The Moor is leaving

Tamás Háber announced his resignation from the presidency of the Guild of Hungarian Restaurateurs as of next March. News: The Federation of European Wine and Gastronomy Associations awarded Pécs’s Aranykacsa Restaurant, managed by Tamás Háber, the Grand Prize of European Restaurants in 2008. Q: Congratulations! Did the prize have anything to do with your work in the guild? A: As the guild’s president, I met many people who later came to see my restaurant. Q: Why did you resign from the presidency? A: I have been the guild’s president for 8 years and I think that the organisation needs new, dynamic people. Q: What characterised this 8-year period? A: The Sisyphean task of fighting for establishing a true owner and management for the sector, and for having a state official responsible for the sector in the Ministry it belongs. Q: Were there any results? A: Many, for instance, repelling the complete ban of smoking in bars and restaurants or good relations with the press. Q: Sometimes all this looked like a one-man show from the outside. A: It was the presidential committee’s work, I was just harmonising the differing opinions and communicating our decisions. Q: Who would you like to be your successor? A: The committee will nominate; I am convinced that we need someone who is active in our trade. Q: How did working or the guild affect your restaurant’s performance? A: My best employees went abroad in the past 1-2 years and the restaurant’s performance became fluctuating. Q: Any plans for the future? A: I am working on a programme that could improve the restaurateur sector.