For Oliver, the strongest memories of Schwarzenbach are not only moments, but feelings. The scent of walking through those doors is something that has stayed with him since childhood. "Every time I walk into our house and the smell of spices, freshly roasted coffee and teas reaches my nose, I get transported back to my childhood."
A place with more than 160 years of history carries a quiet responsibility: knowing what to preserve, while leaving space to evolve. Much has changed over the years. The assortment expanded, with a stronger focus today on Swiss products, sustainability and thoughtful sourcing. Yet if the very first Schwarzenbach were to walk through the shop today, Oliver believes he would recognize that balance. It is an evolution Oliver credits to the generation before him.
"I think he would be proud of how the fifth generation, my uncle Heini and my mother Brigitte, brought the family business into a new era." The shop has evolved, but the essence remains the same. "With all that change, our shop never lost its heart and soul."
Coffee was always present in Oliver's life, but his own curiosity for the craft truly began around eighteen. What fascinated him then is what continues to fascinate him today: how much exists behind something many of us experience every morning.
"The incredible variety found in coffee is still something I marvel at every single time."
Spend a little time speaking with Oliver and you quickly understand why. Coffee is a subject that keeps unfolding: the origin of the bean, the people who grow it, the conditions that shape it and every decision made before it reaches the cup in front of you.
For Oliver, coffee is not only about the final drink. It is about understanding everything it took to get there. "It's about the terroir, the people behind it and the whole journey, right up until we can enjoy it in our cups."
Curiosity is what guides him in the roastery. Roasting is a craft built on patience, attention and respect for the product. Every coffee carries its own character, and the work lies in understanding how to bring that character forward. There is precision involved, but also intuition. Knowledge built over time. Small decisions that may seem invisible but help shape the final cup. Even surrounded by generations of experience, Oliver approaches coffee as something you never finish learning.
Perhaps that is how traditions continue. Not by standing still, but by remaining curious.
After more than a century and a half in Zurich, Schwarzenbach has watched the city around them change. Coffee culture has grown, new cafés have opened and people have become increasingly interested in the stories behind what they consume. But what has always remained important are relationships: the customers who return year after year, the suppliers who become trusted partners and the neighborhood that has grown alongside them.
It is something we felt from our very first meeting. When we began searching for the coffee we would serve at Neighbor, our team tasted blindly. No names, no expectations, just the coffee in front of us. We found ourselves returning to the same cups again and again.
Only afterwards did we discover they came from Zurich’s oldest coffee roastery and a family business dedicated to its craft just a few streets away from us in the Old Town.
The more we learned about the people, the history and the care behind every roast, the more natural the partnership felt. What started with coffee became a shared appreciation for the craft, the relationships and the people who make each cup possible.
In many ways, it is exactly what we hope Neighbor would become: a place shaped by the people around it, the stories we get to share and the small moments that bring a neighborhood together.
