The first Kultúrhíd (“Culture Bridge”), what the organizers hope will grow into a series of cultural festivals celebrating European diversity, has set itself the ambitious goal of broadening cultural and gastronomic ties with Italy. The focal point of the festival, running from September 21-27, will be Károlyi Mihály utca, home of Ligurian restaurant Peccati di Gola, the distinguished and distinctly Hungarian Károlyi Étterem and the (Italian-owned) Ybl Palace Art Center, which houses the Pesti Lámpás international restaurant. All three venues will be heavily involved in the event, staging concerts, presentations by Italian and Hungarian chefs on traditions and new methods (i.e. food and wine tastings), discussion forums and photo and art exhibitions, all with an Italian-Hungarian twist. A complete program is available on the Kultúrhíd website, which is available in Hungarian and Italian only, and pretty confusing in both. And that’s only part of the confusion.
What’s really perplexing is why anyone would think that Italian culture – and especially Italian food culture – is somehow under-exposed in Budapest, where it sometimes seems like every other restaurant is Italian. Meanwhile, on more than one occasion we’ve already had lasagna that tasted suspiciously like rakott káposzta (layered cabbage), meaning that any new “bridge” between Italian and Hungarian food culture should probably be dynamited as soon as it’s put up. Then again, at least they’re not building another fusion-powered bridge to Asia.
