In the kitchen of his South Eugene restaurant, Chef Bruno is working alone, breading schnitzel, making sauces and delicately plating his extravagant dishes. He is silent and focused. With every ding of a bell, hot plates arranged with colorful garnishes appear in the window, ready to be taken to eagerly awaiting customers.

For 19 years, Thomas Bollag, otherwise known as “Bruno,” has headed the small kitchen in the South Eugene restaurant, Bruno’s Chef’s Kitchen. Despite its size, Chef Bruno’s unique cooking style competes with the best of them in the nation.

Growing up in Switzerland with a culinary-inclined father and French mother, Thomas’ path for excellence was set neatly. As a teen, he apprenticed under his father at his French restaurant, L’Auberge, and then at the esteemed Hotel Baur au Lac in Zurich, Switzerland.

Then, Bollag found his way to the Pacific Northwest, where he fell in love with the fresh air and now-wife, Bessie, the brightly smiling, charismatic front-house manager. The Willamette Valley’s focus on locally grown food reminded Bollag of the fresh and locally sourced cooking styles in the smaller French regions of his younger days.

Each week in his restaurant, Bollag conjures up a different menu, with all items seasonally inspired and based on what’s fresh and available.

“There are winter foods, and there are summer foods,” Bollag said. “During winter, it is important to eat the winter foods, because they are freshest … the body is meant to eat them [then].”

Every plate that Bollag produces features raw fruit and vegetable garnishes.

“Raw food is very important to the human diet,” he said. “The food we eat must be as close to living as possible … it provides incomparable energy.”

Some of Bollag’s dishes are especially inspired by fond memories of his childhood, like his grandma’s schnitzel or his mother’s spaghetti. They are recipes that allow him to pass something special onto others, just as they were passed to him.

“I once brought an elderly woman in this restaurant to tears,” Bollag said. “She was Swiss and my spaetzle reminded her of her mother’s, who had died 50 years earlier. Moments like that remind me of why I pass on what I do.”

Despite the high-quality dishes, Bollag runs his restaurant modestly. Ask him, and he’ll tell you the story about the time Wolfgang Puck told him he was jealous of his life. He acknowledges his talent and recognizes it as something needing to be shared in the world.

Every week, Bollag features a never-before cooked, newly innovated dish on his menu. Coming up with these different flavor combinations so frequently isn’t easy, but it’s this creativity that fuels Bollag’s passion. One of these dishes, plum-curried halibut, has since grown to become one of his signature dishes, and is featured on every week’s menu.

Bruno’s wife Bessie cheerfully makes rounds from table to table. Her friendliness at the very least adds to a likewise food experience.

“He cook’s everything himself, every day,” she said. “He’s doing something that no one else around here is.”

Someone once referred to the chefs dishes as a “symphony on a plate” and Mrs. Bollag proudly carries on the phrase.

Bollag wants students who experience his restaurant to understand they need to find what makes them happy and spend their lives doing it.

“I attended (the University of Denver) and walked out with a degree in Hotel Management. Today, I do what I really love and am much better off for it,” he said. “You should share your talents with the world.”

You can stop by Bruno’s Chef’s Kitchen at the corner of Hilyard and 34th, 5-9 p.m., from Tuesday through Saturday. Make reservations: 541-687-2433.