Restaurant in Winterthur Restaurant advertises with outdated Gault Millau points
An anonymous tip-off brought it to light: the Strauss restaurant in Winterthur had published an outdated and incorrect Gault Millau rating on its website.
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- Restaurant Strauss in Winterthur mistakenly listed 14 "Gault Millau" points on its website, although it has not been listed in the restaurant guide since 2020.
- Managing director Tuba Özdemir acknowledged the error and corrected it on the website, but plans to clarify the further use of the award transparently.
- The Strauss has a chequered history with loss of points, changes of chef and financial problems.
The Strauss restaurant in Winterthur boasts 14 Gault Millau points on its website - an award that does not quite reflect reality. In fact, the restaurant was last listed in the renowned restaurant guide in 2020 with 13 points. In the editions since then, Strauss has been completely absent, as the "Landbote" writes.
The "Landbote" editorial team was informed of the discrepancy anonymously. When asked, managing director Tuba Özdemir admitted that the 14 points had been a mistake. "We hadn't noticed it before because the restaurant was so busy," she explained. The error on the website has already been corrected. Nevertheless, it remains questionable why the old award from 2020 is still displayed on the website and on the plaque in the entrance area. There is no indication that this is an older rating.
"Gault Millau" remains calm
Özdemir promises to address the issue: "We will enquire whether we can continue to display the award, even though our former chef cooked it." We want to act transparently and with integrity, she emphasized.
The restaurant guide "Gault Millau" reacts calmly to such incidents. Editor-in-chief Urs Heller explained: "We don't make a drama out of it."
Such cases are rare, and the establishments concerned are usually kindly asked to remove the plaques. Guests can also easily check current reviews online. "Lies also have short legs in the restaurant industry," says Heller.
Turbulence in the past
The Strauss has had an eventful history. Since 2009, the restaurant has been regularly featured in Gault Millau, usually with 12 or 13 points. However, the restaurant disappeared from the rating in 2021 - unsurprisingly, as the chef had changed twice in 2020. There were also changes in the management: Tuba Özdemir took over the reins from Deniz Türeli in 2020, who opened Restaurant No. 18 in Winterthur shortly afterwards with former Strauss chef Reto Keist.
In the years before, Strauss had experienced some turbulent times. Under the management of the then celebrated young chef Simon Adam (2015-2017), the restaurant got into financial difficulties. Adam, who later made headlines as a "gastro bankrupt", caused massive losses in several establishments. It became known that he also misappropriated Strauss funds and transferred them to a Romanian mistress.
After the bankruptcy of Strauss Win AG, Trivesto AG, where Özdemir is now managing director, took over. The restaurant belongs to the city of Winterthur, which renovated it in 2019 for around 2.2 million francs. A multi-year lease agreement governs its use by Trivesto AG.
The editor wrote this article with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).
