The highlight of the countryside at “Villa Kabala” interview with Péter Fölföldi

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Novitatis

Over the past few years, the restaurant, with its few tables and beautiful views, has clearly become a place of pilgrimage for gastronomy enthusiasts: they have clearly found something really special. We had a discussion with Péter Fölföldi, the owner of “Villa Kabala”, about the importance of a permanent team, the soul of the ingredients and what fine bistro is.

The “Villa Kabala” has managed to create a combination that makes gastronomy lovers from Pest or anywhere in the country willing to come here for just one dinner, which is a great success in the countryside.

If you offer a great combination: good food, good service and a good experience, then you have the key to success. The goal is consistency, and the team is the key. Personal presence is highly important: it is true for us and the permanent team, it is important for the guests to see the same faces. We have very little turnover: we invest a lot of energy in the team, both from a material and a psychological perspective. We have to take care of everyone’s soul in order to provide smooth work for 11-12 people. The kitchen and the place have not changed for more than 2 and a half years.

Fine dining has long been the privilege of a select few, and yet you have somehow managed to dress it up in a way that makes it more widely accessible without compromising on quality.

Fine dining is in a very high category, we are trying to offer something more accessible: you do not have to eat 14 courses in 3 hours. During dinner you can only have a menu and a large tasting menu consists of 6 courses. What we would like to represent here in Szigliget is an ingredient-centric fine bistro cuisine. The other very important factor is the continuous renewal. We don't have a list of dishes: we rewrite the board and the evening menu every day. This is very necessary, because we have a lot of returning guests, for whom it is important that we always have something new to show.

The conscious use of local ingredients is clearly noticeable in your offer. When did you decide to put so much emphasis on this?

Being close to nature is particularly important for me and for Petra (Petra Terjék is Péter’s partner, with whom they run the “Villa Kabala” - ed.). When it comes to sourcing ingredients, from the very beginning, we try to do what we can “in-house”: 80-90% of the drinks are made by my father. The microgreens are also provided “in-house”, for example one of our waiters treat them on his days off. It was a big challenge for us with chef András Szabó, but now we have producers with whom we share the same approach: we do not only work closely together, but we have also developed a friendly relationship. There is a family who grows the vegetables for us, and every week they consult with András about what is ripening and what can we use in the kitchen. Working closely with the producers is the heart of raw material sourcing.

In recent years there has been a conscious move away from Budapest in the world of gastronomy. What do you think is the reason for that?

When I left Budapest, a lot of good workers left for the countryside, because the catering industry in the capital city was based on tourists. This is a good model from an economic perspective, but it tears you up if you meet different people every day, and there is no room for the locals in the restaurants. It would not satisfy a true-hearted caterer. I believe that my move from Budapest came at the right time, and here at “Villa Kabala” we have a lot of plans and great enthusiasm for the future, both as a hotel and a restaurant.