The Best Longseller Bar award of the SWISS BAR AWARDS requires that an establishment, be it an independently run bar or a hotel bar, has been perceived as a place to be for at least ten years. In order to be designated as a place to be and, in the best case, to receive an award, a location must have long since played its way into the hearts of its guests. It has immortalized itself with its atmosphere, charisma and consistency in supply and demand.
This year, the Bellevue Bar in Bern has managed to prevail over its competitive contenders from Abflugbar , also based in Bern, such as the Einstein Bar in St. Gallen. The bar at Kochergasse 5, which has been in existence for 109 years, has convincingly managed to be named Best Longseller Bar of 2022.
Bellevue Bar is the hotel bar of the hotel of the same name, which was opened earlier in 1865 as Hotel Bellevue. In 1913 the hotel was completely demolished and rebuilt. The Bellevue Palace has 126 rooms including 25 suites, further twelve function rooms for events and banquets. The five-star luxury hotel also has a spa and fitness area with saunas.
Of parliamentarians and spies
Since the total reconstruction, the Bellevue Bar has also existed in its current form. With its expansive lobby in front, it has become a popular meeting place for national and international guests over the course of the past century. Among them are journalists, politicians, artists, stars and starlets as well as lovers and business associates.
The Bellevue Bar and Lobby are known throughout Switzerland. But above all for hosting the traditional Night of the Long Knives on the eve of the Federal Council elections. The knives are no longer sharpened here; politics is much more in the spotlight. It is here that it is decisively asserted for the years to come. Stories of espionage also entwine around the premises of the faithfully preserved furnishings. According to unconfirmed stories, a Russian agent as well as a former barmaid were busy eavesdropping on and spying on American and Swiss guests.
Bern: always welcome
Many Swiss, US guests and regulars declare the gracious house and the bar situated inside it to be their second living room. Surrounded by the Bernese Alps, the hotel also attracts many vacation guests, especially in summer. But for the most part it is even the men and women of Bern who regularly spend their evenings there or arrange to meet up with friends. "In addition to the hotel guests, we particularly appreciate our external guests.
"We explicitly address the city with our bar operation. To the people of Bern, whom we particularly enjoy welcoming here as valued guests. They make the Bellevue Bar the place it is."
Vice Director Adrien de Haller
Bellevue Bar is Switzerland's first American Bar - with Emily on board
As far as it is known, the Bellevue Bar is even considered the first American Bar in Switzerland. Thus, it also wants to be preserved in its positioning in bar culture. After all, the Swiss capital is animated by independent and creative cocktail forges such as the Taube, the established Abflugbar, new Capitol Bar or Kreissaalbar.
"We're all about the all-round experience," says the vice-hotel manager. A child-sized Emily, who otherwise only leads a legendary existence as a radiator figure for Rolls Royce limousines, is enthroned at the beginning of the long wooden counter facing the guest room. As the "spirit of ecstasy," Emily stands for automotive luxury. Within the Bellevue Bar, she underscores the luxury hotel's storied, classic philosophy and orientation. She paves the way to a bar with a down-to-earth "spirit of luxury".
Galus' heart beats for classic bar culture - with twists, of course
The pulsating heart is the bar, which conveys a touch of the lifestyle of the 1920s in a listed ambience and offers space for around 70 guests. Natascha Galus is the hostess and chef de bar. A year ago, the graduate of the Rostock Bar School followed in the footsteps of long-time bar manager Franco Federico after working at Seiberts in Cologne, the Park Hyatt in Zurich and the Marriott in Bonn.
"I think we would be the ones most excited about the award," Galus' words in the presentation video at the awards ceremony. Now, indeed, there is great joy about the Best Longseller Bar award throughout the establishment. "We all work very closely together here and are very familiar. We have received a lot of feedback on this award, also internally such as from the whole team of the Food & Beverage department. We are very proud that Ms. Galus has joined our team," emphasizes de Haller. Natascha Galus is naturally moved by the joy and congratulations: "My joy is enormous. The award means recognition for the whole team, which does great work," describes Galus, who is acting in the position of bar manager for the first time.
Classic cocktails, which characterize the bar menu of the equally classically oriented bar, are her "lifeblood and a cherished concept". Within the framework of this, however, she enjoys the granted creative freedom to design twists based on classic drink templates.
Thoughtful, fat washed and macerated
So it's not just the martini-loving Americans who enjoy their Dirty Martini with fat washed avocado. They even ask about its exact preparation, study the menu with enthusiasm, and taste one or two twists in a row. For her Pineapple Margarita , for example, she macerates pineapple and chili in tequila for three weeks. The "B.R.O.F." drink is an Old Fashioned whose rum has been macerated with berries. And: "Every glass comes back empty".
Summer featured a Goose Berry Julep - a brandy with a julep of gooseberries made using the sous vide process. "Guests appreciate the innovations and twists in the drink menu. More cocktails are being ordered than wine or beer. I take that as a silent compliment from our guests," Galus says, pleased that her twists have been well received. Of course, gin and tonic are also available at the Bellevue Bar, but playing with different gin qualities or tonics is left to the home game of the gin bar in the lobby.
However, the drinks prepared by the Bellevue Bar team can also be enjoyed in the lobby, as in the Brasserie, or in summer on the terrace bar. And of course in the spacious fumoir, which is located behind the premises of the Bellevue Bar.
Homemade in every drink
Galus prefers to create Negronis. "Here, however, I must note that in the past we had the Negroni. Today, there are the Negronis. A dedicated Negroni menu was the first thing Natascha Galus introduced. And the guests are happy to taste the differences in the popular Italian aperitif classic," Adrien de Haller also expresses his delight at the perceived upgrade in the drinking orientation.
Natascha Galus also takes the time in the always busy bar to make her own ingredients, such as syrups. Since she has been acting as bar manager, the proportion of homemade drink components has also increased. "My goal is to incorporate something homemade into every cocktail," Galus says. With classic creations on the bar menu altered due to ingredients, infusions or spirits, Galus is making the cocktail theme more pointed and visible than it has been in years past.
Young classical music
The classic in cocktail culture remains in the foreground, following the hotel philosophy. "So that it doesn't seem like a museum, we make it more exciting," finds Natascha Galus. The menu is to be changed at regular intervals, incorporating seasonal options. The seven-person team has been rejuvenated and trained more deeply in the wide world of cocktail matter, and the storytelling has been elevated. Old cocktail glasses have been replaced with new ones, and the rum, tequila and whiskey collection is still being worked on, stocked up and developed.
In the meantime, word of the new, high-quality drink getup at the Bellevue Bar has already spread across the country. Soon it could be said that you are visiting Natascha Galus when it comes to a visit to the Bellevue Bar in Bern. But that doesn't matter. The young bar manager represents the spirit of the house with her own sophistication and a lot of passion for hospitality and creation.
This article appeared in
Issue 5-2022
BAR NEWS magazine as single issue
