The Owners
George Kazantzis is a Zurich-based restaurateur and entrepreneur with a professional background spanning marketing, financial services, and hospitality.
After beginning his career in marketing and later working in financial services, George moved into hospitality entrepreneurship in 2017 with the opening of The Coffee Shack. Over the following years, he became involved in the development, ownership, and management of several restaurant concepts in Zurich, including Gaijin Izakaya, Tsukasa and IYKYK, building extensive experience across restaurant operations, concept development, finance, marketing, and business strategy.
Following several years of building and developing these concepts, George has since shifted his focus away from Gaijin Izakaya and Tsukasa to concentrate on the next chapter of his hospitality career, with Old Inn and Char at the center of his current work.
As co-owner and director of Old Inn, George has been closely involved in the restaurant’s development and positioning within Zurich’s dining scene, working alongside chef and co-owner Tristan Jaensch. Old Inn has established itself as a contemporary neighborhood restaurant in Zurich Enge, recognized by GaultMillau.
Alongside Old Inn, George is behind Char in Zurich Wiedikon, continuing his focus on distinctive, independently driven restaurant concepts and the long-term development of both businesses.
Tristan Valentino Jaensch
With French and German roots and a path into cooking that was anything but conventional, Tristan Valentino Jaensch brings a distinctly individual perspective to the kitchen.
Before becoming a chef, Tristan worked across music, events and bars — worlds built around creativity, energy and bringing people together. That same spirit shapes his cooking today: expressive, curious and unafraid to challenge expectations.
His journey through Zurich’s food scene has taken him through IYKYK, Gaijin Izakaya and Collective Bakery, each adding another layer to an approach that resists being defined by a single cuisine or tradition.
Today, as Executive Chef & Co-Owner of Old Inn, Tristan takes familiar flavours and ideas and pushes them into new territory. His cooking can be comforting, playful or unexpected, but always with a clear purpose: food should be exciting to eat and even better when shared.
That philosophy has helped establish Old Inn as one of Zurich’s distinctive dining destinations, recognised with 14 Gault&Millau points.
join our team
Careers @ old inn
At Old Inn, we aim to provide a great work environment where everybody is given the opportunity to shine and grown within our company.
We try to treat our employees as family and we always embrace those with a thirst for knowledge and entrepreneurial spirit. Feel free to send your CV and application at hello@theoldinn.ch.
