On 7 December 2018, the restaurant chain Tibits, which has eight restaurants in German-speaking Switzerland, and one in London, opens its first restaurant west of the rösti graben*, in French-speaking Switzerland.
Tibits Lausanne
Ahead of the launch of their first restaurant in 2000, three Swiss brothers, Christian, Daniel and Reto Frei, who had dreamt of creating quality vegetarian food that could be grabbed on the run, teamed up with Rolf and Marielle Hiltl, owners of the legendary, and oldest, vegetarian restaurant in the world, Haus Hiltl in Zurich. According to Guinness World Records, the restaurant, initially called the “Vegetarian Home”, was founded in 1898.
Tibits Lausanne
In 1901, Ambrosius Hiltl, became ill with rheumatoid arthritis. His doctor told him he’d soon die if he didn’t cut meat from his diet. Switching to vegetables did the trick. He made a full recovery. Hiltl dined regularly at Zurich’s “Vegetarian Home”, and in 1903, the struggling establishment was looking for a new manager. Hiltl jumped at the chance to run the place, which despite moving, has stayed in the family ever since. It is now run by the fourth generation of Hiltls.
Roger Federer in front of a Tibits restaurant – Source: Facebook – Tibits
Tibits combines Rolf Hiltl’s family tradition with Christian, Daniel and Reto Frei’s desire to make vegetarian food more accessible.
Site of Tibits restaurant at Lausanne’s main train station.
The former Buffet de la Gare, which served traditional food and opened in 1916, closed in December 2015, to make way for major renovation work to Lausanne’s main train station. The listed Belle Epoque era space had been looking for a new tenant ever since.
Here is a Tidbits’ food shot from Instagram to prepare your taste buds.
The restaurant is open from 6h00 – 23h00 Monday to Thursday, 6h00 – 24h00 on Friday, 6h00 – 24h00 on Saturday and 8h00 – 23h00 on Sunday.
* The rösti graben, or fried grated potato ditch, refers to the dividing line between French and German-speaking Swiss. The Sarine river (Saane in German) is also used to refer to this rough dividing line. French speakers often refer to German-speaking Switzerland as being Outre-Sarine, beyond the Sarine (river).
More on this:
Tibits press release (in French) -Â Take a 5 minute French test now
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