The Prague Post
July 20th, 2008
Endowment Fund     Book of Lists ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Hotel Prague Centre

Home » Archives » Night & Day

Foodoo hoodoo

Dining for the average drone plus a new spin on the Spoon

By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
January 23rd, 2008 issue

Jan Přerovský/THE PRAGUE POST
Ambience as you like it at this Prague 8 corporate park bar/café.
enlarge
Faced with an angular space on the ground floor of Prague 8’s Danube House, some befuddled designer apparently freaked out.
The resulting illogical romp, known as Café Foodoo, wedges a cute, candy-red and white counter reminiscent of a Father Knows Best–era diner (except for all the booze) into a school cafeteria reproduction, complete with concrete floor, creating an industrial lounge looking the very sanctum of urban cool.
It’s here that cube drones from the Danube and surrounding office blocks settle, with laptops or colleagues, for a respite from their desks.
There’s no reason anyone else should make the trip, however. Salads and sandwiches, most likely prepared at Café Foodoo’s bistro sibling — which occupies another corner of the building — are tame, almost thoughtless. Olives devoid of flavor, mundane veggies and common cheese comprise the Greek salad. Uninspiring bread and a few soggy shreds of lettuce support decent beef in the tenderloin sandwich.
The latter comes with garlic dip, rather than the preferred horseradish — which should add some drama to those afternoon meetings.
If Foodoo works, it’s because of 20-minute breaks, or devotees of schizophrenic design and those who admire the undiscovered glories of Karlín’s riverfront. The food itself doesn’t make much of an impression.
Back for more
It’s perhaps selfish to wish for someone to stick with a routine when they’ve grown weary of it, or ask them to stay put instead of chasing personal dreams. Still, Laura Baranik’s abrupt disappearance from Prague’s dining scene left many of us feeling a bit deprived. While she pursued acting roles, we endured a string of feeble replacements.
Fortunately, Baranik returned to action earlier this month, this time as critic for her own Web site/blog.
Prague Spoon, hosted by Blogspot.com, stands out from an increasingly crowded field of laymen correspondents for several reasons.
There’s no shortage of people willing to pass judgment on the worthiness of one restaurant or another. Baranik took her lumps during a stint with Expats.cz. In a short period of time, she picked up on many of the things professional critics must know — fumbling a few times (as we all do), yet always improving her base of knowledge and feel for the industry. She understands the importance of accuracy, of discarding personal likes and dislikes in favor of hard-nosed assessment.
And, unlike so many other bloggers, Baranik stands behind her work, affixing her name to the site rather than ducking into the safety of a pseudonym.
Best of all, the woman can write.
The first postings appeared on Prague Spoon just two weeks ago. It may take a while for her to smooth out whatever kinks appear, naturally. But expect the site to develop into a lively, opinionated destination well worth repeated reading.
Although there are some who might dispute the “Prague’s most opinionated eater” claim.
Check it out at Praguespoon.blogspot.com.
Here and there
Thanks to Baranik for reminding me that Monarch added to its budding wine bar empire with a new sipping post on V Kolkovně.
Don’t know if anybody noticed or even cared, but a more established sight on that same strip, Kolkovna, shut down recently for a two-month facelift. Plenty of other places to score bland, overpriced goulash, though, along with a Pilsner or two.
Also in Old Town, another of the popular Potrefená Husa chain popped up on Platnéřská, just around the corner from the Four Seasons.
Seems like a lot going on in Old Town these days: Young French chef Jerome Lorieux quit his post at La Provence shortly after New Year’s and hightailed it to Singapore, where he’s stepped into a chef de cuisine role.
Meanwhile, in New Town, Černy Kohout closed for a brief refitting. The owners plan to open again Feb. 5.
Candyland
Chocolate flows at Café Bistro in the Hilton Prague for the entire month of February — including the extra leap day. The restaurant’s fountain of liquid chocolate spills the goods between 3 and 6 p.m. every day. Wash it all down with Prosecco, or wander across the lobby to Zest Bar for any number of Chopin vodka creations.
Final (slurred) words
Well, in this case, some rather straight talk from Il Giardino chef Reinhard Danzinger, passed along after he sent us last week’s recipe. The Austrian native has spent time in kitchens on at least two continents and, despite evidence of progress, remains unimpressed by most Prague restaurants. Indeed, he points out, “You still fill restaurants by serving half-decent, half-authentic, badly cooked food at prices that are sometimes higher than in Vienna.”
Which makes the veteran chef sound like a pretty opinionated diner as well.

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (23/01/2008):

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 Book of Lists

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.