Café Zinette, friends like bosses!
Le Café Zinette is a typical communal inn where life is good and the hustle and bustle of the world around us seems to stop at the front door. A zinc bar and a few tables welcome guests eager to indulge in seasonal bistro cuisine and a wide selection of natural wines. The proprietors are on hand, ready to share their life stories and anecdotes. At first glance, Olivier and Matthieu don’t really seem at ease with the journalistic exercise. But the more time passes during our interview, the more they open their hearts with kindness and respect. Although reserved (at least with me), these two companions happily tell us their story, which is interwoven with a spoonful of chance, a pinch of carefreeness and a fine dose of friendship.
Montreux Festival
Matthieu Mayor’s childhood is lulled by memories of a grandmother and mother sharing moments. Olivier Fioux, from a family of Lyonnais origin, remembers (without pleasure) eating kidneys with tarragon sauce. “I remember having more fun soaking a piece of bread in the sauce than eating the giblets – it’s a good thing there was a guinea fowl too,” he jokes. For both of them, it’s the unifying and unifying side that animates the childhood of these future restaurateurs. Pure Genevan products, they grew up in the beautiful city of Calvin without yet knowing each other. One was studying at the Hautes Études Sociales, the other at the Beaux-Arts. Without knowing why, they were convinced that one day they would open a restaurant. Fate must have heard them; all they needed was to meet.
Parallel to their academic lives, Matthieu works at the Festival de la Bâtie and discovers the festive side of the nightlife. This environment fascinated him, and led him to collaborate with the Montreux Jazz Festival. Although the two associates met in Geneva, it was in 1990 on the Vaud Riviera that they got to know each other, serving drinks behind a bar. “I had asked Olivier to come and give me a hand during the festival. We can say that our story really began behind a counter,” says Matthieu. They continued to go their separate ways, until Olivier stumbled across the Café Zinette arcade, which was in need of refurbishment. It was love at first sight for a place as original as it was charming, and the 28-year-old immediately applied. The project was accepted… but everything had to be done. Within 48 hours of signing the contract, he asked Matthieu to join the adventure.
A passion for natural wines
At the time, the two partners were rubbing shoulders but were not (yet) close friends. “Both for the restaurant and for our relationship, everything was still to be built,” recalls Olivier. Although they hadn’t yet decided on the gastronomic direction they wanted to take, the tandem nevertheless undertook minor renovations to refresh the much-needed premises. The doors opened in 1999 and were an immediate success. Working with the chef at the time, they created a small menu of five starters, five main courses and five desserts. An avant-garde culinary approach compared to the Geneva institutions of the time and their menus with their many long-winded titles.
On the vineyard side, Matthieu and Olivier have been focusing on natural wines from the outset. Like Renald Kocher at his Chez Marius winery, they were the first to offer biodynamic wines in Geneva. With the help of another forerunner in the field, Emmanuel Heydens, founder of Le Passeur de Vin, they started out with four references and have grown to hundreds of labels to date. Time goes by, fashions change, and Café Zinette remains true to its roots in the heights of Lancy. “We like everything to run smoothly – for the staff, for the guests and, in the end, for both of us. In order to contribute to their daily development, it’s important to give time to our staff,” explains Matthieu.
It’s good to be alive…
The two friends don’t want to get into trouble. Respectful of the lives of others, they never wanted to be pressured by their establishment, preferring instead to allow themselves to live. “The accountant who accompanied us at the start of the adventure told us we wouldn’t last two years,” they recall. Twenty-five years on, Olivier and Matthieu are still here. Café Zinette is a great place to live.
