“Prosciutto” has been known and loved far beyond the city limits of Grieskirchen for 25 years. This era is now over, confirm the owners Roman and Hedwig Rauch in an interview with the Welser Zeitung: The Italian restaurant will only be open until the end of January, then it will be over. “There were a number of reasons that led us to this decision,” says Roman Rauch.
The restaurant is still well attended: “It’s certainly not because of the business, people still like to come,” says the restaurateur. It would have been much more likely that the circumstances would no longer have been right: the difficult search for personnel, the increase in prices and disagreements with the house owners, the Greifeneder family. “The rent would have increased significantly, our counteroffer was not accepted. That was a strong reason for us to draw a line in the sand,” says Rauch.
sadness and relief
Horst Greifeneder, who represents the owner family, says that he has been accommodating to his tenants during the Corona period, for example with two suspensions of the index adjustment, which the lease agreement actually provided for. “Last January we wanted to adjust the lease in order to improve the situation for us once more from a business perspective. “Unfortunately, the Rauch family rejected that,” he says.
Regardless of the challenges at the end, the Rauchs can look back on a successful career in the catering industry: from 1993 to 2011 they ran the award-winning restaurant “Castelvecchio”, which was initially located in the back of the restaurant on Bahnhofstrasse and later in the Wasserschloss Parz. In 1999, Prosciutto was added, which quickly gained a good reputation thanks to its excellent cuisine at moderate prices. “It’s a bit sad, of course, in 30 years you experience a lot and put a lot of heart and soul into your work,” says Roman Rauch. While he sets the tone in the kitchen, his wife Hedwig runs the service: “We are a well-coordinated team, which is why it has always worked so well.”
Future in gastronomy?
Hedwig Rauch says she is happy to have now drawn a decisive conclusion: “I am a landlady with heart and soul. But when, like last year, you never know whether you have enough staff, for example for Christmas parties, that’s not nice.” The permanent construction site on Bahnhofstrasse was also a challenge. She is not sad regarding the closure: “We were in business for 30 years, but we are still young enough for a change.”
The Schlüßlbergers don’t yet know what will happen next for them professionally. “But it will probably go back to gastronomy, perhaps also food production. During the pandemic, we started bottling our sauces in jars. My wife makes juices herself, which is very popular. We’ll see,” says Roman Rauch.
Looking for a successor
What will happen to the vacant restaurant is currently still unclear. The lease expires at the end of March and owner Horst Greifeneder is looking for a successor who, ideally, also cooks Italian food. Anyone interested “who would like to continue the Mediterranean heritage” can contact him at any time.
Author
Valentin Bayer
Editor Upper Austria
Valentin Bayer
