Grab the feeling of the small cafés of Pest, put some literature next to it, and then place these into a welcoming atmosphere in a villa's basement near Budagyöngye! This is how you get Bálint, which is not a person now, but a nice Café's name. We discovered it.
Not just a villa
This villa was built in 1890, but for the folks on the Pest side this is a quite unknown territory. It is located in the 2nd district, at Házmán Street 5. Only a small sign and the peaceful garden with tables behind the wrought iron gate suggest that it is not just some average villa.
The café is in the basement, its interior reminded us for a living room, but there is another smaller room to chill out as well, and the guy behind the bar is the owner, Bálint Lacza. His presence here is as inevitable, as the beer or the wine, since he had the vision about this place, which used to be a workshop earlier, but in recent years it has become the iconic dating and coffee spot for the Buda-fans. He remembers every face he has seen here, and if you were here two years ago, he would know what you asked to drink. His principle is that a good café owner should be passionate, and should always put the customers to the first place. The regular guests return this kindness by taking their glasses back to the bar.
We agree with him on this one, because Bálint is the perfect example for the idea, that a successful café doesn't necessarily require awesome special drinks or extra food. The menu offers nothing unusual besides the home-made pálinka and the two kind of craft beers (Bitter Sweet, Lasko Pivo), but food doesn't even appear at all. It's okay, because if we want to grab a bite, there are always different options. Sometimes they do some barbecue in the garden, or they offer sandwiches, but ordering a pizza is not a problem either. The eating part works always randomly here.
Furniture store, then CaféBálint opened in 2000, but many things were different back then. The idea came up after a serious motorbike accident, because the doctors told Bálint (who was 24 years old then), that he wouldn't be able to lift anything heavier than 8 kilograms for the rest of his life, so he should better find some office work. A young man is always a stubborn man, so the former workshop soon became a big room with a counter available for possible guests. They were not sure about the function however; the first idea was a furniture store with the supply from János Knopp, who was a furnisher.
Bálint couldn't sell anything, but the customers enjoyed the drinks and the coffee, while they were testing the comfortable chairs and sofas, so this experience provided the next step. The memories of this era can be still found by some pieces of that furniture and by the official paperwork on the wall.
The collection: things and memoriesSince the reconstruction of the place was a spontaneous decision, most of the old furniture was broken, but the collector's spirit remained until today. The comfortable, huge, leather sofas, the wrought iron objects, the paintings and other artifacts are presents from the guests. For example Zsolt Bodoni-Dombi (contemporary painter), Lóránt Kézdi (fashion designer), Ferenc Árvay (he was responsible for the memorial about 1956 on Széna Square), Tamás Kásás (Olympic champion water polo player) and András Kern (actor) also gave something, which shaped Bálint to this present state.
Money speaks louder than words, at least many people thinks that.
Bálint however does not share this idea, there are many objects, which have their extraordinary story, and only this makes them valuable. This atmosphere is perfect for a family afternoon, a film club, or any kind of literature performance (like the Nifty Histories performed by Anna Juhász and Máté Bach), but one night ended with a huge celebration, after a guy suddenly proposed to his girlfriend. The story of Bálint and this legendary night is spreading all over Buda.It was, it is, it will beBálint will attend at the Sörfesztivál and he invites his customers to the Kinizsi 100 walking tour, but he is not planning to expand, he just wants to keep his business as its present state. Of course some smaller resetting always happen, but these changes (last time, a destroyed secession building provided parts for the interior's reconstruction) don't interfere with the everyday habits.
Bálint was founded, it is still there, and it will exist for a long time. You might want to check it out.
