The harmony of body and soul means a lot for me

This year METRO Hungary – the No.1 supplier partner of top restaurants – presented the Hungarian Michelin star winners with their plaquettes. Our magazine interviewed chef Ádám Mészáros after the ceremony held in Onyx restaurant.

There is no ideal age to be a chef, as long as they have the strength, the motivation and can keep up with trends. I learned the trade in Costes and I worked in top restaurants in France and Spain before returning to Hungary in 2011 to join the Onyx team. My dedication comes from doing sports – I was Hungarian champion in kayaking.

Winning a Michelin star isn’t only about the chef’s performance, it also has to do with the restaurant’s environment, with the country. We also need conscious and sophisticated guests. Good ingredients are essential to cook from. And of course a good team is inevitable.

A good team is also a prerequisite of success, for which the chef sets the direction. The goals can only be reached with the support of the restaurant’s owner, e.g. investing in the necessary equipment and technology.

I am the kind of person for whom the harmony of body and soul means a lot, someone who likes to live the moment. Working in Onyx today is a more laid back experience than it used to be.

_{Imre Horváth, the CEO of METRO Hungary presented the plaquette to Ádám Mészáros}

I keep building step by step and I am convinced that we are going to cause more surprises in the foreseeable future. I am very much motivated even by creating a new menu. The second Michelin star can open new horizons – I will still be here in five years’ time!

I hope as few as possible. I don’t like being in the spotlight, I find joy in creation and being with my family. Still, now that the media is more interested in us I do interviews, but I don’t intend to turn into a ‘media-chef’. //