Hubert Erni of The Blinker presented with prestigious award

Hubert Erni, who runs the stylish Blinker eatery on Alte Steinhauserstrasse, was presented with one of the prestigious “2018 Swiss Mice Awards” at a ceremony held in Zurich last week.

Erni won his award in the “Special Locations” category, “Mice” in this context standing for “Meetings, Incentive, Conventions and Events”.

Awards were presented based on online voting and through a specialist jury. Naturally, the proprietor was very pleased to have been presented with this award, “especially being such a small fry in this field,” he added modestly.

Speaking in her capacity as editor of the specialist “Mice-tip” magazine, Stephanie Günzler, who was also chairwoman of the specialist jury, said that what struck them about the way Erni ran the establishment was his positive approach to innovation and his enjoyment of it. “We were not only very taken by the originality of his concept but also by his team, who was always on the look-out for something new,” she said, adding how Erni had very much a following on social media.

Other establishments which let out their facilities for events and also nominated in this category were the Zirkus Monti, the Pantheon Classic Car Museum in Basel, the Welle (wave) 7/ Working in Workspace location in Bern and the Porte des Iris estate in Vullierens in the canton of Vaud.

Unfortunately, Erni has not been able to find anyone to carry on running the Blinker, hence the restaurant is to close before the summer holidays; he mentioned how this prize had been a very nice farewell present.  He himself is on the look-out for new place to run somewhere in Zurich, taking his chef de cuisine, Michèle Meier, who enjoys a renowned reputation, to the city with him.

Longstanding diners may remember Erni used to run the Rathauskeller in Zug along with Stefan Meier before branching out on his own.