We drove out from Budapest in the early evening, past Tata Castle and along the lake, and were shown first to a small table outside for a glass of something cold before dinner ever started - a sparkling Sauska to begin, with the staff in no hurry to rush us inside. Only once we'd settled in did we move down into the cellar, where the kitchen works in full view behind glass and stone.

The opening courses arrived as a trio of tiny, garden-grown bites set among stones and moss - more like a still life than food, until you ate it. A seafood and caviar course followed in a shell-shaped bowl, ringed with violet flowers and a citrus-bright green sauce that we kept coming back to long after the plate was cleared.

One course we still talk about arrived under a dark, glossy dome the color of a chestnut, set in a nest of dried herbs and tiny white flowers - we genuinely weren't sure what it was until the server explained, which is exactly the kind of theater a two-star kitchen should be allowed to indulge in once a night.

The wine pairing did real justice to Hungary's own cellars rather than reaching for the obvious: a mineral Pieropan from across the border for the fish courses, a structured Kékfrankos-Cabernet Franc blend from the Mátra for the venison, and an old Tokaji Aszú poured almost ceremonially toward the end. Afterward, coffee was brewed tableside in a small gold balance siphon that got more attention from our table than some of the courses.

Service throughout was warm rather than formal, which suited the setting. We ended the night on the terrace by the castle wall with a last glass and no real hurry to leave.