How does a roadside Balaton csárda become a fine dining restaurant? And how does French cuisine mesh with Göcsej style mushroom soup? We paid Hévíz’s Hűvösvölgyi Csárda a visit to sample the cooking of chef János Pál.
The image of the Hűvösvölgyi Csárda has changed several times since the eatery’s opening. It used to be a tavern, then it was turned into a traditional csárda, and now it has been transformed once again, with the help of chef János Pál, into a fine dining restaurant.
The à la carte menu is based on traditional dishes from Zala County prepared in accordance with the latest methods of French cuisine. For example, trout comes from the fish hatchery in Tapolca, but gets a French braising treatment.
You might ask: what is a fine dining restaurant doing by a ring road? Chef János Pál learnt it the hard way how much lower demand is for gastronomic specialties in small countryside towns and villages. “I had run my own bistro in Zalaegerszeg for four years before I came here as a chef. Even though word of our dishes got around and we were featured in all the gastronomy journals, Zalaegerszeg was not ready for a higher quality bistro operating with a higher price range, so we were in the red all the time."
Despite these obstacles he didn’t give up his plan to make premium gastronomic ventures lucrative outside the capital. The owners of the Hűvösvölgyi Csárda turned out to be partners “who are willing to go against the current” and take a risk for the sake of change.
On the side, chef János Pál acts as advisor to several wineries in the area. He is regularly consulted by the Szászi Winery to help devise the degustation menu for their thematic wine dinners. He is an internationally certified wine consultant and wine judge, and his love for wine shows in his cooking as well: “I find the harmony of the wines and the flavours of food very important, this is something I always keep in mind when I cook”.
The herbs are grown in the restaurant’s own garden, the ingredients are supplied by local farmers, and the quality is checked by the chef himself every day. “You can only achieve exciting flavours if you use good ingredients. Whenever I receive subpar supplies, I send them back immediately.”
The young chef regularly attends national and international cooking competitions to test and hone his skills. The popularity of the seasonal menu selection as well as the permanently available smoked trout salad, Göcsej style mushroom soup and Balaton pike-perch with stuffed kohlrabi is well-deserved.
