Györgyi Balla

We also visited several apartment restaurants in Budapest to find out how they try to stay alive, if they accept companies of up to ten people. It turned out that there were as many places as there were attempts to survive.

The epidemic hit catering service providers hard, including apartment restaurant operators. These are places where a chef welcomes guests, talks to them, and leads them into a show kitchen, and guests pay for that. Nowadays, there is no place in the world where there is no restaurant in apartments, there is also a good couple in Hungary.

The apartment restaurant is a difficult category to understand from a legal point of view. If we consider it a restaurant, we cannot receive guests due to the regulations of the epidemic. If, on the other hand, it is a family or private event, they can accommodate up to 10 people.

More than ten people could not accommodate the Million Apartment Restaurant anyway, regardless of this, they have not received guests since March last year, wrote Attila Somogyi, the owner of the place. “My wife and I are doing the restaurant, we both have a full-time job, which is fortunately not in jeopardy, so the break in our apartment restaurant has not caused a disruption in our lives,” he says. For them, having a restaurant at home is more of a hobby than a livelihood-based business, “which is why the epidemic affected us so much that we were unable to pay tribute to our beloved occupation during the last slow year.” Because they have a full-time job, they decided not to hire, so they did not delve into the opportunities provided by the legislation.

The Zincenco Apartment restaurant is also run by a married couple, Zaida and Igor Zincenco. “I think that if a group of friends gets together until 10 for dinner, that shouldn’t be a legal obstacle,” Igor believes. In any case, they are now also closed and are eager to “put an end to this crazy situation.”

We would like to share with you a summary of our dishes so far and the evolution of the Zincenco Kitchen style. Here you can see the best of our dishes so far.

Posted by Zincenco Kitchen on Wednesday, September 30, 2020

“The year 2020 would have been for us, the third year of our operation, in which we could have been profitable if the epidemic had not arrived,” complains Rita Tóth-Zsédely, head of Basement Gastronomy. At the end of March last year, they reacted quickly to the situation: several packages were put together for the guests. “After the two-month shutdown, there was high demand for our dinners, it felt like people were specifically looking for smaller gardens and restaurants,” he says, adding that the shutdown since November has affected them more sensitively, “in part. because the opening is uncertain, the date and its conditions, so it is not possible to plan, on the other hand, for us the personal presence of the guests, direct contact with them is the most important thing ”. They are now compiling gourmet packages that change monthly and can be ordered, now only for a carnival. “We plan to maintain this commercial stretch later, certain delicatessen products will be available to our guests at all times,” emphasizes Rita Tóth-Zsédely, adding that since the restaurant is operated on their own property, they do not have employees, occasional helpers. thus, “only” they are affected by the loss of income, “we have no additional costs, no rent, or salary.”

Kiskapuk

The chef at a downtown apartment restaurant, who asked not to spell his name, believes there should be a man standing up to abide by the rules currently in force. For example, you don’t understand why factory canteens may be open and apartment restaurants may not. “We eat in the factory canteen in the same way that we eat in a normal restaurant. Why can this be? – asks and also waits for an answer about “who and how determines if the customer goes down to the restaurant’s buffet to have a coffee or eat for economic or even educational purposes” Restaurants may receive guests for economic or educational purposes. “If I have a business or economic meeting while serving coffee to participants and cooking lunch for them, am I breaking the law or am I behaving like a law-abiding citizen? Or, referring to the paragraph above, I cook lunch every day for the employees in the office building next door, what does that qualify for? – asks the question, adding that “the apartment restaurant as a business organization is closed. It is forbidden to receive guests. “

But there is a lot of pressure from the guests, so “there is always a small family reunion of less than ten years. We also go to a house where there is clearly a family event, ”he says, adding that

society is very tired and companies are no longer interested in regulation, so here too the usual loophole in Hungary can be found.

Their pre-booking calendars, according to the chef, already look almost the same as they did a year ago, which means that the late March dates are already booked. “I work. Whenever possible and someone does not report,” he says, adding that “if we continue like this, we will return to the original function of the apartment-restaurant that was invented in Cuba in the mid-1950s: secret meeting places, events, dinners “.

Our picture illustration

©

What is the difference between an apartment restaurant and a traditional restaurant?

The regulation of residential restaurants was not sufficiently clear even before the coronavirus epidemic. For some time, the defense associations have wanted the regulation of the operation of apartment restaurants to be close to that of traditional restaurants. Lajos Böröcz, general secretary of the National Association of Hospitality and Tourism Employers, told hvg.hu that professional chefs can cook in apartment restaurants, according to law, for up to 14 pre-registered guests in their presence. “The law establishes that meals can only be marketed at the place of preparation, so once prepared, they are consumed fresh, there by the participants. It is forbidden to sell the rest the next day, so nothing can be done, “he said.

If someone wants to open a restaurant apartment, just notify the municipality. However, food marketing requires a permit from the National Office for Food Chain Safety. In the case of residential restaurants, there are some facilities, such as specialized storage or that do not require a separate bathroom for men and women, but everything from water quality control to the HACCP plan for the room and the control of rodents, it should be done in the same way in big restaurants.

Based on these, at the time of the closures and restrictions due to the crisis, there was no legal opportunity to operate them.

– Lajos Böröcz closed, who would be happy if in the future the operation of the apartment restaurants were subject to registration and they had to be taxed in the same way as traditional restaurants. In the field of food safety, they must meet at least the minimum requirements, that is, provide information on allergens in food.

(Featured image illustration)



The number of independent power editorial boards is steadily declining, and those that still exist are trying to stay afloat in a growing headwind. At HVG we persevere, we do not give in to pressure and we bring national and international news every day.

That is why we ask you, our readers, to stand by us, support us, join our membership and renew it!

And we promise to keep doing our best for you in all circumstances!