Baby means Hungarian food off the menu
A HAPPY event for one couple has left a lot of islanders with bittersweet feelings as they bid farewell to a unique food outlet in the north of the island.
Over the last nine years, Rita Csaki has established her trailer next to Alliance as the place to go for homemade food with a Hungarian twist.
Now she and her husband are expecting their first child they have decided to go back to Hungary, the trailer has been put up for sale, and she shuts up shop for the last time this weekend.
When the couple first arrived in Guernsey, Mrs Csaki took on the job of chef at the former Zest restaurant in Town.
But her desire to give locals a true taste of her homeland led to the couple bringing over a trailer from Hungary and obtaining permission to park it at the edge of Alliance’s car park.
Although the trailer is up for sale, it does not come with the location, and Mrs Csaki said Alliance had told her it would not intend to replace her outlet once she closed down.
She said she had enjoyed providing food to islanders, but it was not always easy.
‘It was hard at the start because people didn’t know what this is,’ she said.
‘But when someone came here to try they came back because they liked it.’
Word of mouth led to her seeing a steady stream of customers over the years, and she said she had many regulars.
One of these was plumber Ian McMillan. ‘It’s devastating news,’ he said as he went for lunch shortly before the closure.
‘I’ve been coming here for the last two or three years because nowhere else does Hungarian food. It’s such a different flavour. You get something here you don’t get anywhere else.’
Although offering Hungarian favourites such as langos and chimney cake at first, Mrs Csaki said that she also ended up serving Hungarian versions of other lunch staples, such as bacon rolls, tortillas and the humble burger.
Everything was made by her, from the patty to the bun, which gave customers something they could not find at other eateries.
But despite the disappointing news that Mrs Csaki is leaving, there was a glimmer of hope in that she said she would like to come back, perhaps in a year or so.
Mr McMillan thought this a good idea: ‘As soon as you put it out that you’re back you’ll get your customers back. You have a customer base for life,’ he told her before heading off with his lunch.
