by Dr. Iain Corness
Alois X. Fassbind and Bruno Forrer
With new restaurants appearing almost daily it seems, such as the reborn
Mata Hari and the latest Italian addition called Gian’s, and the new
Sheraton Pattaya Resort turning on a Chaine des Rotisseurs dinner which
evoked memories of the past splendor of the Chaine’s gastronomic
evenings, two names returned to mind. Those of Alois X Fassbind and
Bruno Forrer, one the extraverted showman and the other one of Pattaya’s
supreme restaurateurs. However, both of these men were to shape the
culinary destiny of Pattaya.
After Bruno died three years ago, I wrote “We will all have different
memories of Bruno Forrer, a man who shrugged off suggestions that he had
reached the top, by saying, “I would never call myself the best - that
would be a most unprofessional thing to say.” Bruno Forrer was above
all, a gentleman. A gentleman who will be missed, but who will not be
forgotten.” I was correct, he has not been forgotten.
Bruno was gracious, charming and hospitable. However, he was not “to the
manor born”. He came from a small Swiss farming community in the
countryside above Lake Constance. His father was not a gentleman farmer,
easily able to pass on the rules of etiquette to his son, but a simple
man. However, the village farming life did not interest the young Bruno
Forrer. In a previous interview eight years ago, he had recounted, “It
was so boring, I just wanted to escape.”
Escape for Bruno was into the hospitality industry, but telling his
father he wanted to be an hotelier brought an initial negative response
from Forrer Senior. “No way! You should first become a chef. This is
respectable,” continuing with, “If you don’t want to do this first, then
don’t even consider it.” Forrer Senior may have been from a simple
farming community, but he was instilling into his son the seeds of what
is ‘right and proper’.
Bruno accepted his father’s advice that a profession, together with hard
work would be necessary for success. He underwent the apprenticeships
that hoteliers have to endure – long hours and indifferent remuneration,
but in the end there were the rewards that only the interaction with the
guests can bring, for someone who has the hospitality industry as an
integral part of their own psyche. Bruno Forrer had found his own métier
around the tables of some of the best restaurants in Europe.
Bruno was also a collector of antiques, beginning early on while working
at the Dorchester in London. During our interview in 1998 he admitted,
“I have a passion for collecting. It is like being an addict - I have to
have something, even though I have no place to put it!” The long hours
and a personal frugal life-style helped pay for his treasures, but these
in turn provoked jealousy from a fellow hotel worker and a call from the
British Inland Revenue Department! The annual, “Please explain how you
can afford these?” and subsequent detailing of his art collection became
the catalyst for his move to Thailand when his old friend Louis Fassbind
suggested he join him at the Oriental in Bangkok. This was another
venue, of the standard that befitted a man like Bruno Forrer.
From the Oriental he moved to Pattaya and to the Royal Cliff Beach
Resort, where he became a household name during his 21 years as the
resident manager there. However, the long hours eventually prompted a
major change for Bruno. “I wanted something easier than hotels where you
start at 6 in the morning and to bed at 10 p.m.,” so he left and opened
his own restaurant in 1996, with the help of Louis Fassbind.
Unfortunately age and infirmity can catch up with us all, and after
Louis Fassbind’s death, Bruno continued, his smiling face always at the
tables, sharing a joke or a memory. But this was not to last forever.
In 2002 his health began to fade. However, he continued to be a presence
at his restaurant with many people freely admitting that they would go
just to see Bruno again. This was particularly true of annual visitors
to Pattaya. Their trip to SE Asia was not complete without a chat with
Bruno Forrer.
Despite his health restrictions, which began to make themselves
apparent, he had no intention of retiring in the formally accepted
sense. In 1998 he had said, “I will go on as long as I live. Eventually
I will maybe come in for just one or two hours in the evening. I always
want to be coming back so I can see my friends.”
Now his “one or two hours in the evening” are a matter of pleasant
culinary memories too, but it was interesting to see at the Sheraton
Chaine des Rotisseurs dinner last weekend, just how the name of Bruno
Forrer came back to so many. He was the man who put “class”, that
intangible aspect, into dining in this sometimes noisy and brash resort
city. That so many others are now emulating his work is almost an
epitaph to the life of Bruno Forrer, even though he would deny it, being
the epitome of tact and diplomacy. I can still hear him when he said,
“That would be a most unprofessional thing to say.”
He was certainly a ‘gentleman’ from the old school. A man who is still
missed, but will not be forgotten.