Over afternoon tea in the sumptuous setting of Le Hall, Bruno Eltschinger relives his memories: «This is where, in 1969, I had my first job as a cashier and controller», he recounts. He had just finished his training as a chef and done a hotel internship in Scotland. And he knew: anyone who has worked here, in this Zurich palace, has the world at their feet.
But fame would take a little longer. He earned his stripes at the Zurich hotels Atlantis and Ambassador, then ran the family business, the excursion restaurant Buchsegg, for five years. Eltschinger’s vision: a place where genuine hospitality reigns. He realised it in 1991 with his restaurant Sonnenberg in Thalwil (ZH). Later he took over, as tenant, one of Zurich’s oldest neighbourhood pubs, the Wilder Mann, with its skittle alley, veranda and ivy garden.
Bruno Eltschinger was also a qualified maître d’hôtel; he founded a sommelier association and a club for older regulars who sought company and didn’t want to be alone – with theatre outings, excursions and good meals. But one day he decided to throw it all in: too much stress, constantly. An article gave him pause. «Since then I follow my heart and only do what’s good for me.» Until retirement he worked as a gastronomy journalist and president of the sommelier association. His engagement for the Free Evergreens, as the leisure club is now called, also kept him busy. But his greatest passion remained travel.
The turning point came in 2019, at the famous Caffè Florian on St Mark’s Square in Venice. His life partner filmed him on a phone savouring a hot chocolate, presenting in Zurich dialect the radiantly blue sky and the basilica in the background. The little video landed on TikTok – and lo and behold: in no time, thousands were following him. An influencer was born, in record time. Since then Bruno Eltschinger has shared his joie de vivre with the whole world: on a camel in Abu Dhabi, on the beach in Bora Bora or among the penguins in Antarctica – wherever he is, his fans are there too.
With two thumbs up, «Bruno us de Schwiiz» became a cult figure. Over 150,000 people watched him eat a fondue on the Stoos; more than 400,000 received his Christmas greetings from the desert. Bruno Eltschinger sees himself as an influencer entirely without airs. And he charmingly disproves the prejudice that older people are always grumpy.
This article appeared in MEN issue 1/24 (May 2024).
