The Prague Post
September 7th, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Hotel Prague Centre

Home » Archives » Night & Day

Location, location, location

With some help, Cerreto would draw crowds - somewhere else
Restaurant Review | Search restaurants | Archives

By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
May 21st, 2008 issue

Cerreto


Sokolovská 195
Prague 9-Vysočany
Tel. 266 312 266
Open daily 11 a.m.-11 p.m.



Food *
Service ***
Atmosphere *
Overall *

JAN PŘEROVSKÝ/THE PRAGUE POST
Looking in at Cerreto: a cool space among paneláks.
enlarge
FROM THE MENU



Stuffed pepper 85 Kč
Prosciutto and melon 92 Kč
Foccacia 45 Kč
Trottole alla Amatriciana 114 Kč
Pizza Montagna 135 Kč
Tuna steak 255 Kč
Stella Artois 35 Kč
Viewed from the street side, there’s nothing attractive about this place. Sunk in a weathered, battleship-gray slab of panelák, it calls to you with dirty patio umbrellas and placards fit more for a Prague 9 potraviny than a neighborhood Italian restaurant.
And it’s quite a neighborhood, well beyond the gentrified section of Sokolovská. Joining me for a tram ride back one evening were two ambassadors for the, shall we say, more colorful side of Czech culture: a scraggly, old-before-his-time father showing tracks on both arms, and a man standing serenely as a puddle spread from his pant leg.
The inside of Cerreto, however, presents a remarkable contrast. A lot of thought went into the layout, from the subdued treatments to the curved bar that softens the room’s hard L shape. Instead of drab, communist-era fittings, you find natural tones, stone, tile and wood warmed by a large, wood-fired pizza oven.
It feels like Prague 2.
From the orange glow of that oven emerge pies every bit the equal of Vinohrady’s popular Grosseto. The crust is thin and perhaps a tad flimsy in the center, but otherwise nicely crisp and glutinous around the edges. The pizza Montagna sharpens the usual mozzarella covering by crumbling gorgonzola over the top — lightly, so just a hint of the famous blue’s complex, salty taint flits across your palate.
Okay, so Cerreto doesn’t spring for the mature gorgonzola. Considering this city’s tenuous pizza history, it still makes a decent pie.
Foccacia bakes in the same oven, arriving hot enough to require a moment or two for the flat dough to crisp up, and thick with the aroma of garlic. That’s what you want from the ancient hearth bread: the biting zing of garlic cooled by olive oil, with a sprinkle of herbs for interest, in this case rosemary.
Now, many different styles of foccacia exist, including fried varieties, so there’s no real right or wrong involved. But Cerreto’s cried out for just a few grains, here and there, of sea salt. Which marks the first time I’ve run across a dish in the Czech Republic that begged for more sodium.
The kitchen’s shortcomings all seem to result from, well, an amateurish understanding of balance, flavors and the cuisine itself. The Trottole Amatriciana starts with pasta cooked relatively close to al dente. But this foundation can’t improve a plebeian mélange of pepperoni slices, beans, vegetable bits and chilis. Grilled zucchini, eggplant and bell pepper (this time perfectly dusted with salt) form the more memorable part of the restaurant’s tuna steak entrée, simply because the kitchen cooks the albacore far too long, turning the pinkish flesh into a sickly gray-tan, similar to something from a Starkist can. On the plus side, they’ve managed a golden crust and deft seasoning.
The idea pops to mind that the kitchen staff, if trained by a top chef, would likely wow this city. Clearly there’s some modest talent here.
But one wonders if it’s too much for the neighborhood. During a Saturday evening visit, two kids were kicking a football around. After a few close calls, the ball ricocheted hard off the chipped panelák wall, whipped past my table and smacked an unsuspecting female diner squarely in the face.
At least the youngster had the guts to walk up and apologize.
There are several other satisfying dishes here. Proscuitto rears up with a pungent flavor and salty backlash — a nice counter to juicy, slightly sweet melon. Bell pepper stuffed with a zucchini ragout and slathered with a tart goat cheese presents almost meaty flavors, despite its vegetarian pedigree.
Cerreto is not close to Aromi, Cicala or other highly-regarded Italian spots. But it beats many of the popular spots in the center, at least when it comes to unpretentious fare.
There’s no reason to wander out for a special meal here. But if you find yourself in the area, before an event at Sazka Arena perhaps, don’t let the surroundings frighten you away.

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (21/05/2008):

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 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.