Restaurant in Zürich, Switzerland
Book if the wine list drives your decision.
Lotti is the right call in Zürich when the wine list matters as much as the food — back-to-back Star Wine List awards in 2025 and 2026 confirm the programme is the real draw. Booking is easy relative to the city's more in-demand tables, and the central old-town address makes it practical for a full evening out. Go if you want a wine-led dinner with independently validated credentials.
If you are a wine-focused diner in Zürich who takes the list as seriously as the food, Lotti at Werdmühlepl. 3 deserves a place on your shortlist. It earned consecutive Star Wine List awards in both 2025 and 2026 — a signal that the programme is not a decoration but a genuine reason to visit. Book it for a milestone dinner, a first serious date, or any occasion where the bottle matters as much as the plate. For a direct neighbourhood feed with no fuss over wine, you can look elsewhere in the city; Lotti is for people who want to engage with what is in the glass.
Lotti sits in Zürich's 8001 postcode, placing it in the dense, walkable core of the old town, close to the Limmat and within easy reach of the main station. That address matters: it means you can combine a booking here with a broader evening in central Zürich without planning a crosstown journey. The Star Wine List recognition , awarded twice in succession , puts Lotti in a category of Zürich venues where the cellar is curated with genuine intent, not simply stocked to satisfy a checklist. Two consecutive years of that credential suggests consistency, which in wine programming is harder to maintain than a single strong year.
On a first visit, the priority is clear: let the wine list lead. Work with whoever is running the floor to understand the depth of the programme. Star Wine List recognition tends to reward lists that show range across regions, intelligent pricing relative to retail, and staff who can actually move through the cellar with you rather than defaulting to safe recommendations. If that is the conversation you want to have over dinner, Lotti gives you the infrastructure for it.
A second visit is where the food-and-wine pairing logic becomes the frame. Once you have a baseline read on the room and the list, return with a specific bottle or region in mind and build the meal around it. Venues that earn back-to-back wine awards typically have enough depth to reward that kind of structured approach. Zürich's dining scene is not short of technically competent kitchens, but finding one where the wine programme has been independently validated two years running narrows the field considerably. Lotti is one of the few in the city where the list itself is the event.
If a third visit is on the table, use it to explore the edges of the list: the producers or regions the wine director clearly believes in but that sit outside the obvious crowd-pleasers. That is where the real intelligence of a recognised wine programme tends to live. For context on what serious Swiss wine programming looks like at a national level, you can benchmark against the likes of Schloss Schauenstein in Fürstenau or Cheval Blanc by Peter Knogl in Basel, both of which operate at the intersection of serious food and serious wine. Lotti earns its place in that conversation on the strength of the wine programme alone.
Booking is rated Easy, which means you do not need to plan weeks in advance the way you would for a table at Hotel de Ville Crissier in Crissier or Memories in Bad Ragaz. That accessibility is part of the value proposition: you get a wine-credentialled room without the reservation friction of Zürich's more in-demand tables. A few days' notice should be sufficient for most evenings, though for a specific milestone date it is worth securing the booking sooner. Contact details are not listed in our current record, so check directly via the venue's own channels or a reservation platform for up-to-date availability.
For broader context on Zürich dining, see our full Zürich restaurants guide. If you are building a longer stay around the city, our Zürich hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide cover the rest of the picture.
See the comparison section below for how Lotti sits against its closest peers in Zürich.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, so a few days' notice is generally enough for a regular evening. For a specific milestone date or a weekend when central Zürich is busy, secure the table at least a week out. You do not face the same lead time required at destination restaurants like Hotel de Ville Crissier or Memories in Bad Ragaz, where months-ahead planning is standard.
Yes, particularly if wine is central to the occasion. Back-to-back Star Wine List awards in 2025 and 2026 mean the list has been independently validated twice , a credible anchor for a milestone dinner, anniversary, or a celebration where you want to open something serious. The central Zürich location also makes it direct to build an evening around: dinner here, drinks after somewhere nearby from our Zürich bars guide.
No dress code is listed in our current record. In central Zürich at a venue with serious wine credentials, smart-casual is a reliable default: neat but not formal. If you are uncertain, check directly with the venue before your visit.
Bar seating details are not confirmed in our current data. It is worth asking when you book , venues in central Zürich with strong wine programmes often do offer counter or bar dining, which can actually be a good format for a wine-focused visit where you want to talk through the list with the team.
Group capacity is not confirmed in our current record. For parties of four or more, contact the venue directly when booking to confirm seating arrangements. Central Zürich venues at this positioning can sometimes accommodate small private or semi-private arrangements, but that needs to be verified with the restaurant.
Specific menu details are not in our current record, so we cannot confirm how dietary restrictions are handled. Contact the venue directly before booking if you have requirements , this is standard practice at wine-focused restaurants in Zürich, and most will accommodate with advance notice.
Within central Zürich, Anoah and Aurora are worth considering depending on what you are after. Bar 45 is an option if you want a bar-forward experience with food. Alten Löwen and Antiquario da Marco offer different register and atmosphere. If you want to go further afield for a big-occasion meal with serious wine, Colonnade in Lucerne or 7132 Silver in Vals are both worth the trip. See our full Zürich restaurants guide for the wider picture.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lotti | Easy | ||
| Alten Löwen | Unknown | ||
| Anoah | Unknown | ||
| Antiquario da Marco | Unknown | ||
| Aurora | Unknown | ||
| Bar 45 | Unknown |
What to weigh when choosing between Lotti and alternatives.
Group suitability is not documented in the venue record, so contact Lotti directly before arriving with six or more people. Old town Zürich venues at Werdmühlepl. 3 can have space constraints; confirming in advance saves the hassle of a turned-away group.
Zürich dining culture in the old town generally runs polished but not formal. A neat, put-together outfit is the right call at a venue that has earned Star Wine List recognition two years running. Leave the trainers at home; a jacket is a reasonable choice for evenings.
This is not confirmed in available venue data, so call ahead before planning your visit around it. Wine-forward venues in Zürich at this level often offer bar seating, but assuming that without checking would be a mistake.
Yes, if wine is part of what makes the occasion feel considered. Star Wine List recognition in both 2025 and 2026 means the list is held to a documented standard, which is a meaningful differentiator for a birthday or anniversary where you want the bottle to match the moment. If the occasion calls for a big tasting menu above all else, compare other Zürich options first.
Anoah and Aurora are the closest comparisons for wine-attentive dining in Zürich. Alten Löwen suits a more traditional Swiss register. Antiquario da Marco is the call if Italian-leaning food and wine pairings are the priority. Bar 45 works better as a drinks-first stop than a full dinner alternative.
Specific dietary accommodation policy is not in the venue record. Contact Lotti directly before booking if dietary requirements are non-negotiable; it is quicker than finding out at the table.
Book at least one to two weeks out for weekday tables; Friday and Saturday evenings at a Star Wine List-recognised venue in Zürich's 8001 core tend to fill faster. If you have a fixed date for a special occasion, book the moment you know it. Leaving it to the week of is a risk not worth taking.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
