AuGust, Rennweg, Zurich

Yeah, yeah, yeah – everyone’s saying there’s a vegetarian and vegan trend, LOHA, sustainable something and generally making the world a better place. Most of it is pure conjecture, but hey – we also believed that the forest would die back in the eighties and that pumping air into a shoe would make us cool & better at dunking.

With passing time we’ve come to the conclusion that vegetarism is like sex with a condom – cumbersome, safe and without a result to show for (at least in the traditional catholic sense). It is refreshing to see enterpreneurs undeterred by modern fads, ill informed consumer moods and sticking to the avant-garde zeitgeist or short – thank you Widder Hotel for AuGust.

AuGust has a small dining room, in a sort of Brasserie fashion (white and black tiles, fake sausages dangling over a counter and open kitchen) with maybe a tad cramped seating. Reservations are only possible for 6 and up, otherwise it’s first come first serve. And to be fair that system is honored, revered Philipp Schwander had to wait in line for a table just like everyone else. The place was buzzing, tables turning quickly and generally it felt pretty well visited.

The concept is simple – meat and all possible variants. We started with a selection of cold cuts from the menu featuring about 20 variants. We sampled bacon and beef jerky. The jerky was great in taste, texture and seasoning, the bacon rather unexciting. To get a good view of the offering we opted for the “le grand plat AuGust”, which featured entrecote, sausages, meat loaf, spaetzle and beans. Long story short, not a big fan of the meat loaf – everything else great. A very special mention for the thinly sliced entrecote, simply done to perfection with a mountain pepper sauce to die for. Forget any other meat place in Zurich – just try this entrecote. Dessert was a Creme Schnitte (Millefeuille) (or better a slice thereof), it didn’t score high points neither in taste nor in texture but it didn’t matter anymore.

The only slight drawback is that the open kitchen causes quite a bit of a smell, so for lunch I’m not sure I’d go there if I have meetings in the afternoon. But who cares ? Great menu, great concept, (mostly) great food – especially the entrecote was fantastic and the best I ever had.