On 19 September, the meeting of the Gundel Prize selection committee was held, as is traditional, at the Museum of Commerce and Hospitality, followed by a press conference.

János Gundel, a descendant of the Gundel family, the custodian of their culinary legacy and a well-known figure in hospitality education, and Róbert Török, director of the MKVM, welcomed the attendees.

László Kovács, chairman of the Hungarian Catering Trade Association – the organisation that established the award – briefed those present on the committee meeting that had taken place prior to the press conference. He explained, amongst other things, that the twenty-member committee, comprising representatives of professional organisations, had faced a difficult task, as they had to choose from twenty nominees, all of whom were deserving of the Gundel Prize.

However, according to the rules, there can be a maximum of three award winners in any one year. Following several rounds of voting, the committee finally awarded the 2025 Károly Gundel Prize to the following three hospitality professionals (in alphabetical order):

Sándor Gottwald, the founding owner of the Gottwald Hotel in Tata and several other catering establishments;
László Ruprecht, Pro Turismo award-winning chef and chairman of the Stylish Country Restaurants Association;
Rudolf Semsei, owner and managing director of Budapest Party Service, the VakVarjú restaurant group, Dobay Confectioneries and Paprika Revue House.
The creative chefs for the gala lunch scheduled for 19 October – in keeping with tradition – are last year’s award winners – Attila Bicsár, executive chef at the Sauska 48 restaurant at the Sauska Winery in Villány, and Lázár Kovács-Siklósi (Lázár Chef), organiser of youth cooking competitions. Interestingly, both regard the Alabárdos restaurant as having been instrumental in their professional development in their younger years, and both worked there under the mentorship and guidance of László Jakabffy.

The chefs at Gundel will, of course, play a significant role at the gala dinner in October.

As Chef Lázár announced at the press conference on 19 September, this October they’ll be making a slight change to the usual arrangement, and the welcome canapés and drinks, as well as the desserts and digestifs, will be served on the terrace (weather permitting), whilst only the soup, starters and main courses will be served at tables in the ballroom.