Egon Ronay

Egon Miklos Ronay (24 July 1915 – 12 June 2010)

Born around 1915 in Bratislava, Austria-Hungary, the only child of former Royal Hungarian Army captain Miklos Ronay, a restaurateur, his grandfather, Nikolaus von (Miklos) Ronay, established the Grand Hotel at Piešťany, now Slovakia. The family moved to Budapest when he was two, and with the onset of World War II, he was commissioned in the Hungarian Army serving with the occupying forces after the First and Second Vienna Awards in southern Slovakia and northern Transylvania. Ronay claimed to have deserted the army in 1943. He also worked with motorway service station company Welcome Break to promote their products.

Awarded the Médaille de la Ville de Paris in 1983, he was appointed a Chevalier of the Order of Agricultural Merit in 1987 and was a Chevalier du Tastevin.

Egon Ronay's Guide In 1957, Ronay completed the first edition of the Egon Ronay's Guide to British Eateries, In 2005, in conjunction with the Royal Automobile Club, Ronay brought out Egon Ronay's RAC Guide to the Top 200 Restaurants in the UK, basing the reviews on comments received by restaurant inspectors.