Costes Downtown celebrates 10 years in Budapest by blending fine dining with contemporary art

Costes Downtown is marking its 10th anniversary in a bold new way: the central Budapest restaurant is fusing its signature laid-back fine dining experience with contemporary art, not only adorning the walls, but coming to life on the plates crafted by chef Barnabás Hack. Diners are invited to both taste and admire the vibrant, graffiti-style urban landscapes of artist Zsombor Barakonyi, as the restaurant transforms into an Urban Jungle oasis offering a fresh perspective on gastronomy.

It has been ten years since Costes Downtown opened its doors in the heart of the city. To celebrate the milestone, the restaurant is not only refreshing its culinary offerings but also embarking on an exciting new venture: making contemporary art quite literally edible.

The new concept reflects the energy of the city, the closeness to nature, the evolving role of fine dining, and explores how gastronomy executed at an artistic level can merge meaningfully with visual art. The space features contemporary Hungarian artworks—primarily the paintings of Zsombor Barakonyi—which appear not just on the walls but also inspire the dishes of chef Barnabás Hack.

Károly Gerendai: “Art isn’t just décor—It’s the concept”

“When we opened Costes Downtown in June 2015, our vision was to create a fine dining experience within a more relaxed atmosphere than was typical at the time, without compromising on quality. Fortunately, the reception was overwhelmingly positive, and professional success followed quickly—within a year, we earned a Michelin star and have remained one of the city’s top ten restaurants ever since. Miguel Vieira led our original opening team. The level of culinary craftsmanship we’ve cultivated over the years is reflected in the outstanding chefs who’ve come through our kitchen: Tiago Sabarigo, Kornél Kaszás, and István Szántó have gone on to win accolades of their own. So, it was a serious setback three years ago when the Michelin star was revoked following a change in head chef. That was a turning point for us: do we stay the course? We decided to continue pursuing fine dining but with a redefined framework. Rather than obsess over regaining the star, we shifted our focus to enhancing the guest experience. Dining preferences have changed; patrons today crave spontaneous, engaging experiences—not multi-hour tasting menus. We responded with a new menu structure and adjusted our pricing accordingly, aiming to reach a broader audience. While many fine dining spots raised prices, we lowered ours. Thankfully, our efforts have paid off, and by this spring we had recovered the peak-level traffic we lost when the star was rescinded.” — said Károly Gerendai, founder of the Costes Group.

Gerendai also explained how the new concept came to life: “At the beginning of the year, as we reflected on Costes Downtown’s identity, chef Barnabás Hack proposed the idea of an Urban Jungle. Plants have always been key to the restaurant’s aesthetic, but Barni also wanted to reflect the essence of the city. He asked if I had any artwork that could bring that urban vibe into the dining space. Since my collection didn’t quite fit that theme, I immediately suggested we reach out to Zsombor Barakonyi—I felt his style matched the concept perfectly. Barni began interpreting the paintings, thinking through how to translate them to the plate. Today, it’s common for top-tier restaurants to serve dishes that look like works of art, and many already feature high-quality art on the walls. What’s new here is that Barni went further—he used the paintings as direct inspiration for the dishes themselves. This made visual storytelling a core theme reflected in both the menu and the ambiance.”