108 years of tradition and counting

To call it an “institution” is almost an understatement. When it comes to the place long known as Little Switzerland – and recently rechristened Rossi’s 1906 – the Valley seems to be filled with many years of heartfelt personal memories.

New owner Max Young recognizes this and respects it, and takes inspiration from it – including the new name. But he admits it can be intimidating too.

“The people walk into it and say, ‘I grew up coming here with my grandparents, and my parents. My parents met here.’”

“Which is pretty daunting,” he adds.

Well over a century after its birth in 1906, the place established by Swiss-Italian immigrant Al Rossi (local lore has it he was originally planning a brothel, but changed his mind after the quake) is enjoying a kind of rebirth, with a fixed-up interior, new menu and packed schedule of shows and events.

Yet Young, himself a seasoned bar owner with a number of San Francisco clubs under his belt, has worked hard to keep its original character intact. In his view, Rossi’s is a place for the ages, bigger than any one owner, and he is only the latest person to have the privilege of being that owner.

“I’m just steering the ship for awhile,” he said.

Young bought Little Switzerland a year and a half ago from the Garcia family before embarking on a major renovation effort. The place has been revamped inside and out, with an all-new kitchen now run by an up-and-coming chef – Nate Clark, formerly of EDK.

The renovation took many months to complete, Young said, and in fact the place only just opened about three months ago. But while the fancy Halloween decorations are new, locals will recognize the original bar, spacious dance hall and large triangular garden area filled with picnic tables.

Young also decorated the walls with old pictures of Rossi’s in its former iterations – and one of his wife’s grandmother, Adele Bruschera, who grew up in San Francisco but summered in Sonoma Valley just as many did in those days.

Like the rest of Sonoma County, El Verano was long a vacation destination for San Franciscans looking to escape the city’s summer chill. And those of Northern European descent, who visited Sonoma Valley with a yearning for some warm weather and Old World traditions, came to Little Switzerland for the polka dancing and biergarten.

Such traditions aren’t lost on Young, a San Francisco native who married into a San Francisco family with longtime Sonoma Valley roots.

“I jokingly say I married into Sonoma,” he said. “My wife’s family has had a place in town literally since the 1800s.”

Just as the Bruscheras summered here long before there was a Golden Gate Bridge, today the pattern continues with his own family, Young said. His wife’s grandmother did it, then his wife’s mother, then his wife as a little girl – “And now my daughters are doing it. It’s pretty cool.”

On Monday, new chef Clark was washing up in the kitchen, preparing food for the day but also thinking about the new menu to be released by next week.

Clark said he is upholding the restaurant’s longstanding tradition for family friendly barbecue, and is hunting nearby farmers markets for locally sourced ingredients. Such food is much better, he said: “We actually know the farmers, know the families and what they do.”

The event calendar at Rossi’s is ramping up as well. This week alone looks to be a busy one, with Game 6 of the World Series on Tuesday, Game 7 (if necessary) the following night, then a big fundraiser for Altimira Middle School on Thursday, a Halloween party Friday night from 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. featuring Lee Press On and the Nails, then “back to normal on Saturday and live music on Sunday, with the Tri Tip Trio starting at 5 p.m.,” Young said.

It’s a lot of work, but the goal, for Young, is to create a space where locals are “able to kick up your heels a little bit.” That includes kids – and Young realizes that the restaurant’s reputation as a good environment for kids is a major reason for its draw today.

“When I opened up, I had people come up and give me a hug, and tears, and say thank you for bringing this back,” he said.

Young believes the best thing he can do is make the place as good as it ever was – then get out of the way.

“Our take is, we’re going to open and let Sonoma and Sonomans kind of change us.”

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