Pins matching date:1858-12-31

Café Tortoni first opened in 1858, started by a French immigrant who named it after a Paris cafe, and became the room where Buenos Aires argued about itself - Borges, Gardel and Rubinstein among the regulars whose likenesses now sit at its tables. It still trades on Avenida de Mayo with its original marble, mirrors and tango cellar.

The coffeehouse on Vörösmarty tér opened in 1858 and grew into one of the largest and grandest in Europe, its rooms panelled and chandeliered on a scale that belongs to the Habsburg city. It gave its name to the Gerbeaud slice and remains the fixture by which Budapest's café tradition is measured.