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| Guests wait for the evening to commence. Photo courtesy Gundel |
In the hospitality business it’s a rare thing for a restaurant to even reach its first birthday. Every additional year is a gift. What about 125 years? Gundel restaurant in Budapest, Hungary recently celebrated 125 years. Technically their building turned 125—they’ve been around as a restaurant since 1910 when Károly Gundel took over the lease of Wampetics, the original restaurant, and eventually renamed it after himself. But even so, to have been in service for that long is a feat. And to have been through what Gundel has been through is an amazing history lesson. Just to give you a taste.
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| A bust of János Gundel, Károly's father, adorns the restaurant's lobby. |
For Hungarians, the name Gundel has been synonymous with hospitality, and not just any kind, but the best service and the highest quality food. And it has left an indelible mark on Hungarian gastronomy with popular dishes, some that have become a part of everyday repertoire like Paloc soup and the Gundel crepe.
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| Kálmán Kalla and George Lang in the Gundel kitchen. Courtesy of Gundel |
Unfortunately under communism, Gundel had some dark days, as most everything in the nation did at that time. Luckily a Hungarian-American gentleman by the name of George Lang stepped into the picture. He, with financial backing from Ronald Lauder, purchased Gundel in 1991. He temporarily shut down the restaurant as they renovated and retrained staff among other things, and in six months they reopened as the Gundel we know and love today.
Since then, Gundel has had different chefs at the helm, but none as famous as Kálmán Kalla, who was courted by Lang himself. At the time Kalla had been working for the Hungarian Embassy in Washington, D.C. But he gave in to the idea of going back to Budapest to become Gundel’s executive chef. He spent 15 glorious years at Gundel, and cooked for the likes of Queen Elizabeth II and Pope John Paul II, among other famous and noteworthy people.
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| Kálmán Kalla and Zsolt Litauszki in the Gundel kitchen. Photo courtesy Gundel |
Just last year a new chef, Zsolt Litauszki took over the kitchen, and with his leadership he’s brought twenty-first-century innovation to kitchen. For quite some years now Budapest has been going through its nouvelle-cuisine moment, and Zsolt has been at its forefront. In Hungarian it's called ujragondolt, which means rethought.
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The recent 125th anniversary of the restaurant’s location became the perfect opportunity to celebrate both old and new, tradition and innovation—in seven courses.
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| Guests came from all around the globe for this once-in-a-lifetime evening. |
With a room full of about 125 people, live gypsy music, and the feeling that we all stepped back in time, it was an evening I won’t soon forget. And I think many guests felt the same way.
Dinner included many classics as well as a few innovative dishes:
To start we were given an amuse bouche of salmon tartare and parsley cream.
Then came the first course of a rich and satisfying foie gras duo with golden raisins and a red pepper jam, along with the perfect little brioche to cut the richness.
Next came a classic dish of green and white asparagus with Hollandaise sauce.
My favorite of the evening was an intermezzo of elderflower sorbet with elderflowers fried in a light tempura.
The main course included a beautifully pink venison loin and a tender boar cheek with semolina strudel, rhubarb, and raspberries around the plate.
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| Gábor Gundel Takács and Kálmán Kozma. Photo courtesy Gundel |
The night was truly a trip down memory lane for many, including brand ambassador Kálmán Kozma, and Gundel descendant, Gábor Gundel Takács, who served as emcee for the evening. Of course the evening couldn’t have happened if Chef Kalla hadn’t agreed to return for this one-night-only affair. And if it hadn’t been for George Lang's future vision for Gundel and his insistence to get his first choice to lead the kitchen, Chef Kalla might never have come to Gundel, and this night would never have happened. It's now history.