Leaving behind established conventions and predictable approaches, the well-known and beloved Budapest Bakering company, renowned for its pushcarts designed to resemble the public-transportation vehicles of Hungary’s capital (not to mention the delicious bread rings that the pushcarts contain), decided to undertake another one-of-a-kind project – something that combines the carts’ depot with a nice little pub, a DIY restaurant, and a community-building space. Even the name reveals a lot about Budapest Makery, as guests must prepare their own dinner here. But why is that good? We explain.
In May of 2015, miniature trolleys, buses, and trams appeared on the streets of Budapest, selling bagel-like, filled bread rings. Over the past two years, the street-food carts of Budapest Bakering fit into the street scene seamlessly and developed their products continuously, and so they quickly wound their way into locals’ hearts with its Lilliputian public-transport vehicles. Since he’s a creative man full of ideas, Bakering’s inventor, Ádám Lendvai, has been thinking about another, similarly revolutionary project ever since.
His first idea was establishing a common “depot” for the carts, and continually improving the rings. Then, because customers kept offering their own recipes, he wanted to combine catering and creating at a fixed location. What if guests could quickly make their own filled bakery products? Once his fantasy began to soar, the idea grew beyond Budapest Bakering’s rings.
We talked a lot about playfulness and the creative spirit, which, let’s face it, most adults tend to neglect. Most grownups spend their days without creating something tangible or experiencing things that are worth reminiscing about. In the absence of time, energy, and resources, we tend to forget how to have fun in our everyday lives. Cooking is an exciting creative process; due to the intertwining of gastronomy and technology, we can now learn practically anything from videos shared online – how to make rainbow bagels and American pancakes, or how to separate the egg yolks from the whites with a simple PET bottle. More and more people choose cooking as a recreational activity, even those who could barely microwave a meal before the rise of video recipes.
Makery is for them and everyone else. This is the first restaurant in Budapest where guests cook their own meals. The question arises immediately: why should we pay to cook at a restaurant when we can do the same thing at home? The method is as follows: Dob Street’s DIY restaurant has a weekly changing menu with somewhat-easy-to-make recipes. The menus are planned to be assembled by well-known figures of Hungarian gastronomy. After we arrive and choose an appealing dish, we receive the ingredients on a wooden tray at the back of the restaurant, surrounded by cooking surfaces and ovens. Everything is prepped so that we don’t have to bother with the small details: the onion is diced and the meat is cut into strips. In addition to the ingredients and spices, we also receive a tablet, on which we can follow a video recipe for the given dish. Once we’re done with cooking, all that’s left to do is eat what we’ve made. (Fortunately, we don’t have to clean our workspace – the most dreaded part of cooking at home.)
This way, Makery isn’t a cooking school, as it doesn’t last for long hours or force us to pay large sums. We don’t go to learn recipes but to have a good time – with a friend, romantic partner, a larger group, or even alone. During the restaurant’s trial period, it became obvious that cooking here is also competition-free and more focused on a community feeling, with tested and tasty recipes, as well as affordable prices.
Thanks to its homey design and wide selection, Budapest Makery welcomes those who would prefer to have a drink before, after, during, or instead of the cooking session, as well. After all, it isn’t a must to make food in this DIY restaurant – although this is highly recommended. We were impressed by Ádám’s concept and will surely give Makery a try in the near future.
Budapest MakeryAddress: Budapest 1072, Dob Street 38
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