Long-time barmaid takes over the 4i bar

After more than eleven years as an employee in the bar of the Restaurant Rössli in Cham, Wanda Andres has taken the step into self-reliance. Due to the corona situation, her future landlord wants to help her out in this.

Normality is beginning to take hold. That’s clearly also the case in Cham, judging from the traffic jams that are already shaping the townscape again in the early afternoon. Wanda Andres and Markus Stoller, on the other hand, are still far from normality. They sit in the dining room of the traditional Restaurant Rössli and tell of weeks of uncertainty. Not only the weeks that are behind them, but also those that are still ahead.

The fact that the restaurant is empty at this time is due to the time of day. But, on some days, it doesn't look much different, even during opening hours. Because many of the employees in the surrounding offices are still working from at home, and therefore do not go to the restaurant for lunch. And many clubs still have to suspend their meetings, which also eliminates the glass of beer afterwards.

"We are hoping for more guests, especially at midday," says Markus Stoller, who has organised a takeaway offer and a delivery service during the lockdown. This was done "to limit the damage," as he says. Hope determines a lot of things at the moment.

The landlord is helping out regarding the rent
This is also the case for Wanda Andres. She is setting off on a professional adventure at a very unfortunate time. The long-term employee will run the 4i bar on her own account from 1 June. However, due to the corona-related distance rules, it is still unclear when the restaurant, which has been closed since mid-March, will re-open. "Under the current conditions, it would make no sense to open up," says Andres.

Her current boss and future landlord Markus Stoller says that he will "gradually adapt the rent to the circumstances," until there is a reasonably normal course of business again.

Wanda Andres and Markus Stoller on the terrace of the "Rössli", below which you can enter the 4i bar

A year ago, the "Rössli" host decided to concentrate only on the restaurant and to lease the bar in the future. He included Wanda Andres into his thoughts from the very beginning. "I had to think about it really seriously. It's a risk that I want to accept," says the future tenant.

There used to be bowling in the "Rössli"
With the exception of the corona situation, she is well able to assess the risk, as she has been the face of the 4i bar for more than eleven years. It was opened in 1998 in the premises of the former bowling alley. "The bar was set up at that time to enhance the Cham nightlife," recalls Markus Stoller, who has been running the "Rössli" since 2001. "Although the competition has increased, this is still not really the case," is his impression.

It can be easily deduced from this that success stands and falls with regular guests. The 4i bar also relies on them, Stoller confirms. They won’t have to get used to many things after the reopening. Because, apart from the change in the management, everything will remain familiar, according to Wanda Anders: the opening hours, the viewings of ice hockey and football matches, the organisation of concerts. And food from the "Rössli" can still be ordered into the bar.

Four events are to take place each year, and will last for two days, and Wanda Andres plans to announce these at a later date. Once normality reigns again for the restaurateurs.