Nearly 60 living descendants of the Gundel family took part in a family afternoon on the last Sunday in September at the dynasty’s former home, within the walls of the Gundel building, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.

Barbara Angelus, the restaurant’s director of marketing and communications, said that in light of this anniversary year, it is particularly important to uphold traditions, so the living members of the Gundel dynasty were invited to the restaurant for afternoon tea – a place that had once been home to some of them, for shorter or longer periods. During the afternoon, it was fascinating to reflect on just how diverse the great-grandfather’s culinary legacy has become, given that the Gundel name is not only borne by the venerable restaurant but has also endured in many other contexts. First and foremost, of course, are the famous pancakes, but there is also the Károly Gundel Vocational School of Catering and Tourism, the Károly Gundel Hall at the Budapest University of Economics, the Károly Gundel International Youth Gastronomy Competition, the Károly Gundel Award, and even Károly Gundel Road are all named after the restaurant’s founder, who, incidentally, never cooked himself, but had an excellent palate, understood the language of the kitchen, and proved to be second to none at motivating chefs. Last but not least, the family still includes well-known figures such as Gábor Gundel-Takács, whom we asked about preserving traditions and 21st-century trends.