"Can no longer play entertainer" Now the landlord who is closing his bar in Zurich for good is speaking out

He opened the Daniel H. bar in Zurich's Kreis 4 district 28 years ago. This week he announced that the traditional bar will close in April. Daniel Hofstetter says goodbye and reveals what he has learned for life at the bar.

Daniel Hofstetter, you opened Bar Daniel H. 28 years ago. This week you announced that you will be closing your bar at the beginning of April. How are you feeling?

It feels strange. The bar is also my home in a way. Something that has kept me busy for half my life will end in April. I'm proud that we were able to run the bar successfully for so long. Until Wednesday, when blue News reported on the closure, everything still seemed a long way off. But after Bruno Meyer (editor's note: bar co-host Daniel H.) and I sent out the press release on the same day, it really hit me: the end is near. Of course it makes me sad, because so much of my life has been spent in this place.

Your press release states that new eating habits and rising costs make it impossible to continue running the restaurant.

The past few years have not been satisfactory. People's going out habits have changed since the coronavirus pandemic. I'm talking in particular about days during the week, from Tuesday to Thursday. We now have far fewer guests on weekdays than before the pandemic. In the past, we often had as much turnover in the till at 8 p.m. on a normal Wednesday as we now regularly do just before midnight.

Bar Daniel H. is not only a traditional Zurich bar, but also one of the oldest queer-friendly places in the city. You've experienced a lot as a host in three decades. How do you look back on that time?

Overall with a lot of pride, but also with melancholy. When I opened Bar Daniel H. in 1998, we were one of the trendsetters. Back then, unlike today, the so-called Chreis Cheib was not yet a place to go out.

"New going out habits"Traditional Zurich restaurant closes for good after almost 30 years

What is your credo as a host?

Drink, pay, leave (laughs uproariously).

And seriously?

Love, joy and harmony. I enjoy it most when our guests leave the restaurant with a smile on their face - and it's even nicer when they come back a few days later.

At Daniel H., it could happen that an SVP national councillor was sipping his beer next to a drag queen. How did you manage that?

I've never been afraid of contact with people, no matter what background they come from. As long as a guest remains decent towards us staff and the other guests, they can do whatever they want here.

The nightlife industry complains that far less alcohol is being consumed than in the past. Do you notice that too?

People meet up for drinks after work much less often today than they did a few years ago - and when they do come to our bar at this time, it's often for a much shorter time and with little or no alcohol consumption. But we are a bar and alcohol accounts for up to 85% of our turnover - even though we have long since increased the proportion of non-alcoholic cocktails. In order for us to achieve sufficient turnover with so-called mocktails, guests have to order significantly more of them. Unfortunately, they don't.

Why do you think young people in particular consume less alcohol today than they used to?

I can't judge that conclusively because, to be fair, I have to admit that one of our problems is that we haven't been able to attract enough young guests in the last five or six years.

Can you tell us how much money the average guest spent at your hotel in the best years - and how much it is today?

Jesus Christ, I can't tell you that. Overall revenue has fallen by 25 percent in recent years. This drop has not only left a painful hole in the till, but has also taken its toll on me psychologically. The longer I stand behind the bar, the harder it is for me to play the cheerful entertainer while I have to think about how and when I can pay the outstanding bills in the office.

Things happen all the time in nightlife, you work with lots of different people, there are dramas and problems. What were the biggest challenges during your time as manager of one of Zurich's most popular bars?

I remember a guest who I never saw before or since. He suddenly sat with me at the bar and told me, his voice choked with tears, how his whole life had been completely shattered within a few hours. Cliché and reality: sometimes I had to act as a therapist, psychiatrist or confessor. You rarely or never get bored in a bar - as is generally the case in most jobs in the hospitality industry.

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Which moments have stayed positively in your memory?

It was special when a celebrity had a beer with us at the bar. The late SVP National Councillor Alfred Heer occasionally sat at our bar. Dieter Meier, the voice of the electro band Yello, has also been a guest here. However, it is important to me that every guest is treated equally, regardless of how much money they have in their bank account.

I'm sure you have other funny stories you can tell.

I'll have to think about that for a moment ... All right: a few years ago, Michael von der Heide was our guest together with Paola Felix. Michael has been a friend of mine for many years. That evening, he called me and asked if he could come over with Paola. However, Paola needed a parking space for her car.

What happened next?

An hour later, Paola Felix drove up in her Mercedes and parked in our parking lot in the backyard. The two of them then sat in our garden. When I joined them at the table, Paola laughed and said to me in the broadest St. Gallen dialect: "That's so nice of you, dear Daniel, to let me park in your backyard."

What will you miss most when you close the door of your bar for the last time on April 4?

Of course I will miss many guests who have become friends over the years. And what I'll also miss are the conversations with likeable over-hoppers that sometimes lasted until the early hours of the morning.

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