My new favorite lunch spot is Home Kitchen on Jungmannova. It's about the size of a large closet and only has a few seats, but it serves honest food made fresh several times a day. The menu changes frequently, with three different soups daily (I warmed myself up with a fantastic dill and potato version), a meat entree (like duck breast with rosehip sauce and gratinated potatoes), and a couple of vegetarian items (stuffed peppers or eggplant parmigiana with turnip purée). The cozy brick walls, pleasant service, and neat take-out packaging make Home Kitchen feel distinctly un-Prague-like (a more complete write-up can be found on Cuketka's blog).
I was very sad to
hear that one of our best and most innovative restaurants, Sofia Smith's Asian-inspired Angel, has apparently closed. Celèste, Angel's sister restaurant, is still open, and I recently had a great meal there -- the desserts were particularly awesome -- but Angel will be sorely missed.
More predictable, perhaps, is the closing of Le Cornichon, which was resurrected with a new chef after a hiatus last summer, but never managed to regain its buzz. La Casa Blu, meanwhile, is still fighting to renew its lease; updates can be found on its homepage.
As m
any of you know, I left my position as Lidove Noviny's restaurant critic at the end of last year (their farewell interview with me can be read here). I'll be putting the blog on hold while I pursue other passions and things. Thank you to all my readers, even the more vicious ones, for your support. You kept it interesting -- and kept me in check occasionally, too.
And if you find anyplace good to eat in this town, be sure to let me know.
photographs: homekitchen.cz, Tomáš Krist for Lidové Noviny, lecornichon.cz, Prague Spoon
Monday, February 1, 2010
Food news: Openings, closings, and goodbye Spoon
Friday, October 9, 2009
Las Adelitas to open restaurant in Vinohrady
Looks like Fosil will no longer be the only authentic Mexican restaurant in town.
The popular Mexican food delivery service Las Adelitas has announced it will open its first restaurant this month. There will be a grand opening party on Friday, October 16th -- but they are also holding a "pre-inauguration" party tonight at 8pm, at the new location on Americká 8 in Vinohrady. Delivery is on hold for now, but will restart as soon as the restaurant officially opens.
Margaritas and flautas... yum.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Ben & Jerry's to open in Prague (UPDATED)
American ice cream company Ben & Jerry's will be opening its first Czech store at the end of next week. The brand is known for its super-rich, unusual flavors, including Cherry Garcia (cherry ice cream with cherries and fudge flakes), Chunky Monkey (banana ice cream with fudge chunks & walnuts), and Chubby Hubby (fudge-covered peanut butter-filled pretzels in vanilla malt ice cream rippled with fudge and peanut butter). Frozen yogurts and sorbets are also available.
Ben & Jerry's will be located in the Koruna building at Václavské náměstí 1.
UPDATE: Looks like they're already serving cones, but the shop in back isn't open yet. The store is on the Na Příkopě side of the building.
image: benjerry.com
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Food news: the Food Fest sets up, Zinc debuts, and Kogo and Kolkovna make a baby
The weekend forecast doesn't look too promising, but I'm hoping the sun will come out for the third annual Prague Food Festival, organized by Maurer's Grand Restaura
nt Guide. This years' indulging will take place between Mánesův and Charles bridges on the Old Town side of the Vltava, with some booths located on land and others set up on waterside pontoons. Participating restaurants include Aromi, Café Imperial, and V Zátiší, among many others.
The Hilton Prague Old Town has officially opened the new version of its restaurant, following the departure of Gordon Ramsay's Michelin-starred venture Maze Prague earlier this year. The new concept, called Zinc, is headed up by Ari Mun
andar, former executive chef of Essensia at the Mandarin Oriental Prague. His menu is described as "modern European cooking with an Asian twist," and includes dishes like crab cake and sweet corn sorbet, miso-glazed Chilean sea bass, and baked pineapple with star anise and cinnamon.
Jean-François and Nadine Musso, formerly of Passion Chocolat in Vinohrady, are back to making their i
rresistible pastries and bonbons. This time, they're located in the U Nováků pasáž off Vodičkova, and their shop is called Pâtisserie St. Tropez. Meanwhile, Mama Coffee has opened up a new, roomier location on Korunní, and Aromi offshoot La Finestra is now in full, delicious swing.
Kogo Group's lackluster sister, L'Angolo, is being remade yet again -- this time with the help of Kolkovna Group, which is collaborating with Ko
go to form a third local dining superpower, Koko Group. Under Koko's management, L'Angolo will be transformed into Fragola, a high-end combination sushi/Mediterranean restaurant/bar/club/"art cafe" that will have live DJs, serve food into the wee hours, and offer a Sunday brunch.
A little complicated, maybe, but it just might work.
images: praguefoodfestival.com, zinc.cz, musso-praha.com, kogofragola.cz
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Food news: Maze gets a Michelin star, Veyrat eyes Beroun, and Angel and Aromi branch out
A month after the formal announcement that Gordon Ramsay was leaving town, his Prague restaurant, Maze, has been awarded a Michelin star. The Hilton hotel will contin
ue running Maze until the end of this month, when they will announce "a new concept and a new chef," according to Hilton Prague Old Town PR manager Marketa Šebková. Maze Prague's former head chef, Philip Carmichael, has already settled in to his new post at Maze Cape Town (pictured), set to open in early April.
In other Michelin news, Allegro at the Four Seasons held on to its star from last year, but this year's hot favorite, La Dégustation Bohême Bourgeoise, didn't gain a spot among Prague's top restaurants. Bib Michelins were again handed out to Aromi and Le Terroir, as well as to newcomer Le Cornichon. Brasserie M was (rightfully) denied a repeat Bib.
Three Michelin-starred chef Marc Veyrat reportedly wants to open a gastronomic complex near Beroun that will "bring meals in harmony with nature." Famous for his organic molecular cuisine, Veyrat plans to serve l
ocally-produced food in wooden houses set two meters above the ground. "Hobbit holes" in a nearby hillside will be available for overnight guests, and a cooking school will also be part of the complex. Whether the estimated 150 million-CZK project will be able to secure funding is still unclear.
Céleste, the new restaurant by the owners of Angel, is on the verge of its official opening on the seventh floor of Frank Gehry's Tančicí dům (a
lso known as the Fred and Ginger building), in the space formerly occupied by La Perle de Prague. April should also see the opening of a sister restaurant to Aromi, La Finestra on Platneřská in Old Town. According to owner Riccardo Lucque, his new spot will feature freshly-imported Italian meats to complement Aromi, which is more seafood-oriented.
images: gordonramsay.com, fourseasons.com, hospodarskenoviny.cz, celesterestaurant.cz
Friday, February 13, 2009
Food news: Goodbye Gordon, hello Hooters
After less than a year and a half of operation, Maze Prague by Gordon Ramsay will be changing hands. The news was confirmed by Ramsay's Czech PR rep, Michaela Dvořáková, who says that although the restaurant will keep its name (for now), Maze will be run by the Hilton Prague Old Town management and Gordon Ramsay Holdings will just "participate in the creation of the menu." Head chef Philip Carmichael is rumored to have already left Prague for his native U.K.
Maze Prague is only one of several restaurants in the Gordon Ramsay empire said t
o be struggling. Still, Ramsay's departure from the Czech market may discourage foreign restaurateurs, few of whom will realize that local patrons weren't Maze's problem -- its location was. Put your restaurant in a windowless box in the lobby of a hotel on the fringes of Old Town (in one of the world's most view-worthy cities, no less) and you are bound to fail, no matter how good your food is.
I sure will miss their chocolate fondant.
Meanwhile, Angus Burger and Angus Grill in Palladium and Cremeria Milano on Pařížská have closed, and Sapori Italiani, the Italian-goods specialty shop formerly located on Perlova, is moving to Bělohorská in Prague 6.
And in food-unrelated restaurant news, the sports bar/breast-ogling American chain Hooters will debut in Prague late in 2009. Franchise holder Na Zdravi Ventures is planning to open several Hooters restaurants in the Czech and Slovak Republics over the next few years. Na Zdravi CEO J. Steven Parker says, "The time is right for the introduction of the Hooters brand."
I hate to admit it, but he might be onto something.
images: gordonramsay.com, saporiitaliani.cz, hooters.com
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Food news: Buddha Bar opens, Prague discovers fusion food, and a Czech team debuts at the Bocuse
Last Thursday, the long-awaited Buddha Bar Hotel held a massive grand openin
g party -- an affair notable for its many czelebrity attendees, a live electric violin interpretation of Metallica, and some very uninspired hors d'oeuvres (tomato and mozzarella balls on toothpicks, for one). The Buddha Bar Restaurant and its upstairs lunch spot, Siddharta Café, are ready for business, too, offering fancily-priced Asian food along with Caesar salads, club sandwiches, and other room service standards.
Around the corner from Buddha Bar, another newly-opened upscale hotel, the Barcelo, has introduced a fusion restaurant of its own: Zlatý Anděl Fusion Restaurant & Café. The kitchen is headed up by the respected French chef Martial Clement, who recently bailed on his short-lived post at Zahrada v Opeře. No word yet on who will replace Mr. Clement in the RFE building restaurant.
Pish-posh members' club LS Club will officially launch this month in the Old Town space formerly occupied by La Scene and (later) La Scena. Its amenities are to include a Library, Crystal Bar, and a signature eatery, Restaurant Shiso. The restaurant will be run by freshly-imported English chef Paul Day -- who specializes, naturally, in Asian cuisine.
Kampa Park sous chef Jan Všetečka traveled to Lyon last week to represent the Czech Republic in the final round of the prestigious international cooking competition Bocuse d'Or. Všetečka and his team placed fourteenth out of twenty-four countries, a very respectable ranking for the first Czech team ever to participate in the Bocuse. 2009's top honors went to Norway (gold), Sweden (silver), and France (bronze).
photos: buddha-bar-hotel.cz, barcelo.com, lsclub.cz, bocusedor.com
