We are going through a difficult period in hospitality, the effects of which will be felt for a long time to come. The „boom” before the pandemic began” gastronomy seriously built on foreign guests. For this reason, the Pest side was the most popular.
Opening in a prominent location restaurants they could always count on a good number of guests. Thus, the orientation of the public, which is looking for high quality culinary experiences and is open to them, was most evident on the Pest side. This "entrenchment" has remained, but in recent years, restaurants of a high standard have also appeared on the Buda side.
The future is in dinners and dinners for pleasure
Audiences in Buda no longer need to travel to Pest. Nowadays, even in their immediate vicinity, there are restaurants of repute that cater for all tastes. A prime example of this is the Bártfai Bistro / Restaurant in Buda. Elegantly modern surroundings, a kitchen equipped with the latest technologies and a professional chef - Zsolt Pálinkás - has cut his axe into no smaller tree than to serve a knowledgeable, gastronomy-loving public. The chef told us how they think about gastronomy, and what it takes to make a high-end restaurant in Buda work.
- What happened to many of you is that the pandemic has disrupted the opening.
- In fact, we opened in 2019, just before the pandemic. I took over the kitchen in June. Until then, we had a very modest delivery menu. The summer was spent building it, as we replaced the daily menu with a business menu, at my suggestion. This was also important so that we could support the a la carte menu with a thematic and flavourful offer. Of course, the pandemic did not help the clientele, but now we have more guests from the surrounding area and office buildings. We also think it is important to come up with an offer here in Buda, in a smaller location, that can serve the higher demands.
- In fact, the location of the restaurant is very prominent, as the calm environment of the city centre of Buda is ideal in itself. In addition, parking is easy and Bártfai Bistro is easily accessible by public transport. Yet, do you still need to build?
- The situation is a bit complicated. People living here are not used to the idea, even in the wider region, that they don't necessarily have to go to Pest, because there is already a good restaurant closer. On the other hand, this was not the case. Perhaps we are lucky that there are no places with a gastronomy similar to ours in the near future, so we are being discovered.
- What more can you do to get more people to discover you?
- Basically, what is needed is marketing. A continuous and quality social media presence. This is something we have been putting more and more emphasis on recently. Simply because it's useless to have a nice environment and quality cuisine if you don't reach the general public. So marketing is one of the most important tools.
The other way we can raise our profile is through events. This is where the threads come together a little bit, because I have my own project, Joy Cooking. It has two important bases, one is the Bártfa Bistro / Restaurant and the other is the Book Kitchen.
There was already a wine club with Zoltán Bácsi, who presented his fine wines from Artizán. We have created a number of events with sommelier György Orodán, and even a special event based on Italian and Spanish wines in a separate evening. And recently, the historian Csaba Katona joined the theme evenings, with a special evening of wine and wine specialities. extremely interesting he usually gives presentations.
- So you see events as one of the ways to attract the attention of your guests?
- Absolutely. A great meal, the right wines to go with it, and a presentation that can even teach people about quality wine consumption and food and wine pairing - that's something that many people are interested in. We are not going to stop there, we are already working on a number of upcoming events and we will be announcing them on our various platforms. I think once guests experience what they can get here in Buda, taste our food, they will come back. And what is important in this context is that we can spread word of mouth, which is a slow process, but all the more important!
- I assume you will continue this trend.
- Yes, the construction continues, clearly in the organisation of evenings and events. We think it's important that this is not only a quality Buda a restaurant, but a stylish community space. People can come in during the day to enjoy our business menu, dine from our a la carte offer and we can also present cultural experiences at events. I believe that this is the future and that hospitality needs to open up in this direction.#
