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Király utca, Still a Work In Progress

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Király utca has come full-circle. Once a lively shopping street, after World War Two stucco crumbled from the elegant buildings and shops were nationalized. Over the past few years, galleries and design shops have slowly begun to make their way back to “King Street,” and some of the city’s coolest open-air drinking spots are within steps. In 2005 the street got a much-needed renovation. But the construction was shoddy, the sidewalks are falling apart, and some of the new buildings are hideous. The plan was to make Király utca a walking street, but it didn’t really turn out that way. Nevertheless, the designers and artists keep coming and Király utca is on its way to being the place in Budapest to shop for designer home furnishings. New places are constantly opening—surely a good omen—but it remains a work-in-progress.

Király utca begins near Deák Ferenc tér and forms the edge of the Jewish quarter. Andrassy út is two blocks west and theatre-lined Nagymező utca and café-filled Liszt Ferenc tér intersect. VAM Design Center (Király utca 26) is the street’s largest gallery, occupying an entire building with a café in the covered courtyard surrounded by artwork hanging on exposed brick walls. The four-year-old Inda Gallery (Király utca 34) hosts a dozen exhibitions annually and represents 14 artists. G13 Art Gallery (Király utca 13) is located in Gozsdu udvar—a complex of seven buildings linked by six courtyards that was restored in 2008. Sirály (Király utca 50), a star of the neighborhood’s alternative cultural scene, has a bar, a café and performance/exhibition space on three levels. The edgy Boulevard & Brezsnyev Gallery (Király utca 39-46) specializes in young, unknown artists.

Müller Mónika (Király utca 36) was the first designer to arrive on Király utca. Her shop stocks her own designs, crafted by local mill workers, artists, and restorers. KARE (Király utca 43-45) is the Budapest outlet of the German home-furnishing brand, and is already rallying the street’s businesses and planning art exhibitions. On its opening-day, owner Ágnes Déri held a festival showcasing the street’s design shops, and hopes to make it a regular event (the next one is coming up on June 19th). “Király utca used to be one of Budapest’s most famous shopping streets and trade centers,” said Déri, “and I really believe this will become the single famous furniture and design street in Budapest.” Goa Home (Király utca 19­21) has several storefronts brimming with pieces from around the world. Arioso (Király utca 9) stocks international houseware, stunning flowers, and French food products by La Petite Francaise. Be sure to check out the small green courtyard café. Látomás (Király utca 39) sells one-off fashions designed by a longtime Budapest expat.

At night, the neighborhood fills with drinkers heading to the kerts—which spring up in empty, grungy buildings—for cheap beer and wine. Graffiti-covered Kuplung (Király utca 46) is located on the site of a former motorcycle repair. Café Bobek (Kazinczy utca 51), named for a Communist-era cartoon character, has tables in a green yard. Kőleves Kert (Kazinczy utca 35) serves food from its own restaurant, and the outdoor bar has swings for barstools and other playground-like effects. Around the corner, Mumus (Dob utca 18) is two levels, with a piano bar and barstools made of stacked beer boxes. Take a walk on Király utca for some of Budapest’s hippest venues, from high-concept design shops to retro bars. The best part: the feeling that lots more is yet to come.

–Carolyn

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Bodzalé {Recipe}

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{Elderflower Juice}

Elderflowers (bodzavirág), with their intoxicatingly sweet scent, bloom throughout the Hungarian countryside during the late spring. Like most Hungarian dishes, the first time I tasted elderflower juice was at my mother-in-law’s house in northwestern Hungary. When they are in season, she keeps a few batches of the juice constantly steeping in big bowls and jars, scooping it out with a ladle to serve all of the children (and adults) who love it. It disappears quickly. We picked a bag full of elderflowers last weekend in her yard before heading back to Budapest, where the fragrance perfumed the whole apartment for days.

You don’t need many flowers to make a big batch of elderflower juice. When I have extra, I spread them on a baking sheet (preferably with a bunch of mint, if it’s around) to dry them. Keep the dried elderflower and mint mix in a tin, and it makes a wonderful tea (either hot or iced). Also, a sugar syrup made with elderflowers is great as a cocktail mixer.

Bodzalé
{Elderflower Juice}

5 liters (5 ¼ quarts) water
400 grams (2 cups) sugar
3 lemons, 2 juiced and one sliced
8 elderflower flowerheads

In a small saucepan, bring sugar and about one quarter of the water to a boil. Simmer until sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes. Put the rest of the water in a jar large enough to hold everything. Add the sugar syrup, the lemon juice and slices, and the elderflowers. Let the mixture steep for at least a few hours before serving.

–Carolyn

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Home-Cooking In the City

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On a nondescript street in Budapest’s seventh district—a neighborhood of run-down crumbling buildings—one of my favorite restaurants hides in plain sight in a storefront of an early-19th-century apartment house. There’s no wine list, the brown-checked tablecloths are smudged, and there are no frills (in everything from the service and the décor to the food and the menu). You may have to share a table if the place is packed (like it usually is), and English is non-existent. Kívánság Étkezde (VII. Alsóerdősor utca 36) serves the kind of home-style food that a village grandmother would prepare. Regulars come daily, and elderly neighbors socialize over steaming bowls of húsleves (consomme). In exchange for the simplicity, you won’t pay more than five or six euros for a meal. It is hardly the only place like this in Budapest. The best way to find one? Follow office workers on their way to lunch.

This type of restaurant is known as the étkezde or kifőzde: usually a single room with less than a dozen tables and a frequently changing menu of traditional Hungarian dishes. They typically open for weekday lunch, and coffee and alcohol are seldom served. The idea is to eat quickly and surrender your table. For the traveler seeking authenticity and a true peek at Budapest life, this is the jackpot. Budapest’s markets are brimming with pig brains and snouts, tripe and beef tail, and rooster testicles and chicken hearts. The étkezde is the place to go to taste these things. There are also tamer options, and the short menu includes several soups and stews, several types of roasted, fried, or stuffed meats, pickled salads, a főzelék (a stewed vegetable dish), a pasta or two, and one or two desserts.

Kádár Étkezde (VII. Klauzál tér 9) is an institution in the old Jewish quarter. The food here is among the best in the city, and on busy Saturdays lines are long and it can be hard to get a table. Known for Jewish specialties like cholent, (bean stew with goose leg, ham, or hard-boiled egg), it also serves fantastic stuffed cabbage and peppers, duck with red cabbage, and vargabéles (a pasta and strudel cake). Celebrity photos line the walls, and you pay the proprietor, standing by the door in a white coat, as you leave. The adorable Ráday Étkezde (IX. Ráday utca 29) is on one of the city’s trendiest streets, but doesn’t offer an English menu. It has a few tables in the gallery (every one with a single Gerber daisy), recipes painted on the ceiling, and random magazine pages glued to the walls. Come here for good chicken paprikás, as well as other étkezde staples like fried cheese and pörkölt (stew). Regulars come daily from the nearby university.

The Rákóczi Kifőzde (VIII. Rákóczi tér 9) sits next to an old market hall on a torn-up square that will be the site of a new metro stop. An old hussar uniform hangs on the wall, the tablecloths are red checked, and the daily specials are scrawled in Hungarian on a whiteboard. The menu holds a few random international dishes, but it is best to stick to the Hungarian classics (like the vadpörkölt, game stew, with potato croquettes). Cross the river to find the Róma Ételbár (I. Csalogány utca 20). This cozy place (with 1970s décor) is slightly more expensive than the others and serves slabs of meat nearly as big as a plate. Try the hagymás rostélyos (a thin piece of beef topped with crispy fried onions) or the cigány pecsenye (a pork cutlet topped with bacon and garlic).

If you aren’t lucky enough to be invited to a Hungarian home, these étkezdes are the next best thing. For a fraction of the price of a regular restaurant, the étkezde fills a primal desire for honest, authentic, every-day food.

This piece was originally published in Ling.

–Carolyn

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I heart Etyek

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I don’t know why it has taken me so long to appreciate Etyek, and the many lovely wines that come from its chalky soils. It produces some beautiful wines from some of my favorite grapes like pinot noir, sauvignon blanc, and zöldveltelini (better known as grüner veltliner). And best of all, it is close enough to Budapest (just half-an-hours drive) to make an easy day (or half-day) wine tasting trips. I’ve been living in Budapest for about ten years, and whenever I feel like making a trip to the Hungarian wine country for some serious tasting, I tend to look further (as I suspect many Budapesters do).

It was a lovely meal and tasting at the small, and very classy, Hernyák Birtok that sealed the deal for me (read what I wrote about that meal a few months back on Chew.hu). Last weekend was the annual Etyek Cellar Festival, a weekend-long event that encompasses the whole town. We went, despite the cold and rain which kept most people away. The kids watched a hilarious puppet show (Hungarians have a real talent for those) and did arts and craft projects while we sipped wines from Kreinbacher (winemakers from all over the country descend on the village) until it was just too wet outside. We headed indoors, back to Hernyák to have a few glasses, and then onto neighboring Etyeki Kúria. Normally at Etyeki Kúria there would be tables set up in the vineyards for the occasion. Instead, a folk ensemble showed up and played a few songs, which the girls loved dancing to.

While in Etyek it’s also worth checking out the Rókusfalvy Pince, as well as Rókusfalvy’s Restaurant where you can taste his wines (and spend the night in one of the six rooms if you’ve had too much to drink). There’s an old cellar row to check out. Most of the cellars seem to be empty, but on our last trip to Etyek we descended into the Krajcsi Pince to taste a few wines and, as it turned out, some pálinka. More memorable than the wine was the pálinka demonstration which the winemaker did. He gulped the pálinka down, and then slowly and dramatically exhaled. This way he releases all of the alcohol in the pálinka, he explained, allowing him to drink more. I can’t personally vouch for his method, but it seemed to work for him.

If you’re in Budapest, come taste some Etyeki wines with us on Saturday (May 22) at our Wine & A Movie event!

–Carolyn

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Körözött {Recipe}

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{Liptauer or Liptó Cheese Spread}

This happened to be one of the first Hungarian recipes that I ever made, long before I met my Hungarian husband. When I came across the recipe in a cookbook (I can’t remember which), it just seemed like a good way to start a meal. In Hungary, where the túró (curd cheese) is so fresh and abundant, it turns out way better than it did the fist time I made it in the US. Served throughout Hungary, as well as in Slovakia, Austria, and Northern Italy, this quick and easy spiced-cheese dip makes a fantastic hors d’oeuvre. The secret is not to add too much of any ingredient, but do tweak the recipe to your own taste. Serve as an appetizer with chunks of bread or spread on slices of pepper. Add some sliced sausage and a mix of fresh, raw vegetables, and it could make for a light meal. In Hungary, körözött is often spread on bread to make a open-faced sandwiches.

Körözött
{Liptauer or Liptó Cheese Spread}

250 grams (8.5 ounces) quark/farmer’s cheese (sheep milk or cow milk) (júh túró or tehén túró)
½ Small onion, minced
60 grams (2 ounces) Butter, softened and chopped
½ teaspoon Caraway Seeds
1 heaping teaspoon Sweet Paprika
½ teaspoon Mustard
Secret Ingredient: a splash of házi pálinka or beer!
Optional: chopped capers, chopped parsley, or chopped anchovies

Mix all ingredients thoroughly until evenly mixed (especially the butter and the paprika). If you are using cow cheese, add salt to taste. Refrigerate.

–Carolyn

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Speaking in Tongues

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One of the most entertaining (and mind-boggling) aspects of raising two daughters in Hungary has been watching them master two languages simultaneously. I wrote about it a few months ago in the Christian Science Monitor, and it continues to amaze me every day. In the beginning I worried that their English would suffer because they hear Hungarian all day at school, and I am their main link to the language, but it has not happened at all. They never speak to people in the wrong language, they recite rhymes in both languages, and they are very aware when they hear other languages that they do not understand. When the two of them play together I always wonder which language they will choose to play in that day (and what goes through their mind when they do) … I only hope some of it rubs off on me!

–Carolyn

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The Amazing 8th

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Like most people who have lived in a place for a long time (in my case nearly ten years), doing the touristy things can often get overlooked. Things like daily life can really get in the way. I seem to have done most of my sightseeing in Budapest on my first extended visit to the city, before I even moved here. And I seem to fill in the blanks whenever I have guests visiting. But the best thing about writing (for me) is that it keeps me out there, constantly exploring the city and the country, especially the non-touristy parts. Not being one for doing guided tours—I usually prefer to explore on my own—I was intrigued when I heard about Beyond Budapest, a small company which does specialized walking tours of Budapest’s 8th district.

I’ve long-loved the 8th district, and now, it seems everybody does. What was once the city’s most dangerous neighborhood now holds boutique hotels, stylish bars and cafes, and a bunch of art galleries. The tour ended in the apartment of a Roma couple, where we were told to ask whatever questions we wanted. Beyond Budapest also does tours introducing the neighborhood’s contemporary art scene. Read what I wrote about the district in this article.

–Carolyn

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All Saint’s Day {Mindenszentek Napja}

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Although there are an increasing number of costume parties and events for children, Hungarians don’t really celebrate Halloween. And Halloween just isn’t Halloween without the trick-or-treating. Hungarians do celebrate All Saint’s Day, which is a way for them to honor their deceased loved ones. On November 1st, and the days leading up to it, they go to the cemeteries where their relatives are buried, clean the area surrounding the graves, plant flowers, and light candles. Some families will travel to several cemeteries around the country, if necessary, to be sure that the graves of their relatives are tended to.

Last night we went to Kerepesi Cemetery—a beautiful cemetery where many of the most famous Hungarians are buried—where there were swarms of people, crossing guards to direct the pedestrians, and many vendors selling flowers and candles. Gábor noted that he hated this day when as a child his parents piled the whole family into the car, hauled them to Budapest to visit the cemetery, and then on to Jászberény for another cemetery. Once they arrived at the family graves, they took out their shovels and rakes, tended the graves, and always noted how the deceased “deserved to have lived better lives.” I can see how it wouldn’t be too much for for a child, but with the burning candles, full moon, and vases of flowers everywhere, it was a gorgeous sight.

See more photos on our flickr page.

–Carolyn

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