Monday 21 September 2009

La Finestra , Prague's finest ? September 2009

I have to admit a certain nervousness, when I am invite to dinner a truly international couple out in Prague; either, I will be taking them to one of their few haunts that they frequent all the time, or, risk pushing the boundaries of their local culinary experience, usually with disastrous results. This week, I was more nervous than usual, as my guests were Serge Borenstein, founder of Karlin Real Estate and his charming wife Marie, who is a very successful business entrepreneur in her own right and some years ago, launched the restaurant “Nostresse”, which continues to compete with some of the best in Prague’s Old Town.

I had asked my office to arrange a Degustation Menu at La Finestra and, as well as the Borenstein’s, had invited another important guest. ( She never made it, apparently having important matters of State to attend to that evening, perhaps trying to drum up a foreign investor to bail out Czech Airlines ? ). The thing all my invited had in common, was a great appreciation and knowledge of red wine, so meat courses with La Finestra’s corresponding red wines choices was the order of the evening.

Sadly, it seemed that someone had got in before us and booked out the whole of the lower ground floor, “wine cellar” dining area. That’s the right setting for this kind of meal and the ambience is special and seductive to a long and memorable evening.

However, Ondrej Rakosnik ( manager, co-founder of La Finestra ) gave me and the blonde and his customary cheerful greeting at the door, then plumped us down in a nice large table, pretty much set in the main body of the restaurant. He quickly arrived at the table with a bottle of Berlucchi Max Rose, explaining that the Berlucchi family were one of the first in Italy to introduce “Methode Champenoise” to their wine estate. The result is a slightly softer version of a good Laurent Perrier Rose; only the imminent arrival of the Borensteins, stopped me quaffing my glass very fast to get in a second ( sneaky ) one. Seemed that Serge and Marie knew half the diners in the restaurant and had a fair bit of “room working” to do before they could sit down and relax.

I am not going to give you a blow by blow of each dish and its wine; for one thing, in the absence of written notes being made at the time, I have some trouble remembering the finer distinguishing points of the various wines. Suffice to say there was not a mediocre one amongst them and the variation was as interesting as it was intoxicating. But first up after one or two small “amuse guelles” was a very tender and fresh beef tarter, with black truffles and topped with an anchovy, accompanied by the very robust Villa Martis, Marchesi di Gresy 2006.

One of the disadvantages of sitting in the main dining area is the surrounding noise, there being so many hard surfaces in the “rustic” finish of the restaurant that conversations reverberate around this otherwise pleasantly appointed space. Indeed, from one end of our table for six, were Ondrej was describing the quality and history of the various wines, to the other end where Serge was sitting, it would have been impossible to hear clearly. So I had to chase Ondrej each time down the table so that Serge could get an ear-full of suitable comment. This spoilt what would otherwise have been a nice little interlude to be entertained and maybe, ask a few questions – a little “vignette” in a sea of ocean of intoxicating indulgence.

Riccardo Lucque, the celebrity chef/owner of Aromi and now La Finestra popped up from nowhere like a Magician, suddenly appearing in a puff of smoke next to Serge at the far end of the table. Always effusively welcoming and warmly appreciate of our patronage, he dutifully did the round of the table and then, disappeared as mysteriously as he had arrived. His establishments receive so many plaudits that mine would be gratuitous and patronising, but I must record that all at the table were quite convinced that he is deserving of at least one Michelin Star, Serge reckons two and who am I to argue with his judgement ?

Course after course then arrived, mostly adorned with Black Truffles and, accompanied by wines that can now only evoke pleasant memories in my subconscious. Except for an unexpected sharp blast from the desert wine Mostcata D’Asti, La Spinneta 2007, which tasted like a chilled “Appeltizer” – (fizzy apple juice to those who have not visited South Africa ). This was the only derisive comment I can find, to throw into my review for the evening and no doubt, those of sophistication, will attribute it to my peasant Irish routes roots, rather than being truly fair to La Finestra. But as you know, I report my dining experiences as I feel them and this evening’s, will always be remembered as one of the best ever in Prague.

Riccardo, Ondrej you are local superstars and fully deserve your evident success; but please, try to accommodate me in the cellar next time !!

Sa Sa Zu the restaurant......followed by a drink in the Buddha Bar September 2009

Prague is greatly in need to top quality restaurants and, fun places to go, after dinner, for a “glass” or two and chill out in nice surroundings.

Sadly, while efforts are being made in that direction, the City still lags miserably behind other international destinations. Perhaps it has been a victim of its own success in attracting mass tourism and being able to rely on its cheap beer and stag night image. Strange though, because the wealthier and better travelled Czechs are knowledgeable about good food and having a good time; but known of them have emerged as operators of restaurants or night-spots of any real significance and the few spots around town that justify visiting are nearly all run and owned by foreigners.

A Tuesday night is not a big night out in Prague, for either the locals or, the invading trippers, so I picked it as a good time to quietly try out the restaurant of the strangely named Sa Sa Zu . What you can tell immediately is that there is some Asian origin; but what is not known is that it apparently belongs to a large international casino group that is keen to prove that it can legitimately operate in the Czech Republic. The restaurant is coupled to fairly large and functional night-club that is fast becoming the top spot of an otherwise, lack-lustre collection of second rate discotheques. Having had a business lunch already at SSZ I was keen to test its menu for dinner with the blonde and a connaissuer of the Prague social scene, Peter K.

Arriving a few minutes before Peter and the blonde, the greeter gave me a blank look when I said that we had a reservation for three. Not sure if she ever found it, but with the restaurant being two-thirds empty she directed me to a table for four. But then I thought I would relax with a Mojito in the attractive lounge area next to the bar; perhaps I should have stopped by the bar first, as it took at least ten minutes to get the bar tender’s attention ( even though I was the only one within 20m of him ) and order. Probably he resented the intrusion into his quiet evening, as the Mojito he eventually produced tasted very much like a “virgin”. Ordering the same ,a few minutes later, Peter had the same experience. Warning the blonde about this pattern ( she has been known to down the odd Mojito, or three ) she decided to play safe and go for a glass of Tattinger. This arrived warm and flaccid; waving at the bar man he must have known that the try-on from the long-opened and warm bottle, as he was already unscrewing the top from a new bottle. Not really cold either, and at 15 Euros a small glass, one deserves better.

Moving to our table, finally left the remains of my unfinished Mojito and ordered a palatable bottle of Cotes de Rhone 2005. A little trick I use in ordering at unfamiliar restaurants, is to always select a French or Italian vintage from 2005. This was an outstanding year and rarely disappoints. This one admirably took over from the Virgin-like Mojito and warmed my palate well for the meal.
I decided against a starter as reading ( Prague restaurant reviewer ) Curtis Wong’s praise of the Beef and Prawn Curry in his latest review, I decided to hold back until savouring that delight. The blonde however, opted for a soup which arrived in a miniscule bowl and proved too hot for her taste; Peter battled with a couple of non-descript starters but seemed relatively happy.

Finally my curry arrived, also in a small bowl with an even smaller bowl of steamed rice. The rice was perfect but I wish there had been more of it; the curry was well spiced but otherwise not especially memorable. I guess Curtis had been trying to find something kind to say about SSZ, when he wrote it up, in case he ever wanted to go back there !

Declining deserts we settled a reasonable bill and decided to give Buddha Bar a chance to show its after dinner capabilities. Being almost the only people there, apart from some trippers dining in the cavernous and completely wasted lower ground floor, it was a slightly disheartening experience. But at least the music is good (which is more than can be said for that in SSZ which was a mélange of old and new tracks more suited a TGF operation, an Asian “Fusion” joint with pretences to sophistication.) With no other patrons in sight, we contended ourselves with views on where the unfortunate tables of trippers, in the restaurant below may have come from. Peter thought, perhaps the US, the blonde patriotically plumped for Russia and I suggested Essex ( no personal connection, I assure you ). But the truth remains a mystery as the music drowned out their conversation and the only thing that is sure, that they were not well informed denizens of Prague who have long since decided wisely to give the restaurant at the BB, a wide berth.

Coming out of BB, I broke my golden rule of calling AAA to get me home. The balding security man ushered us towards a “cab” and feeling generous I slipped him 100 CZK as he kindly held the door open for the blonde to hop in. I want to go back to collect that 100CK as the final fare came to about three times the AAA rate; I paid up with a disgruntled muttering about handing the driver’s receipt chit to Prague Mayor Pavel Bem in the morning….I wish !!

LS Club and Restaurant : St Tropez night September 5th 2009

I knew the augurs were not set fair, Paul Day the excellent Executive Chef has resigned and, reserving 2 seats for the “St Tropez” dinner turned out to be a long running saga email saga with the LS receptionist and of course, the event much heralded to kick off at the very grand new Kempinski Hotel, moved entirely to the more modest surroundings of the LS Club itself. Seems the weather forecaste was the reason, but maybe that should not come as a surprise when the St Tropez season pretty much comes to an end with the passing of August !

Anyway, very few amongst the LS members and their guests seemed to be sporting any “St Tropez” apparel and dark jackets with no tie seemed to be about as summery as most of the men present could managed. Wearing a La Martina polo shirt made me feel I had misread the marketing blurb for the evening, which was ST Tropez dinner with fashion show, followed by “After Party” with DJ Alex Douche

Sat down to enjoy a half glass of complimentary champagne in the charming “library” area of the club to then be disturbed by staff setting these tables for dinner. I was told that the library was reserved for some special dining party; strange as this party would not have been able to see the fashion show in the main dining all of the Club. Thought it prudent then to check out table situation in the LS dining room, asking a pretty waitress if one could select one’s own table. She did not know, so deferred the question to a another pretty, but harassed looking, girl acting as the Maitre D’. With a charming smile, she told they were all available. Coming back 20 minutes later, was then told there was only a choice of 2 or 3 tables and, all the others were “reserved” , so I quickly plonked myself and the blonde down at one, before we were finally relegated to perhaps, the bar area, where it turns out the late-comers were finally accommodated.

A long dinner menu on a single sheet of paper greeted one on the table ( as it later turned out, it missed one of the many small courses). I think there were seven or eight small offerings and most were instantly forgettable or, remembered for the wrong reasons. Anyway, this feast kicked-off with some very tired and, somewhat over-cooked Edame beans, followed by a Amuse Guele sized spoon of sashimi style tuna. Then followed a luke warm bowl of beef wanton soup around the same time as the ice bucket, for my luke warm bottle of Veuve Cliquot. The master of ceremonies for the evening announced that the special prize for the evenings guests, which was to have been a trip to two to Paris for the best dressed couple would go rather to the couple who spent the most on the evening. Very tacky, given this was not as far as I know a charity event and not wanting to win this dubious award, I had down-graded by choice of a good Vintage champagne to the more modest Veuve. However, when it arrived the young waiter did not bother to let me inspect the bottle or taste the offering, pouring ( badly ) two glasses of this before I had a chance to check it temperature. He seemed most surprised when I then asked for an ice-bucket, which arrived with no serviette. That was the last attention our wine received all evening. I had to carry out the top-ups myself, using the table napkin as the serviette to catch the drips from the ice bucket. The requested glass of Merlot that I had asked for mid-way through the “feast” completely failed to materialize.


Moving on through the menu I can only say that my taste buds glazed over with one small boring dish followed by another. One however stood out in its awfulness, the Orange Curry Salmon, which completely overcooked, without flavor sitting on top a truly solid brick of sticky rice. The blonde took a few desultory pokes and sniffs at the fish part of this dish and then pronounced herself already full, to save my blushes. Perhaps, it was as well that the chef failed to appear in person to greet his victims as at that point, I would have asked him if I could go into his kitchen and knock up a quick stir fry.

The finale to the Thai (?) menu was a tasty but inappropriate, white and dark chocolate mousse set atop a mango puree. Perhaps the mango was eastern link in this ménage a trios, but otherwise it seemed to be a lost soul at a Jehovah’s Witness Conference of elders.

At some point during this two hour extravaganza we were treated to a St Tropez fashion show by six or seven young Czech models, all of whom looked as it they needed a good meal themselves. Not sure who the fashion designers were they were representing, but perhaps by the time the finale came, my concentration was on the last scoops of the mango puree which were doing a good job at eradicating the doubtful flavours of former plates.

Declining to hang around in what was quickly becoming a deserted room ( something happened later there, but I’m not sure what ), we beat a path to the bar and sat ourselves down at one of the former “dining tables” there that had been vacated already by its occupants. The evening improved somewhat, perhaps in part due to good music from the baby faced DJ ( he must have had his parents’ permission to stay out late that evening ) and copious amounts of properly chilled champagne ( this time we wised up and ordered it by the glass, with it coming at the right temperature ). A more lively and interesting crowd started to drift into the Club and whether these were members of not, one started to think that the LS has potential to be a great night-spot when its downstairs area ( which I understand will include a proper late night dance/music set up )is completed. I look forward to this with anticipation, as it will fill a gaping hole in Prague’s presently varied but relatively unsophisticated night life. But I hope it will also herald the arrival of some better trained staff.

Standing in line, in the middle of the bar, for 15 minutes in the early hours of the morning try and settle an astronomically high tab ( but it seems not the winning one ! ! ), left me feeling tired annoyed a and well ripped-off for a much heralded but mediocre event fashioned around a meal of memorably bad dimensions. “Let’s go somewhere fun” the blonde demanded and I was tempted to see if the restaurant at Sa Sa Zu was still open, so I could drop her off at the night-club there, while I grabbed a small bowl…..