In pursuit of two Michelin stars, the kitchen team is consumed by a bitter conflict from within.

Worldwide, 545 restaurants currently hold two Michelin stars. Earning two stars is a rare achievement. Closing such a restaurant to start again takes courage.

In 2018, Onyx in Budapest became the first restaurant in Central and Eastern Europe to earn two Michelin stars, thanks to Katalin Pintér’s dedication. In 2020, she transferred a 42.5% stake to her daughter Anna, who boldly decided to reinvent Onyx.

Anna wants to honour the past while creating a welcoming restaurant without an all-powerful executive chef, where everyone has a voice and gastronomy meets art and science. But democracy is difficult under the pressure of fine dining, where mistakes are not tolerated and complaints are discouraged. As personal sacrifices mount, family, ambition and control begin to resemble “Succession” in the world of fine dining.

Filmed over four years during Viktor Orbán’s rule in Hungary, Péter Akar and Ambrus Fatér document the setbacks, compromises and power struggles behind this experiment in workplace democracy.

Edvinas Pukšta