There's the Jani Even chef Bíró Lajos attempted to dissuade the owners of Gepárd és Űrhajó Wine Bistro from opening a new place at the crowded Belgrád shore, but they were determined and decided to go with the flow. Since their other store on Irányi Street, Borszertár, had become rather popular, they knew there would surely be demand for a good wine place near Fővám and Március 15. Square. Back then the plan was to open a casual wine bar with just some snacks.
Then came Bolyki Jani winemaker-DJ and his inseparable friend, Ipacs Géza graphic artist and the winning recipe was complete: selected wines, original design and of course, the name. While everyone's first thought was, "no one will come to a place with a stupid name like 'Cheetah and Spaceship Bistro' ", Jani proved them wrong.
This wine bistro is growing in popularity and you can even meet Jani and other prominent winemakers at the monthly wine tastings where the atmosphere is guaranteed not only by Jani himself but by the massive amounts of wine consumed.
Gepárd és Űrhajó (Cheetah and Spaceship) is also the name of Bolyki's rosé that's become well-known among professionals, just like another of Bolyki's wines the Hazug Mókus (Lying Squirrel). Part of going with the flow has been the integration of Bolyki's brands... the winemaker's niece even painted a "lying squirrel" on the wall of his new wine bistro adding to what's a cheerful and elegant interior.His kindergarten sign was a chef's hat...But this wine bistro has turned out to be "not just" a wine bar mostly thanks to Mógor Attila chef who has worked at the Andrássy Mansion in Tarcal and at Csalogány 26. He wanted to be a wrestler but became a chef instead: his persistence comes from his athlete past, but he shies away from cooking contests. He says cooking is part of his personality and, while he's not shy, he'd rather cook for everyday life - not competitions.
The interior provides an honest atmosphere that perfectly matches Attila's food. There's no crawfish with mango jelly and gold dust, or lemongrass veal stew. It's just one meat, one side dish, one sauce. "We should make the most of what we have, the traditional Hungarian dishes of our grandmothers. I do not need exotic spices and eight different tastes on one plate," he says laughing.The squirrel does not lieThis confidence can be felt in the kitchen: the food dares to stay simple, and the focus of each dish is quality ingredients with finely tuned, harmonious flavours to surround them. They have some classic dishes on the menu all the time - we chose from the weekly offers and did not regret our decision: the mangalitsa ham is tender and lightly smoky and fresh green asparagus with walnut oil, balsamic vinegar, topped with sea salt aged in barrique red wine barrels. The secret of the fresh asparagus is that it doesn't pass through the hands of dealers but comes from a relative's kitchen garden to Gepárd's kitchen each morning.
There's also a loin steak with hollandaise sauce and fresh salad: the whole dish, like the previous one is a thoughtfully composed, light spring meal. It's like each meal is there just to fit the wines: for the appetizer we chose Válibor's 2012 kéknyelű from Badacsony and for the loin one of the winery's more characteristic and mineralized 2012 Italian Riesling. Later we also tried Bolyki's 2013 wine - each was excellent.
We continued the meal with Dorozsma style catfish, which was the highlight not only of the dinner, but of the day and the week, too. Attila gives the great quality fish a bark in the skillet then puts it in the oven for a perfect consistency. The pepper sauce and the mushroom fit perfectly with the fish's lightly nutty flavours. The whole dish is like the kitchen: it dares to stay simple. With the catfish we drank the Illyés Mansion's 2012 kadarka from Szekszárd.
As a conclusion to the dinner, we eat an apple pie: the still hot, crispy-edged pastry is not overly sweet, in fact, the apple could be a bit more acidic - but with the cottage cheese cream as a sort of side dish, the dessert is in perfect harmony again. The whole dessert is easy and non-intrusive with a very subtle aftertaste, just like Váli's late Italian Riesling.
All in all, what is Rock Bistro to Villány is Gepárd to Eger! Great kitchen, even better wines, a beautiful panorama of Buda - there is nothing more we could want!
This article was sponsored by Gepárd és Űrhajó Wine Bistro.
Gepárd és Űrhajó Wine Bistro (closed)
Address:
1056 Budapest, Belgrád Rakpart 18.
