Pastry is sometimes a sweet treat and a heavenly experience, sometimes an art. Attila Menyhárt did a fantastic job at the World Chocolate Masters Central Europe round. He is now facing no less a challenge than to qualify for the region's qualification for the World Chocolate Championships in Paris! For him, the profession life and you will undoubtedly always want to do your best.
Attila Menyhárt : „Success can only be achieved with total dedication and immense will. For me, pastry is not a job, it is a hobby, a love and a way of life! I believe that anyone can be a professional, no matter how well trained, but what drives me forward is the heart. Every single plate that comes out of my hands, no matter what time of day, has to offer the maximum to the guest. There is no pardon here! We work for the guest and for the guest, we are what they experience there and then from our work. ”
His career
Attila Menyhárt is a professional who has studied the profession for many years. He only started working in Hungary a few years ago, but even at a young age he considered it his life's work. He studied at Gundel, where he tried out everything that in hospitality can be. A kitchen and the art of serving, but most of all he was attracted to pastry. It's no coincidence that she has a pastry chef on her father's side, and was born into the trade. After his studies, his first year's trial and error led him to the idea of working abroad. In fact, from 1999 he worked abroad for a long time and for years he worked on ships, almost all over the world. After ten contracts, he worked in Ireland for four years and then in London. Then a short stint at the Corinthia Hotel, but again the calls took him away from home. In Switzerland, he opened a hotel in Zurich, where he was entrusted with all the opening work, and then built a café from scratch.
Back home again
Just three years ago, he became the head pastry chef at KOLLÁZS - Brasserie & Bar at the Four Seasons. Since then, we have been able to taste and admire his work, which reflects his total dedication.
In an earlier report he said: „The best way to describe it is as a pharmacy. In a lot of cases, it's all about grams of taste, textures, consistency. In confectionery, everything goes by recipe and following them is extremely important. ”
For him, pastry is about precision, attention and concentration. This is reflected in his fantastic work, where reflection, concentration and quiet creation have paid off. Taking advantage of the infinite possibilities of pastry, she has been featured in the world's most prestigious pastry magazine, So Good magazine, on several occasions. The Spanish-language magazine has been published in English for ten years now, with over 300 pages. So Good has received serious recognition all over the world - prestigious recognition - and no doubt international professional recognition. The publications, illustrated with photographs by Antonio Black, have been a huge success to date.
Attila Menyhárt didn't stop there, as he is currently proudly representing our country in the World Chocolate Masters competition, and in no small way.
World Chocolate Masters competition
The World Chocolate Masters competition, one of the biggest international competitions for confectioners. The focus is on chocolate and its creative solutions and a big test and challenge for the professionals. Attila Menyhárt applied for the competition last year and was immediately accepted. Obviously, after that a serious period of preparation began, in which he was supported by Kollázs. This competition differs from the Coupe du Monde - which is the benchmark for pastry competitions - in that there are only individual entrants and individual performances. During the competition, a particularly spectacular pastry creation had to be presented and even a personal demonstration had to be given after its completion.
The task: a dessert, a plant-based snack, a bonbon and a chocolate sculpture. The task, which had to be solved entirely on your own, took eight and a half hours.
Attila Menyhárt has won the Central European competition, ahead of Markus Weber (Germany) and Johannes Warmuthv (Austria), so we can cheer him on at the world finals of the biggest international pastry competition in Paris in October 2022. Go Attila!.
Author: Tamás Budafoki
Photo: Antonio Black
