European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 1, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Restaurant being restored to former glory by Celestine Bohlen the new York times George Lang the hungarian born new York restaurateur thinks of life in graphic terms. Some people he says have a life that goes up and Down. With the Purchase of Gundel a a revered relic of. Quot culinary Belle Poque in Budapest Hungary his will have come full Circle. Quot forgive me for such a horrifying cliche Quot Lang said one recent Balmy evening As he sat out in the Terrace behind the palatial restaurant Quot but the whole Story is like a fairy tale Complete with evil spirits and a magic  a in 1936, when Lang was 15, he and his father went to Budapest from the provincial town of Szekes Fehervary and stopped for a meal at Gundel s. It was Lang s first time in a fashionable restaurant and his first taste of Gundel s famous Pala Sinta pancakes stuffed with crushed walnuts and topped with hot chocolate and rum. More than half a Century later the memory of the rum was so vivid that Lang paused while telling his Story a but Only for a moment. The Man who came to the United states in 1946 As a violinist worked in a Kitchen and went on to become a renowned restaurant designer a caterer and the owner of cafe Des Artistes in Manhattan is now consumed by a new dream to recapture the spirit of the old Gundel a once a Centrepiece of Austro hungarian cuisine. Karoly Gundel son of a Budapest Hotelier opened Gundel s in 1910. Gundel turned the restaurant on the Edge of City Park next to the zoo into an elaborate elegant gathering spot a big enough for banquets balls and outdoor operas but manageable enough to Sej Rye some of the Best food East of Vienna. When the communists came to Power after world War ii Gundel s became the property of the state and was incorporated into the Hunga hotel Chain a Fate that eventually led to the virtual collapse of its old reputation now on the eve of its transformation Back into a privately owned restaurant Gundel s is known As a tourist and catering restaurant and not a very Good one. While conducting a recent tour of the restaurant Lang kept a running list of the damage done by 40 years of communist management. Quot this of course has to be completely redone rethought Quot he said of the cheap Wood panelling and plastic fixtures in the Bago Lyvar an Extension built to resemble an old fashioned transylvanian Lodge. Quot of course i will tear Down All this garbage Quot he said pointing to a Flimsy second floor addition done in a style he called  though connected to the main restaurant the Bago Lyvar is around the Corner from it and in the Street Corner Between the two stands a two Story building with Brown tinted windows. It was built in 1975 to House offices and the test Kitchen for the Hunga hotel Chain. Lang Calls it a knife in his heart and is pondering ways to disguise or possibly remove it. He prefers to talk about his ideas a Crystal Pavilion in the Back of the Garden a transylvanian menu for the Bago Lyvar an orchestra an English club style Casino on the upper floor a wine tasting room in the cellar a shop where Gundel products a Goose livers wines and paprika a will be sold. Quot i can t say i can take Gundel s Back to its old glory Quot Lang said. Quot but what i have to try to do is to do what Karoly Gundel would do if he were alive  How Lang came to take Possession of Cundella is a Story that will no doubt become part of the restaurant s legend. It began 14 months ago when Lang and Ronald Lauder the cosmetics Empire heir who has taken a keen interest in Eastern Europe formed lamp a partners to bid for a half share in the restaurant. The other half was to imm amp Mem _. A a. A a a sets Peter Jaeger the parliament and other Budapest landmarks will soon be refined by Gundel s restaurant a once a gathering place for Hungary s intelligentsia. The restaurant Gundel creates More and better publicity for Budapest than a shipload of tourist brochures.1 the new York times in t939 belong to the government. Although Hungary like the rest of Eastern Europe is trying to privatize its Economy with help from foreign investors there Are limits to what the state is willing to sell outright. Initially one limit was Gundel a a restaurant so closely linked to Budapest s glory years that As Lang put it it had acquired status As a National treasure ranking Only behind the Crown of St. Stephen. The first proposal by the state property Agency which is charged with the privatization of the hungarian Economy called for an $8 million investment to pay for the restaurant s restoration a sum that the american investors first thought would be split with the state. It turned out they were wrong the entire $8 million was to come from the investors with the state s share delivered in the form of the property itself. Lang hesitantly agreed and the final Deal was All but sealed one Day last february when Lang was abruptly summoned to the Telephone. Quot suddenly they were offering 100 percent ownership Quot he said. Quot i was absolutely  Lang who had negotiated hard and unsuccessfully for at least 51 percent immediately jumped at the offer. By the next morning he had handed Over a revised proposal which was promptly approved by the state property Agency. Technically Gundel s was open to other bids during the entire negotiations. But Lang said no other offers came in apparently because word of his involvement had spread. Toward the end of the negotiations Lang threw a party at Gundel s for Budapest s intelligentsia a a group he dubbed the Gundel regulars. The guests of Honor included hungarian president Arpad Goncz Chicago symphony conductor sir Georg Solti who had just made a triumphant return to his Homeland and novelist George Konrad. Dessert that night was a White and Black chocolate crossword Puzzle with the words Quot Gundel regulars Quot in separate letters which the guest could rearrange in Sticky wordplay. The Centrepieces were baskets of dough filled with grapes. The menu included Goose liver in port wine aspic and miniature Salmon in puff pastry. Budapest was impressed. But for Lang the evening was a Quot trial marriage Quot with the restaurant s 220 employees. If perchance he hired too Many he said they would All be Able to find jobs in his spreading hungarian Empire a from his 58-Acrevineyard in the Tokay win growing Region to the Gundel s Delicatessen shop he Hopes to open on Budapest s glamorous Vaci Street. A a by the time the renovated Gundel s opens for business next year Lang said he Hopes to be Able to catch part of the City s growing tourist Trade which is already stretching the hotels and restaurants to their limits. A he is also pinning Hopes on expo 95, the world s fair that is to be held jointly in Budapest and Vienna. Lang has had experience at world fairs doing catering for the 1964 new York world s fair. So too did Karoly Gundel jr., son of the founder who ran the hungarian Pavilion at the 1939 new York world s fair when the new York times declared Quot the restaurant Gundel creates More and better publicity for Budapest than a shipload of tourist  the idea of Gundel s being the showcase for another world s fair fits in nicely with Lang s schemes. Quot again Quot he said Quot the Circle