The Prague Post
November 22nd, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Hotel Prague Centre

Home » Archives » Night & Day

Reaching for the stars

Allegro looks to make culinary history in Prague
Restaurant Review | Search restaurants | Archives

By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
November 14th, 2007 issue

Allegro

Veleslavínova 2a
(inside the Four Seasons)
Prague 1–Old Town
Tel. 221 426 880
Open daily 7 a.m.–11 p.m.
(breakfast menu until 11:30 a.m.)

Food ****
Service ****
Atmosphere **
Overall ****

Jan Přerovský/THE PRAGUE POST
A star in Florence, chef Andrea Accordi hopes for the same recognition here.
FROM THE MENU

Filled artichoke 560 Kč
Pappardelle 560 Kč
Roasted pigeon 980 Kč
Pan fried sea bass 960 Kč
Pear tatin 340 Kč
House chardonnay 200 Kč
Budvar 0.5 140 Kč

Word is that Allegro’s new chef, Andrea Accordi, is bucking for a Michelin star.
The young Italian earned one of the prized markers during a five-year stint at Villa La Vedetta in Florence, and clearly hopes to renew his success here.
But Prague has long been a Michelin wasteland — although not for the want of talented chefs. Until recently, the city lacked the sort of clientele necessary to sustain a guide-worthy restaurant. Skilled independents find it difficult to bring in high-quality ingredients on a consistent basis. And experienced line cooks often jump at more lucrative offers from foreign kitchens.
Then there’s Michelin’s demands for flawless service.
So wait staff at Allegro perhaps overcompensate, erring on the solicitous side. Still, they are an easygoing, professional group, versed in long-forgotten aspects of customer appreciation. Slip away to the washroom for a moment and you will find a new cloth napkin at your seat. Ask a question and, if they don’t know the answer right off, they will find out.
Ultimately, the push for recognition relies on the skill and perseverance of chef Accordi. He’s a practitioner of “modern” Italian cuisine, a departure from those stolid days when strict adherence to the bounds of regional cooking defined the nation. Modern Italian is, simply, fusion cuisine — albeit smarter and perhaps more refined than your average collision of global flavors.
Handmade, fresh pappardelle are perfectly al dente. Shrivels of crisped guanciale tumble across the top sheath of pasta — strands of maroon and amber contributing lean but momentarily intense pork flavors, along with an ethereal crunch. Behind this, a bracing chicory zing from radicchio washes over the velvet sensation of smoked ricotta.
The latter perhaps gives way too easily, but without undermining the tricky, swaying balance of ingredients and texture. Otherwise, it stays within the lines of traditional Italian cooking, at least until a confectionary tackiness wells up: onion fondant, which brings about collusion between bitter and sweet flavors while mimicking the mouth feel of pasta and cheese.
Along with this rising, bittersweet mass, however, I sensed (on one occasion, at least) an extra helping of salt in the mix.
Medallions of medium-rare pigeon (dubbed “royal,” hopefully not an indication of their source) are down-to-earth yet regal in flavor, resembling if anything the rustic taste of venison. The crust wanders in a subtle haze of seasoning blending easily into the meat, drawing you toward the gamey heart of each piece. Around it, an intense ribollita reduction acts as a sauce, the natural vegetal sugars matured by heat into something reminiscent of the topping for candy apples — but with an adult twist, more savory than sweet.
The plate also holds molded puree of celeriac and apple, dusted sparingly with kosher salt so that each burst explodes from the dense mélange. Meat closer to the bone — the legs — ends up in a unique “spring roll” presentation.
It’s an impressive dish, the flavor profile flowing through forest and meadow.
Items arranged on each plate are there for a reason. They either complement dominant ingredients or direct your attention toward a specific element of the dish. Nothing you encounter, aside from clumsy pizza puffs served with aperitifs, appears either amateurish or heavy-handed.
Pan-seared sea bass reminds one of the central lessons of fine dining: If it’s good product, chefs can either cover it up, destroy it or prepare the thing correctly — in this case flaky and clean, with a mellow, lingering flavor. The skin is light and crisp, concentrated and fishy. There’s a strange otherness to it, as if it were at once part of the meat yet separate, fleshed out by a sprinkle of sea salt as a reminder of natural environments.
How the kitchen manages this combination of delicate, tender flesh topped by a wafer of crunchy skin may seem like a miracle. In reality, it’s a matter of well-practiced technique.
Artichoke stuffed with burata tastes like it was just plucked from the earth, resurrected from the murky soil by the silken, milky cheese. Mango puree adorning the amuse bouche lingers on the palate as a reminder of very fresh fruit. Even the extras — kir tipping between sweet and dry, Irish coffee swathed in rich cream — are perfectly expressive.
The only down note? One evening a table of loud, suspiciously nouveau riche American men provided the atmosphere, ruing damage to the Bentley, recounting the antics of their “slaves” — presumably employees — and bragging about their trophies.
Michelin can’t fault the restaurant for seating the unseemly, I guess. Bemusing pizza puff munchies and a hint of brackishness in the pappardelle, on the other hand, may keep the restaurant in the dark for another year — or perhaps not.
With the chef, the money and its performance, Allegro is a strong contender.

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (14/11/2007):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Business Listings

Provokator
Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.