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Bigger and better
Missteps at a new restaurant work in diners' favor
Staff Writer, The Prague Post If you haven't heard about Aromi, consider yourself officially out of the loop. Within two weeks of opening, this Vinohrady wine bar and restaurant had enough buzz to turn away diners on busy nights, despite a relatively large seating area. Now a month old, Aromi is emerging as the year's best new restaurant not located in the city center, with excellent food at very modest prices. Naturally, some kinks remain, but at least a couple of those benefit the customer. The interior is a spacious L-shape with a nonsmoking wing. Near the crook, a pretty bar stands before the partially exposed kitchen, though this seems to be more of a service station than a hang-out spot. There are a number of nice design touches: The banquettes along the wall are covered with a slew of bright, semi-rustic cushions, creating the feel of a restaurant somewhere in the part of the Italian countryside that is closest to Hollywood. On the tables are linen napkins, votive candles and small vases of fresh thyme and rosemary. The menu lists appetizers and small pastas in the Italian manner; meal-size noodle servings are available for an additional 40 Kč ($1.70). Among nonpasta starters, the piadina is a flatbread much like a Mexican tortilla, folded with fresh arugula, prosciutto and pecorino cheese into a small mountain of sandwiches. These are good, though their taste is bitter, salty, tart and dry. In addition, the serving size is too large, but more on this later.
Main courses include grilled meats and fish, though not everything is for carnivores: Several salads, such as the baby mozzarella and tomato, are vegetarian-friendly, though what was listed as lettuce in this salad turned out to be more of the beautiful fresh arugula from the piadina. Arugula and tomatoes show up again in the salad served with tuna steak. This is a near mirror-image of the baby mozzarella version, minus the cheese and with a handful of hearty cooked barley added, as well as a touch of balsamic vinegar. The tuna — seared on the outside, slightly pink inside — is good, if somewhat tough.
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One of the few problems at Aromi is that the portion sizes are off, generally in favor of the diner. The piadini are good, but even a very hungry eater would have trouble finishing the enormous platter served up as an appetizer. Considering the denseness and dryness of the dish, I'd be happy with half that amount — after the first two or three pieces, you really don't want more. The same holds true for the mixed antipasto: a whole lot of sliced meat, too much for one person, and just two pieces of bruschetta.
Another problem that is bizarrely beneficial is the confused service. Aromi's staffers don't appear to work specific tables, and yet they're all clearly trying to do a great job. This means that you might be asked if you are ready to order three times by three different staffers within three minutes: interruptive, though it is nice to have so much attention for once.
The menu also gets a small fillip. Aromi's motto is "semplicita, tradizione, passione," or "simplicity, tradition, passion." The simplicity is most evident on the plate, where the same ingredients — fresh arugula and tomatoes — show up repeatedly, and where vast Italian culinary techniques seem to have been reduced to slicing, tossing and searing. Given the service and atmosphere, diners might expect something less "semplice" to come out of the kitchen.
But perhaps this is where Aromi will go in the coming months, after they adjust the portion sizes (down) and the modest prices (the other direction). Given its very successful debut, Aromi's future development will be fascinating to observe. Highly recommended.
Evan Rail can be reached at
erail@praguepost.com