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Swissôtel’s restaurant Le Muh is closed from Thursday. And now the Zurich innkeeper has to close his two restaurants: the Au Gratin and the Newsbar.
The Au Gratin restaurant near the main train station closes at the end of November, four months earlier than originally planned.
Le Muh restaurant is advertised on Facebook as a meeting place for every occasion. However, since Wednesday customers have been standing in front of closed doors. What happened?
In September it became known that the Swissôtel would cease operations as a result of the crown pandemic. Associated restaurant Le Muh was unaffected by the closure, it was said at the time.
A few weeks later everything is different. The Accor hotel group, which took over the city hotel in 2017, confirms this in a written statement at the request of the NZZ: “The bankruptcy administration completely closed the Swissôtel Zurich on November 12, 2020. This also applies to the business of restoration “.
And he goes on to say: “We regret to announce that the responsible tenant (hotel operator) of the Swissôtel Zurich has informed us that he had to declare bankruptcy with the competent authority on November 6, 2020.” When asked by NZZ how many employees needed to be laid off, the Accor hotel group did not respond. Including part-time jobs in the hospitality industry, several hundred employees are likely to be affected.
It is open how the property will continue at the Oerlikon train station. Accor is looking for a new tenant. Meanwhile, the Zurich catering industry is complaining about two other prominent victims of the corona pandemic.
Urs Pfäffli, President of Gastro Zürich-City, will close the Au Gratin and the Newsbar at the main train station at the end of November after twenty years. He’s sad, says Pfäffli. He had to fire all the remaining employees. It is important for him to be a successful entrepreneur and tell his story to show that he can affect anyone in crisis.
Urs Pfäffli is in charge of the lessor PSP.
Pfäffli should have closed the Au Gratin and the news bar at the end of March 2021, regardless of the corona virus. The property owner, PSP, has given you notice. Part of the building complex is currently being converted; there was a fire there in 2018. But the effects of the corona pandemic are now the reason it closes four months earlier than planned, says Pfäffli.
The day after the Federal Council press conference on October 18, the phone rang almost continuously for one morning. Customers canceled their reservations, for family Christmas parties, company parties or company lunches, everything was canceled. Hear similar stories from industry colleagues, says Pfäffli.
Pfäffli still doesn’t know how things will go professionally after the bars close. Now he wants to dedicate himself more to his duties as Chairman of Gastro Zürich-City. “My job now is to defend the hosts and make sure they can work.” Pfäffli believes that anyone who can come up with a compelling protection concept should be rewarded. “It is safer in restaurants than at home.” There were no concepts of protection for family celebrations on its own four walls. The risk of infection there is higher than in a restaurant, says Pfäffli with conviction. He would like the Federal Council to let him know.
On November 27, guests can dine for the last time at Au Gratin. The next day, Pfäffli wants to vacate the restaurant and sell the furniture and cutlery. Will be moving in at the end of the month. However, Pfäffli’s story is not over yet.
The property owner PSP operates it. Pfäffli tried to get a rent reduction in the spring. When this was rejected by the PSP, it only transferred part of the rent without authorization. Now a court decides how much the Pfäffli costs.
