Gastro Gaga: The Pop Star of Gastronomy Goes by the Name Eszter Palagyi

The Greek version of the interview was published on FNL Guide

Eszter Palagyi is a name that has resonated strongly within European fine dining for several years now. The Hungarian chef, who became the youngest woman in Central Europe to earn a Michelin star, has worked at Budapest’s legendary Costes restaurant, has been named Chef of the Year in her home country three times, and has collaborated with some of the most influential figures in global gastronomy. Today, she goes by the name “Gastro Gaga”, a name that is not simply a brand, but a way of life.

Why Gastro Gaga?

“From the moment I met Lady Gaga, I felt a strong connection with her voice,” she tells me. “I have an uncle who was a famous painter, so I carry this artistic DNA. Lady Gaga had this wild personality that represented me. On the outside, we appear professional and controlled, but inside there is something wild.”

The name, however, was officially sealed in an unexpected and powerful way. At a VIP event in Venice during Carnival, where Eszter was cooking for celebrities, Lady Gaga herself was part of the group. As Eszter presented her dishes, someone in the room shouted “Gastro Gaga.” Lady Gaga joined the conversation and said, “You should become the gastronomic version of me.”

“You cannot imagine how I felt,” Eszter tells me. “From that moment on, it became my nickname, with Gaga’s own blessing.”

Eszter speaks about the power of a “poker face” in the kitchen, the ability to remain calm in front of guests, the team, and management. “Every day we need to have a poker face. But when you have an artistic soul inside you, there is something wild that wants to come out.”

Music, for Eszter, is not background noise in the kitchen. It is a fundamental part of her creative process. “When I was younger, my chef used instrumental music with a strong rhythm, and we had to move according to it,” she explains. “For fourteen hours, you absorb that rhythm. Anyone who sees me in the kitchen understands that I learned from the old French chefs. We work with the same rhythm.”

That rhythm, “tak, tak, tak, tak,” as she describes it, “is the secret to speed and precision in the kitchen. Of course, music also plays other roles. At the end of a difficult shift, we put on music and clean. If you have a good team and your hearts beat at the same pace, then you work with music all day.”

I ask her about the growing presence of DJs and live music in fine dining restaurants. “It is definitely not just a trend,” she says. “It is an extra layer we add to the dining experience. When you eat seafood while hearing the sound of the sea, you connect with the food. We were already working on this during the era of Heston Blumenthal. We used headphones with sea sounds next to oyster dishes.”

One of the most striking moments of our conversation comes when she describes her most recent dish inspired by a song. “Abracadabra by Lady Gaga,” she says enthusiastically. “When I heard it, I was writing my second book, a recipe book. I created a dessert with two black silicone letters G, like a Mon Chéri. The chocolate contained sour cherry gel, and the cherry played the role of blood.”

The description becomes even more theatrical. “When you cut the dessert, the red gel flows out like blood. Next to it, there is a cherry scented aroma with red crystals. And I do not serve it on a plate. I serve it on a car license plate that says ‘Dubai’ in Arabic, with the registration number ‘Gastro Gaga.’ When I hear a song and get goosebumps, I start visualizing something that eventually becomes a dish. It does not always happen like this, but when it does, it is very special.”

“In the restaurant, the music is calm and slow, but in the kitchen we need something that makes us fast and alert. Everyone has to move in the same way at the same time.”

If you could collaborate with a musician on a gastronomic experience, who would it be?

“David Guetta,” she answers immediately. “I have met him personally. Imagine him playing music next to me while I serve dishes using the same movements as a DJ. You would dance, you would play, you would serve.” Her second choice is obvious. “Lady Gaga. But that would be completely avant garde. I would throw sauce around the plate, I would perform. It would be wild, like her concerts.”

I ask her to describe Hungary through a sound and a taste. “We have great classical music composers,” she says. “Our national anthem is not a happy song. It is sad. It describes our soul as Hungarians. We are always fighting, always on the wrong side, and it never ends well.”

When it comes to taste, her answer is clear. “Foie gras, without a doubt. We have a strong tradition, like the French. We are also very good with truffles and mushrooms. And because we are a nation of hunters, I would choose wild boar with truffle. It is an ideal combination.”

In pop culture, chefs have become rock stars. Eszter, however, distinguishes between surface level fame and real value. “You look at the classic French chefs, they are not interested in trends. They have thirty or forty years of experience, entire generations behind them. Anne Sophie Pic, for example, her father earned three Michelin stars, and she continued and maintained them. For me, those are the real rock stars.”

Is there a parallel with the music industry?

“Just like in music, you have artists who release one hit and disappear, the same happens in gastronomy. But here, the product speaks for itself. You cannot do karaoke. You taste the food, so it is easier to understand if someone truly deserves to be a celebrity.”

I ask her to choose an ingredient that is rock to her, rebellious, raw, and full of energy. “Curry cross from Brittany in France,” she answers without hesitation. “It is a spice blend, and every chef has their own version. It has a very strong and distinctive flavor, with paprika, ginger, and clove. If you taste my blend, or the French one, or the Indian one, each has its own DNA, its own signature.”

If your life in kitchens were a music album, what would the title be?

“Cook or Die,” she answers instantly. “That is how I feel. Either you make it happen, push it forward, or you simply follow the flow like lukewarm water. You are either hot, or you are out.” This philosophy runs through her entire career, from her beginnings in Budapest, to her experiences in France, Ireland, and Austria, through Dubai and back. It is a constant struggle for perfection and inventiveness.

“It was never my goal to win awards,” she admits. “But one opportunity led to another, and I never realized how far I had gone.”

What emerges from our conversation is a philosophy that goes beyond the kitchen. It is about how art, music, and gastronomy coexist and feed into one another. It is about how a song can give birth to a dish, how a rhythm can save a service, and how an aroma can complete an experience.

Eszter Palagyi is not simply a Michelin starred chef. She is an artist who uses plates instead of canvases, a performer who works with flavors instead of notes. And just as Lady Gaga has her own poker face, Gastro Gaga has hers too.

“When you come to the restaurant, we take you out of your routine,” she says at the end of our conversation. “We give you a piece of a different world. Your soul relaxes, you eat well, the atmosphere is good. Sometimes our mind, our soul, our energy need to enter a different dimension.”

Cook or Die. There is no middle ground.