
As for the menu, Gustav Zumsteg hated fancy food, and this is still reflected in the simple, well-prepared dishes. The classics include Sliced veal fillet (Veal fillet strips in cream with Rösti), Entrecote Café de ParisAnd Bündnerfleisch (Swiss air-dried beef). The portions are generous, the wine list excellent (I always enjoy the Chasse Spleen).
You can simply (or, ideally, also) visit the cocktail bar, which happens to be the most glamorous in Zurich. The dark and modernist world of leather, teak and marble was designed in 1965 by Robert Hausmann with lighting and furniture by Diego Giacometti. I recommend the Aurora, an elegantly scented blend of sake, gin, elderflower, lime, cucumber and orange blossom, invented for Swiss author Martin Suter.
The final ingredient is the staff: attentive, friendly and professional. Many of them have been working in the restaurant for over 20 years. Led by Dominique Godat, a veteran of historic hotels around the world (Kulm, St. Moritz; Metropole, Moscow; Pierre, New York), the waiters are as much an attraction for many regulars as the art and the food.
Dr. H finishes his story The promise with a greeting to one of Hulda Zumsteg’s longest serving waitresses: “Emma, the bill.” (“Bring me the bill, Emma.”) Today, when I come to visit, Marianne will take care of me.”Uf again lieMarianne.” Until next time.
Rämistrasse 48001 Zurich; kronenhalle.com
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