Hét Kakas farm table by Kristinus, South Balaton

Maybe your grandparents are long gone, but you cherish the memory of sitting at the table, together, a big family, then the smell of the meat soup, the flavours of the sun-ripened cucumber, the sweet cherry pie that you could not stop eating. Well, you can have that experience – seasoned with natural wines by Kristinus. Hét Kakas (Seven Roosters) is a “farm table”, not a “real restaurant”. You can sit at the table for 12, under the sky and the walnut tree, every Saturday evening, from April to October. Plus, some extra, “pop up” events are held, like Sunday Lunch next Sunday (19 July).

Hét Kakas farm table

– Traditional recipes, locally grown vegetables and fruits, meat of locally bred animals
– Natural, biodynamic wines made by Kristinus
– Location: Kéthely (South Balaton), Kéthelyihegy dűlő 2249/4 (about 1 hour and 45 minutes from Budapest by car)
– Contact: +36 30 722 4993 (the guys speak English, don’t worry)
– Since only 12 people can participate in a Saturday dinner, a bit more (around 20) at the Sunday Lunch next week, it is crucial to make your reservation as soon as possible.

https://reservours.com/hetkakas/tablereservation

Sunday Lunch on 19 July

Dishes:
– meat soup made of rooster or cherry soup (2000 HUF)
– ‘csirkepaprikás’ (chicken paprika) with ‘nokedli’ (dumplings) and ‘csalamádé’ (mixed pickles) (3000 HUF)
– fresh summer ‘lecsó’ (something like ratatouille) with sour dough bread (2000 HUF)
– plum pie (1000 HUF)

As we keep saying, reservation is needed, if you want to secure your spot at the table with white table cloth…

Kristinus – another step closer to nature

About 15 years ago Kristinus was a large winery with mediocre wines, sponsoring huge pop festivals, owning a fancy building with fancy hotel rooms to stay. Then the owner, Dr. Wolfgang Kristinus took a step back, Florian Zaruba became the general manager, and he started the conversion to biodynamic farming. Kristinus became the largest biodynamic winery in Hungary. Clearly, maintaining the huge size of production and paying attention to quality was more than a challenge. Something had to be done, and after some negotiations with the owner, Florian Zaruba and the viticulturist, László Dóber became the new owners, keeping the brand and the land with their beloved cows, but with less production and with more focus on quality. Part of the new era is to run Hét Kakas farm table with local ingredients and natural wines made by Kristinus.
The new chapter has started: visitors are welcome at a new location to taste and visit the cellar! See more information on Kristinus Facebook and Instagram.

Why Seven Roosters?

László Dóber is not only the viticulturist of Kristinus estate, but also the chef of Hét Kakas (Seven Roosters). As he commented, “We are seven siblings, so my mother would say several times at every Sunday table that we were like seven roosters.” 

László Dóber about the origin of Hét Kakas

“I have always been attracted to the Hungarian peasant world and its essence, Hungarian cuisine. Having visited many starred restaurants around the world, the thought always lingered in my mind that one day I would like to have a small restaurant where not only time travel but also forgotten old taste experiences would await every visitor.

There was no question about the location, the enclosed garden landscape of the Kéthely vineyard hill, the thatched adobe houses, the existing relationship with local producers and the gastronomic legacy that developed in the western tip of Lake Balaton (Vas, Zala, Somogy counties), which provides a rich collection for the reconstruction of Hungarian peasant cuisine.

For months, I have been collecting the most defining recipes, hiding in my grandmothers’ recipe books yellowed with grease, ethnographers’ collections and archival documents. A hard nut to crack.

My goal is to re-cook recipes from the early 20th century on a “sparhelt” (in the photo above), in stove oven, in ceramic cooking pot, and iron surface, bringing back the old smoky flavours. All menus are made with farm-raised ingredients, no cooking oil, no sous vide, but I can guarantee the best quality poultry and vegetables on the table.”

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