This venerable restaurant, which is celebrating its 130th anniversary this year, has hosted not only numerous celebrities but also the Queen of England. Anyone can now sample a reimagined version of the menu served during her visit, according to Kultúra.hu.

He couldn’t stand garlic, but all the more loved Earl Grey, gin, chocolate and salmon. His diet could be described as the Mediterranean diet, which is so fashionable today, as he always ate plenty of fresh vegetables, along with lean meats and few carbohydrates, in moderate portions. It is presumably thanks to this that she lived to such a ripe old age – 96 years – and was spared from serious illnesses.

It is no coincidence that Queen Elizabeth II inspired the first menu in the ‘Celebrities’ series recently launched by the 130-year-old Gundel, which anyone will soon be able to sample at this historic restaurant. The four-course menu is based on the ‘Four Crowns’ menu served during Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s visit to Hungary in 1993.

At the invitation of President Árpád Göncz, the royal couple spent four days in Hungary; as part of this visit, they also attended a formal lunch organised by József Antall and his wife at the Gundel.

There is little information available about how the menu was put together at the time. What is certain is that Kálmán Kalla, Gundel’s executive chef at the time, conceived the dinner menu in such a way that the royal headdress – the crown – would feature in the presentation of every dish.

As they had to finish lunch quickly due to the tight schedule – they had 1 hour and 40 minutes for the meal – they rehearsed the menu ten times before the big day to ensure everything went smoothly. A total of 32 guests were invited to the lunch, and they were served by twelve waiters.

Although handwritten menus and photographs from the event have survived, the specific culinary techniques were not documented, so the current Gundel chef, Viktor Moldován, had little to go on when recreating the menu. He certainly had to devise the menu with today’s circumstances and demands in mind, and we were able to sample it ourselves at a press event.

Before we delved into the culinary experience, we were given a brief tour of the Gundel Palace building, where many famous figures – from Sir Alex Ferguson to Roger Moore and Arnold Schwarzenegger, right through to Paul Bocuse, the ‘gourmet pope’ of nouvelle cuisine.

The tables in the main hall have each been named after a prominent visitor, so we can take a seat at Brad Pitt’s or Henry Kissinger’s table whenever we like.