Kornhaus Keller doesn’t look like much from the outside. But inside, this historic restaurant proves to be one of the great secret treasures of Bern.
The building was constructed between 1711 and 1718, a sandstone work in High Baroque style. During its lifetime, it served as a granary and market hall, an alehouse and a museum before city planners came together to refit it as a restaurant in 1893.
Today, restaurant patrons can still see many of the beautiful artistic touches added to the building during the transition. Twelve columns throughout the dining room depict important traditional costumes of Bernese women; arches throughout the room depict musicians in traditional men’s costumes of the Renaissance. Other corners of the restaurant are decorated with images of mythological characters, such as dragons, angels and mermaids.
As in all restaurants, ambiance is only half of the equation at Korhaus Keller; the other is the fantastic food. The restaurant features and impressive wine cellar, and an even more impressive menu. Tonight, our tour group’s dinner included salmon steak with red pepper sauce, roast lamb Provence style, and Poulard on lemon sauce.
Great restaurants like this come along rarely on an average group tour; it’s rarer still that they feature such a unique history and ambiance. Tonight we drunk it all in, making the most of our time at one of Switzerland’s best offerings.
