I studied catering in high school, even though I had dreamt of becoming a photographer since visual arts have always been important to me. This might explain why, while I prepare a dish, I always think in terms of colours and vision. I aspire to show the beauty of food to my guests.
I studied cooking watching my mother and I still often get inspired by family recipes.
At the beginning of my career, I worked as a simple chef, but in the autumn of 2006, I was hired by the Alabardos restaurant. This is where I became familiar with fine dining. At the time, catering in Hungary was experiencing a new approach. I learnt new techniques and came across new ingredients. All these changes had a great effect on me: the world had become wider for me. After spending a few weeks in Vila Joya in Portugal (a restaurant with two Michelin stars), I realised that Hungary needed a similar type of catering.
In 2010, Tamás Horvath and Zoltan Kalocsai gave me the opportunity to head the kitchen of their new restaurant, Wine Kitchen. I threw myself into my first head chef job with fear and excitement. Since the opening, I have learnt and changed much. I have gained experience in leading a kitchen, inspiring a team and renewing continuously.

What is the philosophy of my kitchen? I would like to lead a kitchen with lots of flavours. However, if I had to define just one style, I would say “free”. I get inspired by the gastronomy of Transylvania, but I also use ingredients from countries such as Spain, France or Italy. I would like to show the varied faces of Hungarian cooking using modern technologies.

Amikor Csaba a Bock Bistrot elhagyta, éppen külföldre ment volna dolgozni, amikor Tamás meggyőzte, hogy inkább jöjjön a Borkonyhába. Itt aztán rövid idő után Sárközi Ákos bizalmi emberévé vált. „Érdekes azt mondani ebben a szakmában, hogy itt találtam meg a nyugalmat.” – árulta el Csaba, akire elsősorban Sárközi Ákos kisugárzása hatott jótékonyan. Ha valami ugyanis nem ment, akkor nem a letorkollás következett, hanem a séf még egyszer megmutatta. Csabának az is tetszett a helyben, hogy hagyják az embereket érvényesülni.
Eddig arra a legbüszkébb, amikor az egyik nyári étlap megírását Ákos rábízta, és a kínált ételek működtek is, mert tetszettek a vendégeknek. A fogások megalkotásánál ugyan szabadkeze volt, de a séffel együtt folyamatosan kóstolták az ételeket, és persze tanácsokat is kapott.
A szakmában Csaba a kreativitást értékeli a legjobban. Például, hogy egy-egy alapanyagot úgy át lehet alakítani, hogy azt nem is gondolná az ember, mint például a már említett tápiókachips esetében. Csaba Ákos stílusában is ezt a kreativitást kedveli, amit nagyon lazán és szabadon képes alkalmazni: „szinte bármi bekerülhet bármi mellé”.
Szereti azt is, amikor feszes a ritmus, és végig lehet pörögni. A nap végén pedig ki lehet engedni.
Csaba szerint a Michelin Csillag után nem is lett olyan nagy a változás, mert éppen úgy főznek, mint előtte, csak több emberre volt szükségük, hogy a megnövekedett forgalmat ki tudják szolgálni. A vacsorák ugyan telt­házasok voltak már akkor is, de a csillag óta az ebédek is azok lettek.

Opening Winekitchen was a fulfilment of a more-than-a-decade-old dream. Having left Restaurant Mágnáskert, we set off on different professional paths that led us to Bock Bistro and Bortársaság. But our friendship and family ties stayed strong over the years, therefore it was obvious that may opportunity come, we would open a restaurant together.
Winekitchen, as we see it, is a blend of a French-style bistro and a contemporary family restaurant offering the best of Hungarian cuisine. The name Winekitchen speaks for itself. The concept is based on the wide and diverse wine list, the delicious food and the personal and relaxed service.
Our wine assortment includes 200 different, mostly Hungarian wines that represent not only the well-known wineries, but also small and yet-to-be-discovered cellars. We offer 48 wines by the glass at a time and have a temperature-controlled wine shelf with 1200-bottle-capacity so that you could buy wine by the bottle at a reasonable price for either take-away or drinking it on spot.
Our cuisine is based on fresh, even daily purchased ingredients and on the weekly-fortnightly changing offers written on the black board. Our chef, Ákos Sárközi has been with us from the first moment. We appreciate his knowledge and genuineness, professionalism showed while working in Restaurant Alabárdos, his continuous success in the Tradition and Evolution competition, and the experiences he gained as a stage in the Portuguese two-Michelin-star Restaurant Villa Joya.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, so come and visit us and we hope that you will become a regular guest at Winekitchen.

Owners Tamás Horváth and Zoltán Kalocsai