There are many gastronomy business in Hungary with a unique story. The people behind them are many times perceived as “weirdos”, but in reality they “only’ do what they do passionately and they are not afraid from the irregular and the unknown. The sommelier who left the Michelin star restaurant in the Faroe Islands and the girl from Oradea who traded the boring joggers for glittering rubber boots and colorful traditional garments. You can meet them and similar exciting characters in this article, and we’ll even reveal what the terms “detasseling”, “suckering” and “roguing” mean. The joint campaign of Piqniq Budapest and Mastercard.
Fruzsina Valentinyi
“I have been working on the rice fields since I was fifteen.”
Fruzsi already detasseled and suckered corn, and rouged wheat and rice in the as part of youth work while she was a student. Perhaps many girls of her age would perceive this kind of work as a burden, but she was raised in this milieu, she never revolted against it and she established her adult life in a manner to allow her to work in the family business. She applied to the department of agricultural engineering, later on obtained a degree in food engineering, and returned to the rice fields to her father after finishing university. Today, they have a clear division of tasks: her father takes care of larger, strategic projects, while Fruzsi carries out operative work and handles orders.
Dávid Goldmann
Anna Juhász Szép and Dávid Goldmann, the founders of Remény Farm had no ties to agriculture previously. Dávid worked as an IT expert, while Anna was a fashion designer in Oradea. They weren’t driven by family patterns, they chose farming and the way of life going hand in hand with it based on their own decision. Initially the couple started with a small self-sustaining farm in Somogy county, where they only produced for themselves and their families. In three and a half years, however, they realized that self-sustaining is not simple and not sustainable. They also realized that they wanted to share the ingredients produced by them with a broader audience, and that they also wanted to contribute to improving the Earth’s ecosystem.
They came across Allan Savory’s climate farm concept in 2018, which gave them a new impetus. They moved beyond the romantic farm life idea, and started to redesign their farm on scientific basis.
“We want to take down the pessimist view that human presence in the environment is bad by all means.”
Anna Juhász Szép
Anna worked in fashion in Oradea, and due to her folk dancing past she liked to wear ornamented skirts. Initially on the farm she only wore grey joggers, owing to which she didn’t feel like herself, and so she took out her old clothes again. She realized that in addition to aesthetics, folk costume also has useful functions, which can be utilized greatly also outside of the farm. She is happy in her colorful clothes and glittering rubber boots.
She also spreads “farm fashion” on Instagram, and owing to her presence, the Remény Farm and thus the sustainable way of life represented by them reaches many people. It is very important for the duo to spread the latter widely, because this is how they can also strengthen the impacts of their own activity.
Mária Ogl
Marcsi Ogl studied law and also worked on this field, and then was beguiled by a completely different world: she fell in love with wines and hospitality. So much so that not long after she found herself in the two Michelin star restaurant KOKS on the Faroe Islands as a sommelier. She returned at the call of SALT last year, and has been a core member of the team ever since.
Zsófia Reiner
Zsófi started out as a hostess at the launch of SALT, and in only a year she became a waitress and is also in charge of juices. She creates new flavors out of fresh ingredients with an immense passion, always according to the given season. The greatness of the restaurant’s alcohol-free drinks selection is partly thanks to her.
“The greatest motivation in my job is perhaps how I hear guests talk about SALT’s fantastic juice combinations.”
Photo | Dávid Horpáczi
Video | Gergő Sepsi
HIGHLIGHTS | Colorful cities
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