Stand

Here are three unique or unconventional things about the Michelin-starred restaurant Stand in Budapest:

1. Central Glass-Walled Kitchen as a Focal Point
Stand features a striking modern design element where the kitchen is enclosed in glass at the center of the restaurant, allowing diners to watch the chefs work diligently through a large window. This setup creates a sense of transparency and engagement between the kitchen and the dining room, which sits on either side of this glass enclosure, contributing to a lively, chatty atmosphere.

2. Reinvention of Hungarian Cuisine with Precision and Modern Techniques
The chefs, Tamás Széll and Szabina Szullo, focus on showcasing Hungarian ingredients and traditional dishes but reinvent them using contemporary gastronomy methods. Their approach balances reverence for Hungarian culinary heritage with modern expectations, exemplified by dishes like sterlet fillet with clam sauce and charcoal-grilled saddle of venison with cherry and blackcurrant jam. Tamás Széll's precision, honed by his success in the prestigious Bocuse d'Or competition, is a hallmark of the kitchen's style.

3. Dual Concept with Stand25 Bistro Offering Hungarian Comfort Food
Beyond the fine dining experience at Stand, the team also runs Stand25, a casual bistro located in Budapest’s Market Hall. Stand25 serves Hungarian comfort food with dishes like layered potatoes, chicken or rooster stew with entrails, and cheese dumplings, emphasizing authentic, hearty flavors. This dual concept allows the chefs to cater to different dining experiences while maintaining a strong connection to Hungarian culinary traditions.

The most honored or signature ingredients at Stand, Budapest, a two Michelin-starred restaurant, include:

• Sterlet (a type of sturgeon): Used as a fillet, it is lightly steamed and rolled, often filled with langoustine mousse. This ingredient highlights the restaurant's focus on refined Hungarian fish preparations and delicate textures.

• Langoustine: Incorporated as a mousse inside the sterlet fillet, langoustine adds a luxurious seafood flavor and creamy texture, complementing the sterlet perfectly.

• Clam sauce: Praised for its pronounced shellfish flavor, this sauce enhances the seafood elements of the signature sterlet and langoustine dish, showcasing the kitchen's skill in balancing intense yet refined flavors.

• Caviar: Used as a garnish in the sterlet dish, caviar adds a touch of opulence and bursts of briny flavor, elevating the dish's luxury and complexity.

• Cucumber salad and tart apple: These provide a fresh, crisp, and slightly tart contrast to the rich seafood components, balancing the dish harmoniously.

Additionally, for vegetables, the restaurant features:

• New potatoes (confit): Elevated with great care, served with potato butter sauce and mushroom truffle or mushroom caviar sauce, this ingredient exemplifies Stand's ability to transform humble local produce into sophisticated dishes.

These ingredients together define Stand's cuisine philosophy: combining rare and local Hungarian ingredients with timeless techniques and modern innovation to create balanced, elegant dishes. The sterlet-langoustine dish with clam sauce and caviar is particularly emblematic of their culinary identity.