New autumn/winter menu at the Deák St. Kitchen Restaurant
The restaurant at the prestigious Ritz-Carlton Budapest, Deák St. Kitchen has created a new menu for the colder months, dominated by traditional Hungarian flavours in 21st-century style. “When creating a new dish, the three most important factors that we take into consideration is texture, flavour profile and presentation,” says Matthew Piercy, Executive Chef at The Ritz-Carlton, Budapest. And one by one, the courses are outstanding, with flavours in perfect harmony, presentations exquisite and paired with a splendid selection of wines. The new autumn/winter menu offers items such as Hungarian duck foie gras au torchon with cocoa, homemade brioche, compressed plum and roasted macadamia nuts, and red bean soup made from the recipe by the grandmother of Chef de Cuisine Róbert Sugár. One of the country’s oldest and simplest dishes, rakott krumpli (‘layered potatoes’), is deconstructed and rebuilt in 21st-century style while classic traditional dessert Rákóczi túrós is a sweet cottage cheese cake with apricot jam, lemon zest and meringue. Bon appétit! More details
St. Martin’s Day Wine Festival at the Gellért Hotel
Every 11 November, Hungarians commemorate one of the country’s patron saints, St. Martin of Tours – who was born within Hungary’s boundaries – with lavish celebratory gatherings. This is the day when you’ll find enticing feasts all round Budapest, and diverse restaurants offer special dishes and goose delicacies. The city’s biggest celebration is the grandiose indoor wine festival at the historic Gellért Hotel – also celebrating its centenary – held between 8-11 November, awaiting guests with wine tastings, live entertainment and special goose-based meals. A beer festival warms up the crowds on the first day, while later a Michelin-starred chef prepares a special seven-course menu, and an amazing assortment of fine wines elevates the atmosphere.
Thanksgiving feasts
All across America on the fourth Thursday of November, friends and family gather to share huge feasts of roast turkey that fill tables as the highlight of Thanksgiving celebrations. This annual tradition is now recognised with festive events around the world, including brunches and dinner parties in Budapest. On 18 November, the Brasserie & Atrium Restaurant at the Corinthia Hotel lays on a savoury spread with all the trimmings: turkey soup, roast turkey, lamb, punch and mulled wine come to you for 10,500 forints. On Thanksgiving Day, InterContinental’s Corso Restaurant sets up a carving station with stuffed turkey, cranberry sauce, cornbread and gravy; starters, soups, mains and desserts also feature (14,900 forints). A traditional yet special Thanksgiving menu will also feature at Hilton Budapest’s Buffet Dinner on 22 November, where 15,900 forints include a welcome drink, wines, refreshments, coffee, tea and 10% service charge. Between 20 November and 1 January, holiday turkey is available for takeaway at KOLLÁZS within the Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace – the package comes with cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, winter vegetables, forest-mushroom ragout and a fruit pie and costs 59,000 forints.
Budapest registers top numbers in hotel stays
In the light of last year’s record-breaking visitor numbers in Budapest, top figures are expected for 2018, based on new statistics shared by the Budapest Festival and Tourism Centre. Looking at the first eight months of this year, nearly seven million hotel stays were registered in Budapest, more than six million of which were from abroad – over the whole of 2017, the city logged ten million hotel stays. These recently shared figures were generated by over 2.5 million foreign guests, mostly from the UK, US, Germany, Italy, Spain, Israel, Russia, France, China and the Netherlands, the top ten markets for Budapest visitors.
New pastry chef at KOLLÁZS in the Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace
Flagship restaurant at the landmark Four Seasons Hotel Gresham PalaceKOLLÁZS – Brasserie & Bar showcases refined European cuisine four times a day, from breakfast to dinner with lunch and afternoon light fare in between. For the three-hour Sunday brunch, KOLLÁZS pulls out all the stops and lays on a spectacular spread. Now a new pastry chef will help provide an even sweeter experience. Great-grandson of the confectioner to Habsburg World War I hero Archduke Joseph, Attila Menyhárt comes from a long line of pâtissiers, his own career having started at the tender age of 14. After a decade or more at prime establishments around the world, including The Lanesborough in London, Menyhárt now returns to Budapest to grace KOLLÁZS cake displays with his creations, such as his current favourite, fashioned from honey, ginger, yoghurt and quince.
