Our menu evokes places, periods and memories we hold dear. Our Hortobágy-style pancake, buffalo goulash soup and Megyaszó mangalica chop are a nod to our native Hungarian cuisine, side by side other specialties such as chef favorite Beef Wellington, roasted gnocchi and shepherd’s pie. Instead of serving up whatever the latest gastro trends tell us to, Up & Down takes pride in creating seasonal fare that features the freshest ingredients available. Come autumn, our dishes are rich with sunchoke, Spanish salsify, savoy cabbage, hip and chestnut, while warmer months put us in the mood for green peas, rhubarb, tomatoes, asparagus and ramsons.

Attila – chef

I like classic flavors. I’ve never been one to follow trends. I create menus to match seasons and audiences, and my own taste.

I started my culinary career in Debrecen, then ventured out to Spain and the United Kingdom. In London, I actually had the chance to work in Gordon Ramsay’s Michelin-starred restaurant for years. I learned an awful lot there. Once I’d got back home, I fell in love with the world of fine dining once and for all. I served as a sous-chef under the direction of Miguel Rocha Vieira at Costes, followed by being a chef at Bori Mami and Lulu.

There are dishes that I keep on the menu wherever I go but I never make them quite the same way. I jazz up the recipe or the presentation. My all-time favorites are Foie Gras Parfait and Beef Wellington, along with creamy pinched noodles from Hungarian specialties. When it comes to ingredients, I tend to use sunchoke, Spanish salsify, savoy cabbage, hip and chestnut a lot in the winter months. Spring and summer are all about green peas, rhubarb, tomatoes, asparagus and ramsons for me.

If I had to say one thing why you can’t miss Up & Down, it’d be the quail. And the view isn’t all that bad either.

Dono – Restaurant manager

I joined Up & Down back in 2015 when it first opened. Today I work as the restaurant’s manager, overseeing, developing and strengthening the team.

Up & Down is not your everyday place. But what makes it really special is the team behind it. Putting together a good team is not as easy as it sounds, and it’s even harder to keep it together. Our waiters are hard-working and attentive, and our bartenders are simply incredible: they only work with cocktail recipes they have come up with themselves. I don’t just manage people but help out wherever it’s needed: I serve food or work behind the bar. I believe that being a leader is way more than delegating tasks. For me, it’s just as important to do my part, together with the others.

I love what I do. No two days are ever the same: I always meet new people and come across new challenges. The hardest of them all is remembering every guest’s every request, and making them happen. But that’s what our job is all about. What makes me the proudest? Customers’ feedback, for sure. As soon as they set foot in our restaurant, we do our best to ensure that they can wind down and truly enjoy themselves. As if they’d come to visit an old friend. But this can only work if you put your heart and soul in it.