LOCAL NEWS
Friday 14 December 2012 Page 25
Since the beginning of November, Conrado Tomasini has taken over the management of the restaurant Victoria in Gstaad. Heinz Oehrli remains the owner and keeps running the hotel with his family. Conrado Tomasini has been working for 18 years in the Restaurant Bar Rialto. Over a year ago, Heinz Oehrli asked him if he would be interested to take over the restaurant part of the Sporthotel Victoria. “It is a big honor that Heinz Oehrli has confidence in me”, he says. Conrado Tomasini started to work in the restaurant a year ago as an employee in order to become familiar with the work and the staff. “It is important to me that the
Victoria stays a restaurant for everybody in the center of Gstaad”, Tomasini says. “It should still be a place to meet for the locals, where dishes are served at a reasonable price. Some regular guests, frequenting the Victoria for 45 years, are eating lunch here every day. Such guests are not only guests, they become friends.” The Victoria will still serve meat dishes, pizza, pasta and brasserie-style dishes such as calf’s head or tripe. The dining room is currently extended with 24 seating places. The new manager will manage the present employees. The hotel will remain in the hands of the family Oehrli. The cooperation between the restaurant and hotel is very close; the guest does not feel the change of leadership.
Picture: zvg
New General Manager for Restaurant Victoria
Conrado Tomasini. Breakfast and half-board is served by the restaurant. Nadine Oehrli remains supporting her father Heinz Oehrli with the 34 hotel rooms. The house was built in 1905, and Emma and Arthur Oehrli-Lauener bought it 60 years ago. Heinz Oehrli, 70 years old, took over the hotel in 1976 from his parents.
The big change from earlier days to nowadays is the behavior of guests. “In the past, we had difficulty to close the restaurant before midnight - today we have to be happy if guests are still around at 22h00”, says Oehrli. Even though the salaries and other costs rose in the last decades, it was always important for Heinz to keep the prices reasonable - a message that he has also made clear to Tomasini. Heinz Oehrli is looking forward to have more time to watch icehockey games, cycling or travelling. When asked if one of his children would take over the hotel one day, he clearly points out that this is still an open question. TRANSLATED AND ADAPTED FROM THE ARTICLE BY BLANCA BURRI FROM THE AVS 06.11.2012