Anyone visiting the City Park may come across four elephants: two guard the entrance to the zoo, whilst the other two face each other in the Gundel restaurant’s logo. There is clearly a connection between the two – we discussed this in this week’s episode of the arútluK podcast with Jenő Magyary, the manager of Gundel.

Many people visit the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden on a lovely autumn weekend, and whilst they’re there, they can pop into the Gundel restaurant for a classic family lunch. The relationship between the two institutions is a historic one; there was a time when the restaurant had no entrance from the street – it could only be accessed from within the zoo.

Elephants in gold and blue

This motif also appeared on the Gundel menu, which was adorned with illustrations of individual animals, but after a while the elephant „took over” them all. An elephant had previously featured in the Gundel logo, but only on its own; the two trunks facing each other were conceived by the world-famous graphic designer Milton Glaser in 1992. The elephants were originally blue, although they can now also be seen in gold and white, whilst the ornate ‘Gundel’ lettering is also an integral part of the logo.

Why elephants are blue and why their trunks hang down is revealed in a conversation with Jenő Magyary, the manager of Gundel, as are the anecdotes associated with these legendary restaurateurs, To Ferenc Wampetics, to György Lang and Károly Gundel, to the logo, to the restaurant, and to the Gundel family, who, under the „leadership” of Gábor Gundel Takács, gather every year at their ancestral family home in the City Park.

If you missed the previous episode of the arútluK podcast, here Click here to listen to it.