Our Story

THE STORY OF VITÉZ KÜRTŐS

Tradition and Innovation, from Székelyföld to Budapest

Here's the story of Vitéz Kürtős, the way we'd tell it over a cup of coffee - in order, and with all our heart.

The beginnings, and a red polka-dot apron

Our story began more than 26 years ago, with our team's own "grandma," Irma Simó! Picture Aunt Irma (the owner's grandmother) on weekends, tirelessly making her way around the beaches near Székelyudvarhely in her red polka-dot apron, a basket on her arm full of freshly baked, heavenly chimney cakes. Her enthusiasm and wonderful recipe inspired Gáspár's parents (Aunt Irma and Uncle Gazsi) to open the Lehel Kürtősház in Székelyudvarhely, Transylvania, in 2000.

Off to Hungary!

We first introduced ourselves in Hungary in 2001, at the Mesterségek Ünnepe (Festival of Folk Arts), and we can say we made quite an impression: we came from Székelyudvarhely, and "chimney cake maker" was our trade's coat of arms - that was our mantra. Back then, the original, large, charcoal-baked chimney cake was still almost unknown here, or only remembered in certain parts of the country - so we showed up and were there at most town and village days, going from festival to festival, doing everything by hand: turning the cake over the embers and, thanks to Aunt Irma, kneading up to a whole sack of flour a day. That's unimaginable today!

The birth of Vitéz Kürtős, and the big innovations

Then in 2003, the current founders (Tünde and Gáspár) officially joined the family business, and seeing the huge interest, we dreamed up the Vitéz Kürtős brand. We've developed enormously since then: hand-turning was replaced by motorized drives, our ovens got more and more professional, but the essence - the traditional, charcoal-baked flavor, and the knowledge inherited from grandma and our parents - hasn't changed.

Of course, we never rested on our laurels! Besides dozens of events every year, we now have several stores, we've organized the Chimney Cake Festival 12 times, we created the country's first chimney-cake patisserie, Édes Mackó, located by the Budapest Zoo, for more than 10 years we've also been thinking of those with gluten and dairy sensitivities, we invented the filled-dough chimney cake, KÜRTŐSBON, and to bring festival vibes home too, we launched our own in-house designed mini charcoal grill oven called Bake'n'Roll.

World-spanning dreams, and grandma's legacy

It's no secret that our dream and mission is for chimney cake to one day be spoken of as a Hungarian product the way pizza is Italy's or the croissant is France's! Wherever we go, we always remember Grandma Irma's cheerful catchphrase: "Here's the delicious chimney cake: fresh, warm, crispy - if it runs out, I'll bring more!".

With this love of the work, and a 100% smile and customer-satisfaction guarantee, we still bake these cakes for you today, to sneak the sweetest moments into your everyday life.

Honesty

Kindness

Charity

100% smile guarantee

BIOGRAPHY

Scroll through Vitéz Kürtős's most important milestones.

2000
The Lehel Kürtősház opened in Székelyudvarhely, built on Grandma Simó Irma's original, traditional recipe, and on Aunt Irma and Uncle Gazsi's hard work.
2001
We debuted in Hungary with huge success, at the Mesterségek Ünnepe (Festival of Folk Arts).
2003
We, the current founders, Tünde and Gáspár, joined the family business, marking the start of dreaming up what would become the Vitéz Kürtős brand.
2004
We established Lehel Kürtős Bt., our first Hungarian company.
2005
We started at our first domestic Christmas markets (Sopron, Békéscsaba, Kaposvár, Nagytétény).
2006
The Vitéz Kürtős brand was born, and Lehel Kürtős Bt. was transformed into Vitéz Kürtős Bt.
2007
We opened our first permanent store at the Csillagvár Shopping Center in Budapest's 3rd district, which operated until 2018.
2008
The Vitéz Kürtős bakehouse opened on Veszprém's pedestrian street (operated for 3 years).
2009
We opened our first permanent Budapest store at Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden.
2011
We launched our chimney cake home delivery service.
2012
We launched our workshops and team-building trainings.
2013
We organized the first, still hugely popular Chimney Cake Festival, and launched our own in-house designed Bake'n'Roll mini home charcoal oven.
2014
After lengthy experimentation, we introduced our gluten-, dairy- and egg-free chimney cakes, launched our franchise network, and at the 2nd Chimney Cake Festival we entered the Hungarian Book of Records with the record for the most chimney cakes baked at once.
2015
Together with the Princely Order of Hungarian Bakers, we achieved official Hungarikum status for chimney cake; we got a spot at the Vörösmarty Square Christmas market.
2016
We started selling premium-quality Hargita beech charcoal under our own brand, now used by many well-known domestic restaurants and chefs.
2017
Our products and the Chimney Cake Festival won the Hungarian Product Grand Prize.
2018
We opened the country's first chimney-cake patisserie, Édes Mackó, on Állatkerti körút; our Bake'n'Roll home chimney-cake oven won the Value and Quality Grand Prize.
2019
We switched to using 100% biodegradable, plastic-free, corn-based packaging; we launched the spring Chimney Cake Festivity.
2020
During the pandemic, we experimented with and recreated our childhood favorite treat, the recipe for Édesmaci Házicsoki (homemade chocolate).
2021
We opened our first Lake Balaton store on the abbey promenade in Tihany, at the most beautiful viewpoint.
2022
We introduced KÜRTŐSBON (the new filled-dough chimney cake) and completed the VITÉZ GASTRO products showroom, which also functions as a workshop and training space.
2023
Vitéz Kürtős won the special prize of the 15-year Design Management Award as part of Budapest Design Week, confirming the success of our conscious and sustainable brand-building.
2026
An official partnership began with the international KITKAT® brand.