A star is born! Meet the men behind Babel, Budapest’s latest Michelin-award winner

It’s four in the afternoon and Babel opens at six. Hubert is running some errands and Isti is saying goodbye to the TV crew he had been shooting with. The elegant seating area is now calm, empty and magic has been put on pause in the kitchen – but there is a certain tension in the air. A new chapter has started in the lives of these guys with Babel winning a Michelin-star. We talk to them about this huge achievement.

WLB: How would you describe that special day?

István Veres: It is unbelievable, I haven’t been able to get my head around it. Having my own star had been my biggest dream since I was 14, but when I actually got it, I had no idea what to do. I immediately told the guys that there is no stopping now, we need to go up another 20%. This is a profession that can get monotonous even at this level. This is great motivation.

Hubert Hlatky-Schlichter: I was at a meeting when I got the news. I was constantly refreshing my phone and when I saw it, I ran downstairs to the guys.

IV: When we saw the first article, we thought it was just someone taking a guess. But when Hubert was here with us, we knew it was true and I disappeared for half an hour. I walked up and down Váci utca speaking to my parents on the phone. I come from a family in the hospitality trade, so they know how much this means. They are so proud of me. After the calls I went to church and then returned to my team.

HHS: The first to congratulate me was Károly Gerendai (owner of Costes, Budapest's first Michelin-star winner – ed) and I asked him to say something because I couldn’t say anything. This is the Oscar of our profession! I never really cry out of joy, but this time it lasted for an hour. I called my mum and my partner and kept asking if it all was true. I was crying on my Instagram story, scaring my friends who don’t speak Hungarian, but then they found out that these were tears of joy. And then in the evening we celebrated.

WLB: After the last guest had been served?

HHG: To tell the truth, we only had a few reservations. There’s always one less busy day every week, so we asked our guests to reschedule as we wanted to celebrate. They were so great, there wasn’t any issue. Well, next time they come they will be dining at a Michelin-starred restaurant after all.

WLB: It is nice to hear that you have such a great relationship with your guests.

HHS: Despite the elegance and fine dining, this is a homely place with a lot of familiarity. A meal lasting three or four hours flies by, everything is put together in a way that makes guests feel great. Communication included.

WLB: Apparently this works between you two as well – as they say, there’s chemistry.

HHS: Of course. When I reopened this restaurant we were heading down the wrong path and then Isti came along and I trusted him from day one. Although the beginning was funny.

IV: I was making a delivery with my parents when Hubert called. I had no idea what Babel was, I was doing something different.

HHS: ‘Who? What?’ He asked me to send him the details via e-mail, because he was busy. Well, I thought, you can wait for that. But he called back two weeks later when he found out what Babel was and he was interested. He came for a trial cooking session and I knew he was my man, I saw it in his eyes… the clarity. You can improve a lot of things but your values and qualities are given.

WLB: Last year a lot of people thought you would get the star, but it didn’t happen. How did you feel?

IV: It was pretty terrible at the time, but now I understand why we had to wait. We matured and the team is at its best now, we are at the top, together for a year now.

HHS: Not getting it last year taught us that we needed to improve as people.

WLB: Did it break you?

HHS: No way. I didn’t care about myself, just about the boys and tried to keep them going. We had to let it go, which was difficult but it only brought good things. We started flying, we just needed to clear our heads. Not to be sad, but concentrate on the guests and go forward.

You know, I’m happy now because we know they are keeping an eye on us and what we do matters. We are not just guessing. If appreciation never comes it is demotivating, especially if someone else gets some and you don’t. And I know that we are at that level.

WLB: You took care of each other I guess…

HHS: Isti – if I remember correctly – told me his grandfather’s story back then. He said that if you reach the top of a mountain and you don’t see footprints any more that is great because it means you are the first, you are in the right place.

WLB: Let’s forget about last year. Do you know when the Michelin inspector was here? Did they reveal themselves?

IV: Yes, it was 1 November and he sat at table nine. Right here where we are sitting now. I was 99% sure that the gentleman sitting here had come for a reason.

WLB: Why did you think that?

IV: I know our guests and he was too secretive. He gave us pretty average answers. I asked the waiter to ask him questions, find out why he was in Budapest and whether he liked it. But he only asked where the toilet was and said he was in Budapest because the weather was nice.

WLB: Did you talk afterwards?

IV: Yeah, he came to the back to see us, but we were super busy so he had to wait. He said that he had had the best octopus in his life here. I am a believer and I think it was God’s voice here at table nine that day…

By the way, he loved it when I told him that we don’t use the sous-vide technique.

WLB: Why? Do you think it’s too common now?

IV: I don't like it. A boiled flavour comes through in sous-vide meats and this doesn’t bring out their best qualities. I prefer traditional methods.

WLB: So much so that you might not change anything in the kitchen?

IV: That extra 20% I mentioned will come. No lazing around, there is always a next level. Two stars.

WLB: Barely a day has gone by and you already have new goals?

HHS: This is evolution, that is the next level and Isti has a lot of potential. Everyone who knows him knows that. We need to learn and improve, this process never ends.

WLB: Perhaps you already have the new menu in mind?

 IV: I already know parts of it.

HHS: He is from Transylvania, once he has something in mind, nothing can stop him.

WLB: Do you think the ratio of Hungarian to foreign diners will change? Perhaps more Hungarians will make reservations now because of the Michelin star?

HHS: Maybe this 80%-20% ratio will change. As of today, there are six Michelin-starred restaurants in Budapest. The city is now a gastronomic destination. We opened Babel 12 years ago, and there is so much work in it. It has been a long journey with a lot yet to come.

But it is natural that there are more foreigners as we change the menu every half-year. We would like to show them our culture, including gastronomy. This is not the place where they return to every year and order from the à la carte menu.

IV: Hungarian guests are always a bit more sceptical, they don’t really accept the ten-course tasting menu. There is always a course they don’t like and they want to change it, but it doesn’t work like that. Everything is perfectly choreographed, the dishes need to follow each other. If you change it, the experience is gone. I hope that with the star, they can relax a bit and trust us a little more.

 WLB: This weird, sceptical attitude…

HHS: Guests need to be humble as well, it is as simple as that. Trust us that the menu is put together in a way that is best for you. Even I was very choosy before, I didn’t like experimenting. But then the world opened up during my travels and I started trusting and trying out more things. Totally worth it.

IV: It’s such a good feeling when someone likes something because of you. We have a guest who said they didn’t even want to hear about sweetbread and then it became their favourite. I felt so great.

WLB: We know now that a second star is the next goal, but what are the plans before that happens?

HHS: Our own farm and produce, to give one example. I have some stables and grounds in Szentendre that I inherited from my dad. I found somebody who can help me cultivate it and I would like to grow spices and vegetables. Isti is close to nature anyway. This is the next step. We might even tie these together…

Babel District V. Piarista köz 2

Open: Tue-Sat 6pm-midnight More details here