One of Budapest’s oldest coffee houses could reopen soon

After eighteen months of hiatus, one of Budapest’s oldest cafés will reopen for visitors this December.

This is not the first time the Centrál Coffee House has been closed. It first opened in 1887, and, according to their website, it “was the centre of various Hungarian literature and scientific streams throughout the 19th and 20th century”.

After World War II, the place had to be rebuilt, and it became a canteen for university students. The location reopened in the 2000s as a coffee house to regain its old glory.

If you visit their website, there is a message from March 2020, which says that due to Covid and its consequences, they have decided that the coffee house would be closed for an indefinite period.

Luckily, according to Világgazdaság, this will change soon. Eventrend Group has taken over the historic coffee house from Hasan Özyer – who has close ties to Erdoğan – through a contract. According to Eventrend Group, the lease contract will take effect this December, a little over 18 months after the decision to close the café.

Eventrend Group says that they would like to make Budapest the capital of coffee houses.

Világgazdaság says that Eventrend Group owns several other renowned places, such as the famous Gundel restaurant, the New York Café, the Városliget Café, the Spoon the Boat floating event centre on the Danube, and the catering services for Groupama Arena and Müpa, among other things. The group is present in the Hungarian and Czech hospitality sectors as well.

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Before Eventrend was able to obtain the contract for Budapest’s oldest coffee houses, there was a one-year series of negotiations, and the contract was ceremoniously signed by the parties in the Matild Palace, a luxury hotel in Budapest, Mfor says.

Emre Pasli, the Turkish businessman leading the negotiations, said the following:

“We are giving Centál Coffee House to a team with professional knowledge and 30 years of experience not only in gastronomy but also in operating historic coffee houses.”

“The 132-year-old Centrál Coffee House wishes to recreate the atmosphere of an era which everyone refers to as the golden age of Hungarian gastronomy. The traditions of these years are immortal and live on in the taste and flavour of our dishes up to this day,” their website says.

Hopefully, the new management will succeed, and one of the oldest coffee houses in Budapest will operate for at least another century.

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Source: vilaggazdasag.hu, mfor.hu