The Art of Baking - Artizán Pékség
On the first real cold day of winter, earlier this week, Urban Umami headed over to the third district in Budapest to talk to Gergő Fekete, the master baker, and brains behind our favourite bakery in Budapest, Artizán Pékség, known as much for its coffee as its bread and patisserie selection (we still cannot decide which to choose as our number one!).
“Not having met Gergő before, and having read the articles in Forbes and Dining Guide, I was curious as to who exactly was this baker, and what made him tick?”
Outside, on the tables were a couple of young ladies, wrapped up for the cold, enjoying their steaming coffees and pastries, smiles and chatter under the warm glow of the lights from inside. We arrived early, with time to set up before Gergő arrived, and saw a steady flow of customers, some popping in for a quick, post-lunch, espresso and a pastry (you have to try the cardamom and forest fruit Danishes – our personal favourite), some in for their daily fix of aromatic sourdough bread.
Not having met Gergő before, and having read the articles in Forbes and Dining Guide, I was curious as to who exactly was this baker, and what made him tick, what was his journey, and where would he be going from here?
A young man came in, and I recognised him, Fekete Gergő, not at all what I envisaged a baker looking like (think Disney cartoons, large, moustached and smelling of yeast), more a smart and smiley IT professional with his MacBook and well-worn, tan leather rucksack. The only thing that gave him away was a pristine baker’s apron, which he swiftly put on and went around the back to the dough preparation area and started cleaning surfaces – attention to detail – more on this later.
Bread Calling
Gergő’s journey to back to Budapest, his hometown, was circuitous… since childhood he has been following his dream: early memories were of making omelettes for his parents, all manner of fillings and toppings, experimentation starting at the tender age of 8.
And thus, the die was cast: catering and hospitality was his metier of choice. After Catering school in Budapest, it was time for adventure and a decision was made to see Scotland, Edinburgh in particular – for a month or so initially. His first job was on the frying station in an Edinburgh restaurant... Scots love a good fry up as we all know!
The one month was extended and after a year, he was leading the kitchen. Next up were stints at James Thompson’s restaurants, Thompson was one of the pioneers of fine dining and catering in Scotland and a hotelier and restaurateur, whose The Witchery opened in Edinburgh Castle in 1979.
All the while, his hobby, perhaps even his calling, was bread. He bought Chad Robertson’s Tartine Bread, also known as the sourdough bible, and in his spare time, weekends, holidays, he devoted to bread. His love for Scotland lasted 12 years (could have done one more and made it a baker’s dozen?), during which time he travelled extensively across Europe: Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium and more. All the time experimenting, picking up ideas and recipes.
While in Scotland he attended Edinburgh Napier University, while working for John Wood, one of the leading Scottish Master Bakers and as Gergő says, his main influence.
Catering university, a number of bakery and hospitality exams later he decided to take a week’s holiday and open a bakery back home in Budapest, his Scottish sojourn over, for the time being. [Editor’s note to self: when Gergő says he is taking a week/month off to do something, you can bet this is going to take longer!).
The Journey to Artizán, Budapest
Artizán opened on Hold utca, opposite the National Bank of Hungary, in the centre of the city, in 2015 and quickly became a firm favourite of not only locals. It all seems seamless and easy now, but as they say, “many a slip, between cup and lip.”
It took 6 months for him to find the right place: rents were rising post the 2008 economic crisis, even in Budapest, and the struggle to find the right location was real and competition for prime real estate fierce.
Pitted against Starbucks and two other bidders, it was Gergő’s attention to detail (as mentioned earlier) that prevailed. The landlord saw a 50 page business plan, with photos of his bread, pastries, simple breakfast items and ideas and suddenly, Starbucks with its factory made cheese cakes just didn’t cut it.
And thus, Artizán Pékség was born. And the accolades rolled in, every year an award, mention (best of Budapest, Top 25 Bakeries, Best Sourdough and many more).
Initially, as business grew and their kitchen became too small to cater to burgeoning demand, he was faced with two choices: firstly, he wanted to cut the night shift, a baker’s lot in life as everyone wants fresh bread first ting in the morning, and secondly, how was he going to manage demand in such a small space?
Left with no choice, a second space became more necessary, where his co-workers could have the area to prep and work (and luckily, this extra space meant that night shifts could also be cut out – as per the original plan).
This was alongside his growing staff and training schedule, preparation and baking, and then the business. The goal was to have a Western European quality and style bakery, with products and inspiration picked up from his travels: Cardamom buns (Danishes) from Scandinavia, Cocoa “snails” (Kakaos Csiga), melt in your moth butter croissants (the French and Benelux staple), Arany Galushka, Potato bread – using his artisanal raw materials which he sourced from a local mill, which works with traditional, old-style flour. He also has his own grade of flour which from wheat from the Bükk Mountain range foothills.
The business end of things
I am amazed that Gergő has 45 staff, manages three outlets, Hold utca, Becsi ut, and the first Porridge Bar in Hungary (that Scottish influence will always be there – I am still waiting patiently for him to invent the perfect Mars bar pastry!).
A day in the life of a baker and business owner starts with HR and management, with Easter and Christmas being the times when he helps out in the kitchens due to demand and the need for his regulars to see he is there, say hello, offer them something to drink or a small Christmas gift – the personal touch with his customers was there throughout our interview: some customers came in to give him small Christmas presents and he always remembered his regulars and each one received something they liked.
What has he found difficult these years? Staff retention and management of the business, the bane of any creative person. In his own words, when he started out he “underestimated the business of business.” Hiring the right staff, training them and ensuring a low staff turnover is the key to business… and managing the human resources element the most time consuming – during our interview, he took 15 minutes to have a “fireside chat” with a new colleague offering words of encouragement, checking up on their progress, while also taking time to offer a few tips.
Going forward, his plan is to relax a little more, focus on pursuing quality and creating more products which appeal to his target market.
We are eagerly looking forward to his new creations. In the meantime, do go and check out the bakeries and try some porridge – we guarantee you won’t be disappointed!
Recipe for Artizán Galette
Artizán’s Galettes are mouthwateringly delicious and simple at the same time. They can be frozen beforehand, and used whenever you want - at this time of year they’re a favourite party snack in our opinion. The recipe contains Spelt flour, an older type of wheat, also called Dinkel wheat.
Here they made four types of Galette for us:
White sauce (béchamel), good quality ham and, preferably, a mature cheddar.
Green Pesto, sweet cocktail tomatoes, and buffalo mozzarella, for the vegetarians.
Quince jam, good mature goat’s cheese, and walnuts - an especially umami-filled combination.
Créme Anglais, a dash of lemon and sugar to caramelize and any forest fruit/berry of your choice, for the sweet tooth in all of us.
Give them a go!
Ingredients
500g White Spelt flour
200g Plain White Flour
30g Salt
240g Kefír
15g Water
450g Butter
Preparation
Mix the ingredients in a large bowl until you have a good dough. Then make small balls and roll them out to nice round, thin shapes as in our photos above and once this is done, you can freeze them on trays, ready to be used whenever you want.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 C fan and bake these for approximately 7 minutes, keeping an eye on them to see if they’re ready.
Artizán locations
Hold utca 3.
1054 Budapest
Bécsi út 314.
1037 Budapest
https://artizan.hu/
