Best of Budapest & Hungary

This festive season, the Zsolnay Café of Radisson Blu Béke Hotel in Budapest welcomes guests every day with a special afternoon tea. The hotel’s culinary team took inspiration from luxury expert Balázs Pécsi and his style guide and etiquette book Stílusgourmand: the savoury and sweet bites visually evoke the atmosphere of the richly illustrated pages, while their ingredients, considered hallmarks of luxury, reflect the book’s core message. The Stílusgourmand Afternoon Tea by Zsolnay Café menu, available from 15 November to 16 January is served on gilded, hand-painted Zsolnay porcelain.

    There are only a few places in Budapest where you can enjoy afternoon tea in true British style, with a selection of sweet and savoury bites served with your tea. The Café of Radisson Blu Béke Hotel has long been a year-round favorite, but this festive season, it’s introducing a special limited time offering to delight both loyal regulars and new visitors. The occasion also marks a milestone worth celebrating — it has been exactly 40 years since the café-bistro first took on the name Zsolnay Café.

    On the étager – the pattern of which, like the rest of the porcelain set, was designed exclusively by the Zsolnay Porcelain Manufacture – true culinary curiosities are offered, blending Hungarian and international flavours, while the luxury ingredients create interesting contrasts with familiar local components and traditional recipes. The crumbly homemade biscuits, are decorated with edible gold leaf; the traditional Hungarian pogácsa is enriched with truffle oil and can be topped with a spreadable salmon cream with caviar. The profiteroles are filled with lobster mousse, a hint of truffle flavour was added to the Angus beef tartare, and on the chocolate brioche, duck liver pâté and fig form a perfect harmony – just to mention a few examples. Ronnefeldt teas are served with acacia honey from Tokaj, while those who prefer coffee can opt for the Santo Domingo brand, known for its prime quality and caramel aftertaste. As a harpist entertains guests on Fridays and a pianist on Saturdays, it is worth scheduling the reservation in advance.

    “We have known Balázs for a long time and had the pleasure of working together on several occasions in connection with our hotels. The unique ideas he shares in his book resonate well with the history of the hotel, as the Béke Hotel – and before the Britannia Hotel –once stood as a symbol of elegance, sophistication and vibrant social life in Budapest,” explained Petra Fabriczki, Director of Communications at Danubius Hotels Zrt., the company that owns the hotel, when asked about the reason for the collaboration.

    At the time of its opening, the Britannia, regarded as the most elegant luxury hotel in the Hungarian capital, became famous from the 1930s onwards for the parties held there. The glass dome of the ballroom, decorated with stained glass, could be opened at the press of a button so that guests could enjoy the summer night under the starry sky. Among ladies, it has become a true mark of distinction how often and on what occasions they were invited “under the Dome”. The Színházi Élet once wrote that „The waiters in elegant tailcoats moved silently between the tables, serving the crème of Budapest and the nation’s elite.". The Britannia is just as much a part of the fashion scene of Pest as the afternoon promenade on Váci Street.” It is no wonder that the café was once frequented by such renowned figures as Mihály Babits, Gyula Illyés, Frigyes Karinthy, Dezső Kosztolányi, Zsigmond Móricz and Lőrinc Szabó. The dome designed by Jenő Haranghy, one of the most talented artists of Hungarian Art Deco, now adorns the Zsolnay Café, having survived a World War II bombing.

    “It is a tremendous honour that my book has inspired a café-restaurant where once these literary giants gathered to exchange thoughts, and perhaps even found inspiration for their next work, the first lines of which they may have committed to paper here while dining. I can state with confidence that under the leadership of Executive Chef Zoltán Tóth, the carefully considered creations of the young culinary professionals – Cold Kitchen Chef Norbert Magócsi and Head Pastry Chef Róbert Haczka – are worthy representatives of this intellectual heritage,” added Balázs Pécsi.