Dining at Babel

Hubert Hlatky-schlichter, owner of the Michelinstarred Babel restaurant, on his favourite dish, cooking style, and honouring Hungarian heritage

There’s just no stopping Babel; since it opened in 2008, the highly acclaimed restaurant in downtown Budapest has not only earned itself a Michelin star and Decanter UK Best International Restaurant, but it’s quickly become one of the leading names on the regional food scene. Owner Hubert details what makes the restaurant tick.

HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN BABEL RECEIVED A MICHELIN STAR IN 2019?

I cried — I couldn’t believe it! I was so grateful because it was the result of 11 years of sacrifices. I remembered all the times I was away from my family, how much time and energy it took. My dream became a reality.

DESCRIBE BABEL’S COOKING STYLE.

It’s ‘à la minute’ — everything has to be fresh, and we want to affect the emotions, the senses, play with temperatures. We’re proud of our Hungarian gastronomic heritage, which is the basis of our modern style of cooking. We strive for harmony — the flavours of the kitchen must match perfectly with the wine, for example.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE DISH?

The Casino egg — not many people know it was the only traditional dish in Hungarian gastronomy to contain caviar. It used to be on the menus of Budapest’s famous restaurants in the times of peace, but, during the socialist era, it was dumbed down and relegated to cold dishes. Caviar was only included as decoration, and eventually disappeared off the menu. I have a personal attachment to this dish. At family events, my husband makes his own version. So these are some of the reasons why it made it onto the menu at Babel. It’s since become our signature dish.

WHAT’S THE FUTURE FOR BABEL?

It’s an evolution, which is the essence of life, but it applies to our restaurant, too. We’ve come a long way since opening, but the best is yet to come. For example, building a sustainable work environment is key for us. One of our plans is to build a vegetable garden to use together with Kiosk Budapest, our sibling restaurant.