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A good deal this winter season could have saved Au Gratin in the center of Zurich. Then the new infections exploded, the second corona wave was there. It’s not worth it anymore. We will close at the end of November, ”owner Urs Pfäffli (58) tells BLICK. He has been running the restaurant and accompanying news bar for 24 years. It’s over. The end came earlier than expected. At the end of March 2021, he would have had to move and find a new place to stay.
It won’t stop at the end of Au Gratin. Bankruptcy experts expect more restaurant closings in the near future. “As soon as state support ceases, we expect many more bankruptcies than in previous years,” says a spokesman for creditors’ association Creditreform. Businesses in a particular city are in a much more difficult situation than those in rural areas.
Gastronom blames the federal government
Pfäffli blames the federal government and the tightening of the corona warning in October for its failure. “From one day to the next, we get a flood of cancellations,” says Pfäffli. “Not Corona, but the federal government is destroying gastronomy.”
Au Gratin is particularly popular in winter. The specialty of the house: juicy dishes and gratin with cheese and cream. This is what you like to eat in the cold season.
Now this business is gone. Today, Pfäffli welcomes an average of 15 people for lunch. It used to be 150 guests, he says. “Next season should have helped us make ends meet,” he says. “But that just canceled.”
The restaurateur has no plans yet on where and if he will open the restaurant again. Unemployment awaits him and his 15 employees.
