George Lang (born György Deutsch; 1924 – July 5, 2011[1]) was a Hungarian born American restaurateur.
Lang was the only child of Simon Deutsch, a tailor, and Ilona Lang. He grew up in this "modestly prosperous" Jewish family in Székesfehérvár, Hungary where he practiced violin.[2] After Döme Sztójay took over as prime minister in March 1944, György was ordered into a labor camp; both his parents later died in Auschwitz, but György escaped within six months. In order to survive, he hid his identity and joined the pro-Nazi Arrow Cross, in which he served for three months before he was discovered. Russian forces liberated Budapest before he could be executed, however. He was tried for war crimes as an Arrow Cross member; even though he was acquitted, "Europe was finished for him." He changed his name (Deutsch means 'German'), taking his mother's maiden name, and moved to the United States in 1946 with his cousin Évi.[3]
He pioneered the profession of restaurant consulting when in 1970 he started the George Lang Corporation. In 1975 he bought the Café des Artistes, a restaurant popular with musicians, journalists, and others; it closed in 2009 after steady losses and union troubles.[4] In 1992, along with Ronald S. Lauder, he bought and restored the famous Budapest restaurant Gundel.
His autobiography, entitled Nobody Knows the Truffles I've Seen (a reference to the spiritual "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen") was published by Knopf in 1998.
Lang, who was married to Jenifer Harvey Lang at the time of his death, had been treated for Alzheimer's disease and died at age 86 at his home in Manhattan.