Budapest 1910

Posted on July 21st, 2012 in Cooking & Travel

When our friends, Zoltan Konrady and Aletta Lukacsy said they wanted to bring us to a traditional Hungarian restaurant–my husband and I immediately said, “Yes”. When they shared with us that this was the place they were married…we knew it would be a night to remember forever.

I was fortunate enough to be introduced to this legendary establishment when I was in Budapest.

Károly Gundel opened his restaurant in this spot in 1910. The restaurant soon became a meeting place for politicians, prominent members of the business community and the bourgeois middle class. It was fashionable to dine in the Gundel, which boasted many artists, athletes, writers and various celebrities among its regular patrons.

Gundel Restaurant owed its popularity to two things: its inimitable hospitality and its unsurpassable cuisine. The ingenious Károly Gundel, who managed the restaurant in the early part of the 20^th century, had an intuitive knack for bringing the best out of Hungarian cuisine by combining its original, unbridled flavors with the refined approach of French cuisine and applying modern gastronomic technology.

His pioneering work placed Hungary on the world map of gastronomy. According to the New York Times, Gundel Restaurant’s set-up at the 1939 World Fair in New York did more to enhance Hungary’s reputation than a shipload of tourist brochures could have done. Gundel Restaurant proudly upholds its traditions and continues to provide the same standard of gastronomic excellence that has made it Hungary’s most famous restaurant. It is their conviction that Gundel is not a synonym for luxury, but for quality.–Gundel The Restaurant

Glenn and I waited in this “Old Fashioned” Bar for our friends

My view of Zoltan Konrady (left) and my husband, Glenn Sisk (right)

Their view of us…me and my friend Ali Lukacy

Ali and I ordered Champagne for an aperitif…when our flutes arrived, they came with foie gras rolled in black truffles. I. Love. Budapest.

You must understand Hungary = goose liver. This variation is on brioche with caramelized onion and sea salt…divine.

Admittedly, this photo does not begin to express the majesty that this “Hungarian Goulash” deserves. The beef was succulent and tender, the tomato broth quite elegant. Not at all the “stew” Americans think it is.