Celebrity Chef Showdown: Battleground Budapest

They trade barbs in the media, snipe at each other’s styles and TV shows, and genuinely seem to dislike one another. Is Budapest about to become the next battleground in the war between Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsey, two reigning titans of the culinary world?

That the local foodie scene here is booming, with Hungarian chefs pulling Michelin stars down from the skies and bringing home prizes in international competitions, is well covered, but it is less known that international brand-name celebrity chefs are staking out territory in our city. It started with the opening of Nobu, the Budapest outlet of the famous Japanese/American sushi house created by Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa. Then Jamie Oliver arrived with Jamie’s Italian opening last year in the Castle District. This wouldn’t have gone un-noticed by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey, whose food empire includes restaurants all around the globe and multiple kitchen-centric reality TV shows. The rivalry between Oliver and Ramsey is long and bitter. Ramsey with his testosterone infused, alpha-male approach to running a kitchen is naturally at odds with Oliver’s more sensitive, humble personality. Ramsey is Vegas, Oliver is an organic garden.

via Wikipedia

To much fanfare, Oliver, with a local investment group, opened Jamie’s Italian, beating the ever-expanding Ramsay to the punch in getting a share of the Budapest pie. Though popular, it hasn’t exactly lit the culinary scene on fire here to the degree that it would discourage the competition. But in truth, Ramsay has been circling around Hungary for some time, initially as a site for a culinary school and label of Tokaj wine. Though that has yet to come to fruition, he was recently slated to return to the city to make an appearance at a new DIY restaurant, the ultra-hip Makery, offering a tweet suggesting as such. While we have no evidence he kept that appointment, we believe it is only a matter of time before his empire extends to Budapest. Will he opt for the fast-moving Pest or more staid Buda? Only time will tell, but we have our ears to the ground and nose to the wind here. In this celebrity chef showdown, we can only benefit.

Flatpack Films is based in Budapest, Hungary. We are a film company that offers an inspiring and professional work atmosphere for our local and international clients. Since our inception, our focus has been providing the best of the best in terms of local production resources, locations, cast, and technical teams to ensure that whatever the production we facilitate, we do to highest standard possible.