Jazz concerts, live piano music, a so-called "library of spirits" and liquid high-caliber drinks from a spirited bar team. The Widder Bar at Zurich's Widder Hotel was voted Best Hotel Bar in the 20th anniversary year of the SWISS BAR AWARDS 2022.
Only two years ago, the team of the hotel's own bar had climbed the winner's podium for this award. At that time, it was still at the Chicago 1926 event location. This time, it was at the Trafo Baden. "Actually, it is an award for the entire team of our hotel," says Bar & Lounge Manager Wolfgang Mayer. Because: "An incredible number of factors come together when you think about the operation of our hotel bar. This starts with the equipment and maintenance of the technology. Without our kitchen, with whom we work, many things would not be conceivable or possible to implement. The reception and housekeeping also play their and certainly an important role, because everything has to run and be coordinated. That works very well for us".
This overlap of competencies culminates at the Widder Bar, where specially created signature drinks are unlikely to make the U.S. abandon its indulgence attitude for dry martinis, but may well astonish. The booking situation of the past years, during the pandemic as this year with 90 percent occupancy, makes the hotel extremely satisfied. While during the pandemic, national guests such as the Swiss were in the majority, now 30 percent of the guests are American, followed by the Swiss, Germans and English, who meet at the hotel bar. It is well known that U.S. Americans favor their martinis drier than Europeans. "They also like to drink tequila with us. They know they can get it all here with us," Mayer says.
Conception as a hotel bar
On the one hand, the Widder Bar is designed as a hotel bar. It happens that some guests from the surrounding area do not even notice the bar as such. This is because the Widder Bar can be accessed through a separate entrance in Widdergasse. "This lowers the inhibition threshold for some people to enter a hotel bar. This is one of the reasons why we always have a good mix of international and national guests. Not every bar that is tied to a hotel has a separate entrance. We are also very centrally located," explains the bar manager.
The perception of the Aries Bar is that it stands a bit on its own. There is no lobby or lounge area in front of it, which in many hotel bars first paves the way to the bar. It is a central place to stay that already begins to fill up during the day. Hotel guests move from their rooms to the bar, have a drink or aperitif, and return in the evening. Locals or outside guests arrive all the time. "It's actually more of a bar by Zurich for Zurichers, a meeting place in the middle of the city," Mayer describes the bar retreat. In summer, the Widder Garten in the courtyard complements the bar operations, while more youthful night owls enjoy themselves in the Widder Garage and former hotel parking lot. Or wait for the queue in front of the Widder Bar to dwindle.
From the "ram" branding and the heart of the bar
The Widder Bar is an illustrious meeting place, if on the one hand you think about the interior made of wood, a lapis lazuli wall or the leather benches in red. In addition, the bar has over 1 200 different spirits of all categories. The liquid library, better known as the "library of spirits," is both eye-catching and eye-opening upon entering the upscale drinking establishment. In four rows, it stretches continuously along the eight-meter-long wooden bar, the ends of which are marked by rams' horns. The "ram" branding extends from the ceiling to the bar menu and does not even stop at the cufflinks.
The centerpiece is a whiskey and whisky collection with around 650 different qualities. A focus that began to mature with former bar manager Markus Blattner. The bouteilles of the time have long since been emptied. Mayer and his team of eight, however, guard this treasure and ensure "definitely and daily" that it is preserved and rebuilt. "It's more complicated than wine, because with special bottlings, you have to be behind it to preserve it," Mayer speaks from experience.
Specializes in signature cocktails
The drinking repertoire of the Widder Bar consists exclusively of signature drinks. Classic drinks are standard at this bar level, and don't need to be specifically listed on a bar menu. "The signature cocktails are what make us tick," is how Wolfgang Mayer describes his creative cocktail forge. The cocktails are forged together as a team. Creativity is only limited by good taste, balance and uniqueness. says Mayer.
"We get together to experiment, mix together and test the flavor and aroma directions. With the results, we try to stand out."
Wolfgang Mayer, Bar & Lounge Manager
The laboratory initiated in the Widdergasse under the direction of Matteo Moscatelli supports the team of the Widder Bar in creation and provision of certain ingredients. Moscatelli is also responsible for the drink creations of the entire The Living Circle Group. The Widder Hotel is part of this group. From time to time, workshops or team training sessions are held at the lab. Employees of The Living Circle Group also meet there when it comes to creation, training or tastings.
Drinks with seasonal fruits and ingredients
The bar menus of the Widder Bar are published twice a year in summer and winter rhythm. The drinks claim to be based on seasonal fruits and ingredients. Recently, the new bar menu for this year's winter season has appeared - haptically in the form of the ram's head made of wood, which, as expected, is enthroned at the bar. It contains the finely formulated cocktails in fan form.
There is no focus on spirits in this menu either. But two drinks are assigned to each of the nine houses of the Widder Hotel. In total, there are 18 new drinks that are duetted to one of the Widder houses, but can only be drunk in one place: the Widder Bar. This is located in the Augustiner Haus and, more aptly, in the House of Whisky. A "Fruits'n Roots" based on Scotch whisky or a "Spicy Breakfast" with bourbon characterize the seasonal, liquid flagships of this place. For the House of Competition, the team has drawn on drinks from staff that have led them to notable success in cocktail competitions.
A place for jazz
After a total of ten years of renovation, the Widder was reopened in 1995 as a hotel ensemble comprising a total of nine buildings in the old town. Since then, the Widder Bar within the five-star superior hotel in the middle of Zurich's old town has also existed in its current form. Even before the long, structural renovation, the Widder Bar was a place for jazz and its protagonists.
Jazz greats from all over the world exchanged musical blows during past decades. "The tales of jazz sessions go back to the 1920s," is the unanimous opinion of the Aries ensemble. Jazz sessions still happen today. But the bar is known for its live pianists, who punctuate the bar whisper with their sounds every day.
Once H. Widers Hus, today Hotel Widder
The name Aries goes back to the family name H. Widers Hus mentioned in documents. This name was also transferred to the house where the guild of butchers regularly met from 1401. Even today their guild house is located in Widdergasse. Since the bar is located in the Hotel Widder, one does not want to completely avoid inspecting the hotel as well. The luxury hotel is spread over nine time-honored buildings, which have been united into an ensemble of historical heritage and modernity in art or design during the ten-year renovation. Today it has a total of 35 rooms, 14 suites and four luxury residences with garden or terrace for an international as well as national clientele.
Above the award-winning Widder Bar, it is Stefan Heilemann who has taken the winning culinary route for the establishment. The German-born chef already boasts two stars awarded by Guide Michelin. The Widder Hotel is part of The Living Circle. This hotel group also includes Hotel Storchen, Alex Lake Zurich, Castello del Sole in Ascona, Restaurant Buech in Herrliberg, and the farms Terreni alla Maggia in Ascona, Schlattgut in Herrliberg and Château de Raymontpierre in Vermes. The Living Circle has a partnership with top chef Andreas Caminada's Caminada Group.
This article appeared in
Issue 5-2022
BAR NEWS magazine as single issue
