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Being Vegetarian in Zurich

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Zurich is home to the 124 year old Haus Hiltl, that has the Guinness World Record for being the oldest vegetarian restaurant managed by the same family.

The buffet at Hiltl Zurich
The buffet at Hiltl Zurich

On my first visit to Switzerland, I had a day in Zurich and was given a meal voucher with a list of restaurants where I could use it. Scanning through that list, my eyes fell on Hiltl – as it said vegetarian restaurant. Being vegetarian, this was something I could not have imagined otherwise in Switzerland, a typically meat eating country. Naturally, I had both my lunch and dinner at Hiltl. That was in 2018 and memories of the meals that have remained etched in my mind.

The wall with images at Hiltl Academy
The wall with images at Hiltl Academy

Circa 2022, on my second visit to Switzerland, I was pleasantly surprised to be invited to try Vegetarian food on a Veggie Days Trip. And one of the days was at Zurich at Hiltl. Life does come full circle.

This time around though, I had a chance to catch up with Rolf Hiltl, the fourth generation CEO and a trained Chef who tool us through the journey of the restaurant at the Hiltl Academy, a space that is used to educate, train chefs and showcase vegetarian cuisine. This is also where you can browse the ten books that have been authoured by the team.

The show kitchen at Hiltl Academy
The show kitchen at Hiltl Academy

I also spoke to Rolf Hiltl about why vegetarianism matters and why Swisstainable is the way forward. Incidentally Switzerland Tourism also celebrated Swisstainable Veggie Day on October 1st, World Vegetarian Day showcasing the most versatile of vegetables as 1200 restaurants including Swiss Air only served vegetarian food that day.

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