The new tenant to revive the legendary "Wart"

Daniel Lüthold (54) is taking over the traditional restaurant in the older part of the municipality. He is taking the whole team from his current position with him.

"Aico, here!" It's quite possible that something like this will soon sound from the wood at the Hünenberger Totenhalde. The voice belongs to Daniel Lüthold, the new tenant of the Restaurant Wart in Hünenberg. The 54-year-old will  not only be accompanied there by the entire nine-member crew of his previous place of work at the Michaelskreuz, but also by his dog Aico. "He’s in the middle of puberty, a typical teenager," says Lüthold happily as he walks with Aico during the phone call with our newspaper – or rather as the dog walks with him.

After 13 years in his current position, Daniel Lüthold felt the desire for a new challenge. The corona pandemic also did its part in getting him to look around, he says. The advertisement of the Hünenberg Corporation for a host for the "Wart" was just right. According to Paul Suter, the president of the corporation, Daniel Lüthold was one of several candidates, and the council finally decided in his favour because he was "a restaurateur with passion", who had built up a customer base and also proved that one could "work successfully" in this demanding industry.

The requirements for the new tenant are clear: The offer should be closer to the local people than that of his predecessor Sebastian Rabe, who relied on star gastronomy and thereby on a select clientele. Paul Suter hopes that clubs and families will find their way back to the "Wart" in the future.

Daniel Lüthold and dog Aico will welcome the guests to the "Wart" from autumn onwards.
The first house burned down in 1702, a year later the current one was built.
The Wartstein restaurant serves Italian specialities
Historic area of Hünenberg.
Photos: Stefan Kaiser

Standing out from the competition
"I want to be a host for everyone," says Daniel Lüthold, and he has already proven this characteristic in the excursion restaurant Michaelskreuz. But that doesn’t mean he will be simply offering a simple fry-everything kitchen. "I stand for fine cuisine," says Lüthold, who wants the adjective to not only be understood in the Swiss sense.

"The fine seasoning of the dishes is important to me: they should be light and consist of seasonal-regional ingredients. I would describe the style as Euro-Asian."

In doing this, he wants to stand out from the offer in the neighbouring "Wartstein" restaurant, which focuses on Italian cuisine.

Remarkably enough, Lüthold himself refers to the nearest competitor in his intended catering sector, the restaurant "Rössli", as a "good example". The well-known restaurant opposite the church of St. Wolfgang is a "competitor" who fishes in the same guest pond. The advantages of the "Wart"? "The ambience is already unique," says the new tenant, who will also rely on the support of his regular customers at the new location. Guests will find something new, both inside and out. The listed building from 1703 will soon be "gently renovated", says Paul Suter, president of the corporation, together with the purchase of new furniture and more modern lighting.

If everything goes according to plan, Daniel Lüthold, chef André Jufer and Co. will open the new "Wart" to the general public on 21 September. A six-day operation is planned in summer and a five-day operation in winter. According to Lüthold, the contract runs for two and a half years, and there is an extension option when it expires. "I hope to spend at least ten years in the 'Wart'," says the new tenant, who would then be at retirement age, "my wandering years are definitely over."

Loan for housing construction
The Municipal Assembly (AGM) of the Corporation will decide on two loans on 4 May. In addition to the renovation of the Wart restaurant and its new interior, the corporation council is presenting a construction loan for the Wartrain property. Two apartments are to be built in the barn, for which the project loan was approved by the AGM last year.

These works are part of several projects that are underway in the historic Hünenberg area, which has been brought together in a townscape protection zone (Ortsbildschutzzone - see map) from 2019 onwards. The reconstruction of the Schützenhaus from 1686 has already taken place. The corporation’s law firm of the has been located there since last year. According to Paul Suter, " the feasibility of further development steps is being explored, together with the preservation of monuments in the vicinity of the Restaurant Wart."