We had the honor of sitting down with Alain Losbar, the Head Chef of Sofitel’s Paris Budapest Café and Sous Chef, Christophe Deparday. Here’s what they had to tell us about their experiences in Hungary so far, their team and their favorite Hungarian foods.
How did you go about learning Hungarian cuisine? Did you have to learn how to work with new ingredients?
First, we went to the market to see what was available. That’s the best way to learn the products and come up with ideas for the dishes. For us, learning the cuisine and how to work with the ingredients is the same thing. Based on the tastes and the flavors of the ingredients, we create a nouvelle cuisine. We only use small amounts of the spices that are usually in Hungarian dishes like paprika and garlic. We don’t want any of the flavors to be too overwhelming.
What are the best products that Hungary has to offer?
The goose liver is the best that I’ve had anywhere in the world. It’s even better than France. Some of the goose liver that you get in France actually comes from Hungary. The mushrooms are excellent too. There are a lot of quality products here but they aren’t as well known. You have to really search for them.
What are your impressions of Hungarian cuisine and restaurants?
Some of the chefs here have never lived abroad which was very surprising to me. I couldn’t believe that someone could have been a chef for over 20 years and have never tasted certain fruits/vegetables etc. that aren’t available in Hungary. The restaurants need to match the decor with the cuisine. There are a lot of traditional Hungarian restaurants with modern, trendy decor and that just doesn’t match. The customers that come to a restaurant like that might expect trendy food and could be disappointed.
You say that the cuisine is “a fusion of French, Asian, Mediterranean and Hungarian.” What exactly does that mean?
The menu is based on the backgrounds of the chefs and their cooking styles. The main menu changes every season and there is also a daily menu that has more of a Hungarian influence. Everyone on the team and the staff gets to taste the new dishes and has the opportunity to offer suggestions for the daily menu.
What have been the biggest challenges you faced here?
When I first arrived, the language was the biggest barrier. I needed to be able to communicate with the team and most importantly to keep the team. My management style in the kitchen is to really get to know my team and teach them how to respect the product. Since they haven’t worked in an international kitchen, I had to teach them certain cooking techniques. Since I’ve been here for a year, I’ve learned enough Hungarian to communicate with them and now I can count on them to manage the kitchen when I am not there.
What’s it like to work in an open kitchen? Do you feel the need to perform?
It’s very comfortable. That’s the way a kitchen should be so that the customers can see where there food is coming from.
What is your favorite Hungarian food?
Alain: Marhapörkölt (beef stew).
Christophe: Hortobágyi húsos palacsinta (crepe filled with meat with a paprika cream sauce).
What is specific about your menu that makes it stand out from other restaurants?
That everything is fresh and we only use quality ingredients. The dishes are always consistent. If something is on the menu and we couldn’t find fresh ingredients for the dish, we will tell customers that it is not available until we can find quality ingredients again. Customers know quality no matter what type of food they like. They would be able to tell if we did not use quality products.
What is the key to keeping your menu consistent and the kitchen successful?
The team has to taste everything. The coffee, fruits, sauces, every single thing that goes out of the kitchen should be tasted. It was hard to get the team to taste because they have worked for other chefs that told them not to but I think that is so important. I have learned to be able to tell if a dish has enough or too much salt just by smelling it.
