Tamás Lusztig

He was born in 1943 in Budapest.

Between 1957 and 1960, he was a student at the Vas Street and Miksa Street Hospitality Vocational School, and after graduating, he attended an intensive language course in Hastings, England. He trained as a chef and worked as a cook at the Szabadság and Park Hotels, then from 1961 to 1966, he served as deputy head chef at the Erzsébet Hotel. Between 1967 and 1968, he was also deputy head chef at the Grand Hotel on Margaret Island. After that, he worked in the Netherlands. From 1972 to 1978, he returned to the Erzsébet Hotel as head chef, then at the Sport Hotel between 1978 and 1981. Following a detour in Germany, he served as head chef at Hotel Flamenco for an extended period until 2010.

During his career, he had the honor of representing Hungarian cuisine and culinary arts in many countries worldwide. He worked during Hungarian-themed weeks in Finland (Rovaniemi), at fairs in Lausanne and Hannover, at Arte Casa in Lugano, at the Grosvenor House in London, at the Intercontinental Hotels in Düsseldorf and Cologne, at the Hilton in Brussels, at the Bristol Kempinski and Hotel Penta in Berlin, at György Láng’s Hungária restaurant in New York, and at the Sonnesta Hotel in Amsterdam. His travels also took him to exotic locations such as Australia, the Dominican Republic, and Ecuador.

He considers his introduction to Spanish cuisine particularly important: through his previous employment with a Spanish hotel chain, he was able to study Spanish culinary arts on site. His experiences are documented in the cookbook “Spanish Cuisine Hungarian Style,” of which he is a co-author.

At the request of others, he has participated for many years in the work of professional exams and competitions: the national student competition of the Danubius Group, the international competitions and year-end exams of the Gundel Károly Vocational School, the final exams of the Danubius Hotels Vocational School in Sopron, the exams of the Taverna Educational Foundation, and since 1989, the national competition “Outstanding Student of the Profession,” as well as exams at the Dobos C. József Vocational and Secondary School of Hospitality.

He is co-author of numerous cookbooks, and sixteen independent cookbooks have been published based on his own recipes.

Honors and awards:

• Young Master of the Profession (1962)
• Master Chef (1975)
• Since 1978, honorary member of the American Chef Academy
• Hungarian People’s Republic Order of Merit for Outstanding Work (1984)
• Bronze Grade of the Order of Merit for Work (1988)
• Venesz József Award (1992)
• The Italian Hotel and Hospitality Club awarded him the Diploma di Merito (1992)
• In 1998, he was elected a member of the Hungarian branch of Chaine des Rotisseurs
• In 1998, he received the Danubius Group Employee of the Year award
• In 2000, he was honored by the Danubius Group for training professional successors
• Marencich Memorial Medal of the Hotel Association, awarded for the first time to a chef since its establishment (2005)

• Silver Cross of Merit of the Hungarian Republic (2009)