Legendary Budapest Restaurant Gundel to Re-Open in Autumn 2021
zita kisgergely
via Wikipedia Commons
In its 150-plus history, the internationally famous Budapest restaurant Gundel has experienced enough triumphs and tragedies to merit a book, or at least a documentary. Of course, it has already spawned cookbooks, but its history has yet to be preserved in bound form. To be sure, it has seen many heydays, and endured enormous challenges. Many of its most difficult periods came in the past decade, which saw the passing of its owner, the restaurant impresario George Lang, followed not long after by the pandemic that shuttered so many restaurants around the world.
The establishment that would become Gundel opened in the Budapest City Park (Városliget) way back in 1866. This was before air travel, car travel, and even before food bloggers. That’s not to say writers didn’t frequent the Gundel of old. Originally called the Wampetics, it was a hotspot for writers, politicians, and artists. It was in 1910 when Károly Gundel took control of the establishment and renamed it Gundel. The forward-thinking restauranteur modernised the menu, and brought service up to international standards, making it Budapest’s chicest eatery.
Gundel survived World War I undamaged, with the kitchen continuing to innovate and add French influences to offer a more sophisticated experience once the war ended. In 1939, Gundel became the official restaurant of the Hungarian pavilion at the New York World’s Fair. Of the experience, the New York Times wrote: “The Gundel Restaurant is a bigger, better publicity from Budapest than a boatload of tourist brochures.”
via the Gundel Facebook page
Hard times came when Károly Gundel died, and post-WWII businesses were nationalised. The quality of the cuisine plummeted and the restaurant saw intermittent closures. It wasn’t until the post-Soviet late 80s that the restaurant made a concerted effort at returning to form. But it was really the involvement of Lang in the early 1990s that allowed it to once again take its place as the grande dame of Budapest eateries. In 2006, Condé Nast Traveller named Gundel “one of the world’s 10 best restaurants.”
Now part of the organisation that owns the Danubius hotels chain, the restaurant is undergoing a renovation and will reopen under the guidance of chef Zsolt Litauszki. We have high hopes this great culinary establishment will return with style, class, and a lot of good food.
via gundel.hu
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