Hubert, the soul of KIOSK

KIOSK Budapest is right where life started in Pest. The place is history itself, which has always been Budapest's trump card: a heritage we carry with us to the present day. It was here that the Romans passed through, the centre and marketplace of Pest from the Middle Ages, the baths in Turkish times (the church was a mosque), and the city's first secondary school at the dawn of the Enlightenment. Known as the Teaching Order, the Piarists were invited by the citizens of Pest themselves, who believed that without education their city would be less than it was worth. Our restaurant moved into the former gymnasium of the still-operating grammar school, a vast, imposing space envisioned from birth by Hubert Hlatky-Schlichter, the philanthropic founder of KIOSK, as a community-building, metropolitan meeting place.

Let's dwell on the spirit of the place for a moment: the square next to the City Hall that once stood here continued to be one of the most important meeting places, meaning that fairs were usually held here until a young poet once read out the 12 points he had formulated with his ardent peers. The morning of 15 March 1848 was that day, the rest is history. Today, KIOSK, as the eponymous Turkish word means, is a place where you can get it all. It's a thousand faces: by day you'll find one of the city's best-selling lunch menus, by night it's a popular dinner spot with a sophisticated bar and pastry shop, and at weekends it's a cool hangout. Its unique atmosphere makes you want to come back.