67 years ago, on 28 November 1956, K\u00e1roly Gundel, a restaurateur and internationally renowned figure in Hungarian hospitality and gastronomy, passed away in Budapest. Andor Kell\u00e9r wrote eloquently about the secret of his success: \u201eHe welcomed every guest with equal kindness, yet without obsequiousness \u2013 not with the humility of a businessman seeking profit, but with the thoughtfulness of a host who is delighted to welcome his guests.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was born in Budapest on 23 September 1883. A defining figure in his career was his father, J\u00e1nos Gundel, owner of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel and later the Archduke Stephen Hotel, who also made a name for himself through his involvement in public life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
K\u00e1roly spent his \u201eapprenticeship years\u201d at his father\u2019s hotel, working first as a bellboy and then as a bread boy. In 1900, he obtained his final certificate from the Budapest Academy of Commerce, after which he learnt the tricks of the trade in hotels and restaurants in Switzerland, Germany, England and France, where he mastered the intricacies of the trade and gained a lifetime\u2019s worth of experience in the hospitality industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1906, he became hotel manager at the International Sleeping Car Company\u2019s resorts at Lake Csorba and T\u00e1tralomnic, and two years later he was appointed director. In 1910, he moved to Budapest with his family and took over the Wampetics restaurant, situated right next to the Budapest Zoo and featuring a garden terrace, the name of which he soon changed to Gundel. Thanks to a shrewd and well-thought-out business strategy, excellent cuisine and high-quality service, the restaurant very quickly became a household name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The journalist Zolt\u00e1n Egyed wrote of it: \u201eIn a way, half of Budapest belongs to the Gundel family, because if someone is going out for lunch or dinner not just for the sake of it, but because they genuinely want to eat well, they usually say: \u201dLet\u2019s go to Gundel\u2019s.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
K\u00e1roly Gundel did everything in his power to ensure his guests had a pleasant time: he hired musicians and singers, set aside separate areas in the restaurant\u2019s garden for private parties, and a separate terrace was available for the cream of society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the kitchen, 13 chefs prepared the delicious dishes, 52 waiters served the meals, and a further 40 staff members worked to ensure the guests\u2019 comfort. Carrying on the family tradition, several of the owner\u2019s 13 children were also involved in running the restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the 1920s and 1930s, he had already gained an international reputation, and when King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy visited Hungary in 1937, the government entrusted K\u00e1roly Gundel with organising the banquet in Sz\u00e9kesfeh\u00e9rv\u00e1r.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two years later, Gundel was the official restaurant of the Hungarian pavilion at the New York World\u2019s Fair, and the The New York Times<\/em> He wrote appreciatively: \u201eThe Gundel Restaurant brings Budapest greater and better publicity than a ship\u2019s cargo of tourist brochures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The restaurant also suffered during the turmoil of the Second World War, reopening its doors in April 1945. However, it was not able to retain its former splendour for long, as it was nationalised in 1949. As well as the restaurant in City Park, K\u00e1roly Gundel also leased the restaurants at the Royal Hotel between 1920 and 1926, and then at the Gell\u00e9rt Hotel from 1927 to 1948.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alongside his professional work \u2013 like his father \u2013 he also played an active role in public life; he was involved in founding the Restaurateurs\u2019 Purchasing Group and the Promontoria Wine Buyers\u2019 Association, served on the Executive Council of the Tourism Association, and played a major role in the running of the Hoteliers\u2019 and Restaurateurs\u2019 Trade Guild, of which he became honorary president and a life member. In 1928, he was awarded the gold medal of the National Trade Association in recognition of his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also promoted Hungarian hospitality and Hungarian cuisine through his gastronomic writings and books. Among his most important works is one that summarises his professional experience, The Art of Hospitality<\/em> and The art of hospitality<\/em>, as well as one documenting the eating habits of Hungarians The development of Hungarian cuisine<\/em> and Hungarian cookery literature up to the end of the 18th century<\/em> his work entitled \u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Little Hungarian Cookbook<\/em>It has been translated into several languages and has gone through more than 30 editions. He helped Frigyes Karinthy with his advice To have guests, to be a guest<\/em> in the compilation of his book entitled \u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his restaurant, alongside traditional Hungarian and French dishes, he also served his own creations, which have rightly become world-famous; such as pike-perch \u00e0 la Gundel, which can still be found on international menus today, Gundel-style goulash, veal ribs \u00e0 la Gundel, and the salads named Gell\u00e9rt, Liget or Gundel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The crowning glory of his original recipes, however, is undoubtedly his culinary creation known as the \u201eGundel pancake\u201d, also referred to as the \u2018king of pancakes\u2019. Served with a walnut filling enriched with candied orange peel, raisins and cream, and topped with a chocolate cream sauce, this dessert is a true culinary delight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n K\u00e1roly Gundel\u2019s artistic sensibility and creative talent were passed down to his descendants; several of his children distinguished themselves in the hospitality industry, whilst among his grandchildren, the actors Zolt\u00e1n Latinovits and Istv\u00e1n Bujtor, as well as the popular musician, K\u00e1roly Frenreisz, have all become well-known and respected figures in their respective professions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Andor Kell\u00e9r wrote eloquently about the secret of his success: \u201eHe welcomed every guest with the same kindness, but without fawning; not with the humility of a businessman seeking profit, but with the thoughtfulness of a host who is delighted to welcome his guests.\u201d<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 67 years ago, on 28 November 1956, K\u00e1roly Gundel, a restaurateur and internationally renowned figure in Hungarian hospitality and gastronomy, passed away in Budapest.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":16665,"template":"","publikacio":[176],"class_list":["post-16666","sajto","type-sajto","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","publikacio-mult-kor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gundel.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sajto\/16666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gundel.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sajto"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gundel.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sajto"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gundel.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sajto\/16666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gundel.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gundel.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"publikacio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gundel.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publikacio?post=16666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}