Here’s the story behind one of the most endearing wine taverns in Budapest. Imre Balázs Molnár is a Hungarian Canadian, born in Montreal, lived in the same Laval suburb that I grew up in, and ended up in Ottawa much like me. As it happens, he was born at Montreal’s St. Mary’s Hospital, and probably around the same year as the author of this piece. Hungary is small enough, that when you dig just a little below the surface, you quickly uncover multiple points of connection with so many people you meet along the way. Imre studied political science and law at university, worked for European multinationals, and then threw caution to the wind, by giving up a stable existence to open a wine tavern in one of the most difficult and disadvantaged areas of Budapest–the 8th District.
Imre Molnár of Cintányéros. Photo: Christopher Adam
Cintányéros is a no-nonsense sort of place, which gets back to the basics. They serve a handful of thoughtfully selected Hungarian wines, beer from a local microbrewery in the Budapest area, Hungarian spirits, Hungarian cured ham, cheese, and you can order a bowl of roasted walnuts to accompany your drink. You won’t find Coca Cola products here, but you can taste a handful of Hungarian flavoured sodas. But forget about sipping pretentious and pricey cocktails. This isn’t that sort of place. Instead, at Cintányéros you can delve into the world of Hungarian fröccs (spritzers), including a fröccs flavoured with elderflower or lavender, and you can get a wealth of information from Imre and his wife on the wines, beers and cured ham that they serve.
Imre Molnár in Cintányéros. Photo: Christopher Adam
Cintányéros opened in August 2016 and it has since attracted a crowd of young, local Hungarians, workers who stop in at 5 pm for a quick drink on their way home and the occasional tourist. I stopped in twice so far during my stay this week in Budapest–once on Saturday evening, when the place was buzzing with life and welcomed a group of French speakers visiting Budapest, and then again on a quieter Monday evening. I was keen to introduce HFP contributor György Lázár and his wife Maggie to Cintányéros. Monday evening provided as good a time as ever, especially as we had the opportunity to chat at length with Imre. After a couple of hours at Cintányéros, I met up nearby with a local friend, Szilárd Kalmár, who is a prominent social worker in the 8th District and a passionate activist. As it turns out, he knows Imre well and often frequents Cintányéros too.
György Lázár and his wife Maggie at Cintányéros. Photo: C. Adam
You can detect owner’s pride in everything that Cintányéros does, and that’s one of the advantages of frequenting locally owned small businesses, rather than large, impersonal chains. Imre is passionate about showcasing quality Hungarian products and eschewed serving Prosciutto for authentic, cured Hungarian ham, which is hard to come by even in Budapest. The décor is simple, but clearly carefully selected. An old upright piano sits in the corner, adorned with photographs from the early twentieth century and a lonely pengő paper note, from the forties, just before the era of hyperinflation in Hungary. The piano becomes the focal point on some nights, when Cintányéros offers live music. If you grab a seat in the gallery, you’ll get a bird’s eye view of this friendly corner in a still struggling 8th District.
Cintányéros from above. Photo: C. Adam.
From the exterior, the building fits in perfectly into the 8th District’s scruffy image. Like so many apartment buildings in the area, this one too is crumbling, with exposed bricks and decades of neglect when it comes to preserving the neighbourhood’s potentially charming nineteenth century buildings. The space occupied by Cintányéros, howevever, has a history. It used to serve as the local party offices of the now defunct Hungarian Democratic Forum–the party that formed Hungary’s first democratic government in 1990.
The neighbourhood haunt is located at the intersection of two worlds: the truly battered and poverty-stricken areas of the 8th District, home to one of the largest Roma communities in Budapest and much of the urban poor, and then half a dozen city blocks that were bulldozed to the ground over the last ten years to make way for a glitzy shopping mall, modern condos and office towers. When you walk out the door of Cintányéros, turn to your left, and you’ll find yourself on a dusty, frayed street of Józsefváros, the other name for the 8th District. Then turn to your right, and you are a block away from yuppie gentrification.
Cintányéros seems to be precisely what the 8th District needs: a very reasonably priced, unpretentious local business, in stark contrast to the sterile world of multinational chains or the embarrassing tourist traps of central Budapest. But most importantly, Cintányéros is owned by people who genuinely care about their neighbourhood and want to give back to their local community.
If you’re in Budapest, you can visit Cintányéros (Bókay János utca 52) starting at 5 pm every day except Sunday. Check out Cintányéros’ Facebook page here.
