The Gourmet Festival, back again after two years, attracted a large number of visitors from both the professional and guest sides on the first day. We asked several well-known and respected chefs what they expect to see at the start of the season.
Celebrating its 10th birthday, the Gourmet Festival is arguably one of the most prestigious gastronomic event. Due to the epidemic, the event has been cancelled for the last two years for understandable reasons, and tickets have sold at an unprecedented rate from the moment they went on sale. More than a hundred stands were set up, representing a variety of restaurants, bakeries and wineries. From cool street food spots to contemporary cuisine and Michelin-starred places, restaurateurs from all over the country came to the event.
The theme of this year's festival was heritage, so many people prepared traditional Hungarian dishes. And restaurants representing international cuisine touched on well-known dishes such as shakhsuka, lamb kebab and pad thai. However, these were often given an exciting twist that showed a whole new side, respecting familiar flavours and recipes.
Domestic and foreign tourism on the up
It is clear from the high turnout on the first day that people are very much coming out of the closures of recent years, which have often lasted several months. For the first time, many are looking forward to a relatively uninterrupted summer. Most of the chefs interviewed are also optimistic, with almost all expecting high traffic and increasing foreign tourism in both the capital and the waterfront.
„People are now very hungry to travel. Many still haven't had the chance to make up for missed holidays and soak up some of the love of life. Like all restaurants, our main goal is not only to attract our guests, but to keep them. And to ensure they leave with maximum satisfaction.” - said Ákos Sárközi, whose stand represented both Borkonyha and Textura, famous for its extravagant solutions.
Price rises and labour shortages remain
Most also agreed that the ongoing labour shortages and inflation will not ease for some time, so the more price-sensitive segment of the population will have to wait. Even restaurants that are in business cannot absorb such a rise in inflation if they are to operate profitably. Even hotel chains such as Four Season feel it on their skin. Despite efforts across countries to help each other, the problem has reached a global scale that will not be solved any time soon.
What to expect on your plate or Gourmet Festival here and beyond
As far as the trends of the season are concerned, more and more people are trying to pamper their taste buds with a wide range of creative solutions. guests following a plant-based diet. Although we are still far behind not only internationally but also in neighbouring countries, the improvement is visible. Norbert Krasznai, executive chef at Fleischer Restrobar, sees the future in this. „In order to keep our guests interested and build a strong regular customer base, our menu changes every two weeks. We deliberately make it so that half of it is vegan. Although more and more people are switching to a meat-free diet, for some reason there are still few bistros in Budapest that are seriously addressing this niche market, even though there is a great need for it. This is one of the reasons why we love working with Matusz-Vad. In addition to the constant quality, they constantly monitor the market demand and offer an increasingly wide range of meats. with vegan palette work.”
The Gourmet Festival will continue as usual for 3 days. In addition to food and drink, the programme will also include exciting presentations and live cooking.
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