If Buda can’t go to the Alps… top chef Lajos Bíró opens Hütte

With most in the loftier, more exclusive slopes of Buda not only missing out on a summer holiday abroad but also their Alpine ski break this winter, renowned chef Lajos Bíró has thought out of the box and brought a flavour of Austria to the terrace of his homely restaurant. Even if you’re not the downhill type, the second-best thing that can happen off-piste this season will be Hütte.

Although snow isn’t guaranteed, Hungarian gastronomic innovation has allowed Lajos Bíró to create a Hütte outside his own Vendéglő a KisBíróhoz.

The place was a given, the restaurant terrace corresponds to any Alpine hut in Austria: just a few carpets, a couple of comfortable sofas, one or two armchairs, and folksy sramli sounds mixed with pop in the background, the accompaniment to any Austrian ski holiday. They’ve placed a counter outdoors to grill up the sausages.

Off-piste in social safety

“For many skiers, a classic Hütte is what skiing is all about, but even serious sportsmen sit down at least once a day for a warming drink or some hot steamed dumplings. As we noticed that people are less and less willing to sit indoors to eat, we thought that this would benefit both parties, those missing out on their Alpine break and those who prefer to dine outside."

The KisBíró is still catering to guests, but dishes from that menu cannot be consumed in the Hütte, nor can you sit by the fireplace to tuck into your kaiserschmarrn.

The menu isn’t long, and with a few items it’s more the drinks that suit the surroundings than the food, but it has everything on a classic Hütte menu except for käsespätzle. These cheese dumplings have been left out because in mountain chalets they are usually made from poorer-quality ingredients in larger quantities so that they can be served quickly.

Since any powdered shortcuts are not an option, and the traditional cooking time exceeds what how long would like spend on a terrace in chillier weather, it has been ignored.

On the other hand, there are homemade pretzels (350 HUF), which Lajos Bíró himself kneads in the kitchen. Austrian liver-dumpling soup (1,620 HUF) comes with a fistful of dumplings in pure broth, and fresh green onion rings as needed, while the goulash (2,100 HUF) is not the Hungarian classic but a more Austrian version, somewhat more tomato-ey.

KisBíró bread-and-dripping (1,900 HUF) is an exceptionally non-Austrian invention, Lajos Bíró having sampled a similar street food in Odorheiu Secuiesc, Transylvania, that’s a cardiologist’s nightmare. The thick slices of bread are fried in duck fat and then crowned with sheep’s curd and fried belly, bacon or cured pork.

Here, the Wiener Schnitzel (2,800 HUF) is not accompanied by Austrian potato salad, but by steak potatoes – it’s otherwise flawless, as we have long become expect from from Lajos Bíró.

The sausage also takes a little detour, not following the Alpine traditions closely. It isn’t the usual white cheese sausage on the menu, but Hungarian Debrecener. Excellent examples are provided by Bíró’s supplier and anyway, he “doesn't really like white sausage”.

That’s right – together with the spicy, crunchy, succulent cabbage fried with duck fat and Bíró’s spicy mustard, we are not only treated to the real Hütte experience, but those who remember what good Debreceners were like before they were turbocharged with soya and all sorts of flavour enhancers, there’s plenty of nostalgia to be had.

The sweet-toothed can choose between two classics – kaiserschmarrn and germknödel, both 1,600 forints and both excellent. The Austrian-style, spongy kaiserschmarrn comes with a good deal of homemade apricot jam, and the steamed dumplings are a true classic: a soft dough with plenty of thick plum jam, sweet vanilla sauce and a spoonful of poppy seeds.

Also worth highlighting, partly because it’s not available in many other places right now, is the mulled wine (1,200 HUF): not too spicy, not too sweet, a warming mug relaxing you as you wait for your food.

If winter is gracious enough, maybe we’ll even get real snow to enhance this whole experience. If not, Austrian pop, hot rum cocoa and crunchy sausages will have to do – but that’s plenty to keep things hot at the Hütte.