Gundel restaurant serves familiar Hungarian dishes, rich in flavour and evoking old memories, in a setting where the atmosphere of turn-of-the-century Budapest can still be felt today. Gundel has been a close-knit community for 130 years now \u2013 a living piece of history and a guardian of our country\u2019s cultural and gastronomic heritage. What is the secret behind Gundel, and where does it stand in the gastronomic revolution that has been unfolding for several decades?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Guests are welcomed by atmospheric lighting, period d\u00e9cor and delightful live music at the Gundel restaurant, which first opened its doors 130 years ago. The dishes once prepared here have now become household names. Who wouldn\u2019t love \u00dajh\u00e1zy chicken or Pal\u00f3c soup, Soml\u00f3i galuska, not to mention Gundel pancakes? These dishes also appear on dining tables at home, though we may not realise that they are all part of the Gundel legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The name of J\u00e1nos Gundel, founder of the gastronomic dynasty that has become a Hungarian institution and gained worldwide fame, is as closely associated with Budapest as Zacher is with Vienna or Ritz with Paris. He moved to Buda from Bavaria in 1857, began his career in small inns, and then, at the age of 25, opened his first restaurant, the B\u00e9csi S\u00f6rh\u00e1z. He is credited with introducing the famous Wiener schnitzel to Budapest\u2019s culinary scene, and he also introduced beer and pretzels to the city. K\u00e1lm\u00e1n Miksz\u00e1th described the restaurateur as follows: \u201eHe ran his business as though he were not welcoming paying customers to his premises, but rather welcome, dear guests, for whom providing good service was not a business transaction, but Hungarian hospitality.\u201d\u201d One of his most famous dishes, pal\u00f3c soup, is also linked to the writer. According to legend, Miksz\u00e1th longed for a dish with a rustic, pal\u00f3c flavour, and it was at his request that the innkeeper created the well-known dish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
J\u00e1nos Gundel\u2019s son, K\u00e1roly Gundel, carried on the tradition. He spent his apprenticeship years at the Istv\u00e1n F\u0151herczeg Hotel, where, like his father, he initially worked as a bellboy. In 1907, he married; his wife, Margit Blasutigh, became his partner both in business and in his private life. They had thirteen children. They took on a lease of the Wampetics restaurant in City Park \u2013 the predecessor of today\u2019s Gundel restaurant \u2013 the upper floor of which became the family home. Gundel soon became legendary, serving as one of the most important meeting places for the middle classes. In the summer, the garden would fill with families thanks to its proximity to the zoo. By the 1920s and 1930s, it had gained an international reputation, and when King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy visited Hungary in 1937, he entrusted K\u00e1roly Gundel with organising the banquet in Sz\u00e9kesfeh\u00e9rv\u00e1r. The pinnacle of his recognition came in 1939, when his restaurant was chosen as the official restaurant of the Hungarian pavilion at the New York World\u2019s Fair. K\u00e1roly Gundel became known in the international press as \u201ethe Hungarian Brillat-Savarin\u201d. (Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin was a French lawyer, politician and gastronome who lived at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries.)<\/span> Today, the restaurant carries on the legacy of K\u00e1roly Gundel through its \u2018Nemzeti11\u2019 selection of dishes \u2013 built on centuries-old traditions and a legacy of world-famous recipes \u2013 and through its hospitality.<\/p><\/div><\/span>