There is a "most beautiful cafe in the world" in Budapest. Its gorgeous decoration and elegant furnishings are particularly attractive.

Photo caption: interior view of New York Cafe.

[Li Zhen, special correspondent of the Global Times in Hungary] on the bustling Elizabeth Ring Road in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, there is a cafe on the ground floor of the New York Grand Hotel. Since it opened at 8: 00 in the morning, there has been a steady stream of guests, often full of seats. Many foreign tourists come here. While enjoying the gorgeous decoration and elegant furnishings, people savor exquisite coffee, refreshments and delicacies, and listen to the melodies of the piano. This cafe is not only a spokesman for fashion and consumption, but also a landmark of art and culture. This is the New York Cafe, which has been selected as the top ten most beautiful cafes in the world by your City Guide, a well-known international city tourism website.

The interior design is amazing.

If you want to drink coffee here, guests have to make an appointment in advance, and those who do not have an appointment are waiting in the foyer. The reporter did not make an appointment in advance and was led to his seat by the waiter after waiting in line. At the end of the 19th century, the French New York Life Insurance Company was to open a branch in Budapest. The headquarters building was designed by a team of Hungarian architects Hausmann combined with Italian Renaissance and Baroque eclecticism. The building was completed in 1894. The whole building is majestic and magnificent, and the design of the cafe on the ground floor is even more amazing. The cafe is divided into high and low areas, with red marble columns, interior walls, steps, handrails and ceilings. In the middle of the ceilings were exquisite paintings by the famous artists Manheimar and Essenhut at that time, and on the ceiling were Venetian chandeliers that highlighted splendor and nobility. The outer wall facing the street is decorated with 16 bronze statues of Faweng elves in Roman mythology. On October 23, 1894, the delivery ceremony of the whole building was held, and the cafe was open at the same time. The opening ceremony was attended by not only dignitaries and celebrities, but also many famous writers, musicians and artists at that time, who were especially attracted by this magnificent cafe.

The cappuccino ordered by the reporter has been served. "the most beautiful cafe in the world" is written in English on the cushion paper and sugar bag on the exquisite metal plate. People naturally want to enjoy the beautiful scenery here, and there is a sign at the entrance of the cafe: "only our guests can take pictures."

Coffee is usually accompanied by desserts, and there are several specialty desserts such as the New York Coffee Plus and other small cakes. The same coffee varieties are more or less the same in different cafes, but the reporter feels that the coffee here tastes a little lighter and may be more suitable for Chinese tastes. Coffee tasting is a comfortable process, although the business here is very prosperous, but the voice is not noisy, people are talking in a low voice. The only thing that echoed in the hall was the sound of the piano played live.

This cafe is also a restaurant. There are both Hungarian national dish roast beef with potatoes, spaghetti, roast steak and indispensable fried foie gras.

A gathering place for cultural masters

"without coffee, there would be no literature," says Maloui, a Hungarian writer who frequented New York cafes at that time. After entering the 20th century, due to the special favor of writers, poets, musicians, actors and painters, the New York Cafe has become a popular salon for Hungarian cultural masters to gather, communicate and create. therefore, it once became the activity center of Hungarian cultural circles. Coffee shop owners like this state very much, the coffee shop set up special bookshelves, provide you with encyclopedias and other reference books, but also subscribe to major newspapers and periodicals at home and abroad. More thoughtfully, there is a large amount of ink and paper in the cafe warehouse, which is available to the masters at any time.

Many guests have fixed seats here and are served by a designated waiter, so that the waiter understands a look and gesture-coffee or ink. At that time, there was also a "writer's meal" made up of ham, Salami sausage and cheese for the masters, which was inexpensive and available on credit.

At the beginning of the last century, the meeting place of Hungarian writers and philosophers was the New York Cafe, in which writers opened their minds and sought inspiration. The writer Moritz's touching short story "Seven coins" was created here. American film director Curtiz was also a regular here, and his film Casablanca won an Oscar. The exchange place for Hungarian impressionist and naturalistic painters was also here.

Go through two world wars

It is a pity that this era of glory ended with the occurrence of World War I and the defeat of Hungary. Although some artists often come here later, the scene of the past is no longer the same, and the ashtrays of the cafes are marked with the words "no matter politics, just for entertainment." With the outbreak of World War II, the building was damaged during the war, and the cafe was closed with the building in 1947. After that, the former cafe became a sporting goods mall and warehouse, and the building became the office building of the National Tourism Company. In 1954, the offices of the editorial offices of many newspapers and magazines moved into the building and the cafe reopened. Although people had tried to restore the original atmosphere, it had been mediocre.

In the 1990s, the Hungarian government wanted to sell the building. In 2006, an Italian company opened a five-star hotel in a building that had been renovated for five years, and the coffee shop area returned to its former glory. In 2013, the "New York Cafe Artist House" was opened here, and a monthly event was held to invite writers and artists to have an open discussion and exchange on a topic.

Source: world wide Web