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September 7th, 2008
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No butts about it

Smoke-free dining and other places still smokin'

By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
June 25th, 2008 issue

MICHAEL HEITMANN/The Prague Post
Lighting up takes on a new meaning at smoke free restaurants like Lehka Hlava.
The Association of Restaurants and Hotels in the Czech Republic recently announced that more than 260 non-smoking establishments are now operating in Prague — a sign of either progress or Californication, depending on one’s perspective.
However, if you ask the Česká Koalice Proti Tabáku (Czech Coalition Against Tobacco), and exclude coffee shops and Internet cafés from your request, the number plummets to something like 49. And many of those, such as Ambiente on Mánesova and Ferdinanda near the museum, merely cordon off a nonsmoking section.
Nothing wrong with that approach, but it hardly suggests a trend.
There are, however, a few very good and completely (or largely) smoke-free places in town. A sampling:
Maze (V Celnici 7, Prague 1–New Town). The Gordon Ramsay concept in Hilton’s second location is one of the best completely nonsmoking restaurants in Prague. Guests may squawk about the Gilded Age look, but the meals are both exquisite and simple. Smokers can enjoy the bar next door.
Sushi Bar (Zborovská 49, Prague 5–Smíchov). The elder statesman in a town full of sushi joints (and still top of the list), Sushi Bar’s small space would cloud over quickly if guests were allowed to light up. Sorry, no option but the great outdoors for tobacco addicts.
CzecHouse (Pobřežní 1, Prague 8–Karlín). The Hilton Prague’s destination restaurant has banned smoking for years. If you must, there are plenty of other places in the giant hotel to puff away.
Lehká Hlava (Boršov 2, Prague 1–Old Town). Perhaps the No. 1 vegetarian stop in Prague, the eclectic room — make that rooms — offers clean air that will help clear your head. Step outside to light up.
Miyabi (Navrátilova 10, Prague 1–New Town). The Japanese restaurant famed for reasonable pricing also offers guests the opportunity to breathe freely. Smoking allowed curbside.
Metropol Music Café (Na Poříčí 12, Prague 1–New Town). Not entirely smoke-free. But, if memory serves, the upstairs dining room (fully closed off but for the stairwell) bars cigarettes and such. Stroll down to the café to bum a light.
Allegro (Veleslavínova 2a, Prague 1–Old Town). The region’s first Michelin star restaurant has a large nonsmoking space, although clouds from the adjoining bar may drift over.
Bellevue (Smetanovo nábř. 18, Prague 1–Old Town). Bellevue’s approach limits smoking to 10 percent of its floor space, and that in a separate room.
Others listed by CKPT include Beas, U Krbu and Karavanseraj. But oftentimes, “nonsmoking” remains more of a suggestion — as when wait staff at Patriot-X turned the other way recently as a friend fired up in the ash-free zone.
Eye in the sky
According to the folks at Hilton Prague, no true sky bar exists in the Czech Republic — not that there’s much demand for fancy, all-glass digs in Havířov or Poděbrady.
But things will change when the Prague 8–Karlín hotel opens Cloud 9. Floor-to-ceiling windows provide stunning, if distant, views of Old Town, Malá Strana, the castle — and somewhat less dramatic vistas of Libeň, Žižkov and the city’s drab housing blocks. Inside, the bar (the most important part of any drinking establishment) will run 62 meters, which may just put it in line for “longest bar” honors.
Hilton management held a walk-through for Czech media recently, serving fancy cocktails amid piles of plasterboard, floor tiles and other construction detritus. The grand opening is scheduled for sometime in September, but expect doors to officially open by mid-August.
Something in the air
And if the promise of coming sky bars isn’t exciting enough, Fluidum announced the installation of a new air-conditioning unit.
Kampa Group’s over-praised and underwhelming paean to red meat, Cowboys, decided to use its impressive terrace space wisely. Every weekend the place hosts an outdoor barbecue, Texas-style. Or more likely, Czechas-style. Now if only they’d learn the art of cooking thick slabs of steak.
Out in Tuchoměřice, where they know something about French and Belgian cooking, Auberge de Provence welcomes all weightlifters (meaning 0.5 l weightlifters) to a mussels party. The shells pop open at noon June 27, and service runs until 11 p.m. It’s 425 Kč per kilo. Call 220 950 673 for directions or more information.
The lunch bunch
The great Asian fusion restaurant Monsoon in Prague 6 now opens for lunch every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Choose between a noodles menu, curry menu, “Indo” menu — satay, goring, rendang and such — or Thai menu for 399 Kč. Plus, the kids can run rampant through a play space. Better yet, you can turn the diminutive fiends loose on Monsoon’s kitchen, where a “pizza builder’s corner” (100 Kč per child) helps young gourmands create their own. Call 222 959 999 for more information.
Meanwhile, Prague’s other great Asian fusion space, Angel, has cancelled Sunday brunch service for the summer.
Casa Andina now cooks for the lunch crowd between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Apart from a few simple Peruvian dishes — the kitchen’s forte — the special menus include light meals and Czech specialties.
Final (slurred) words
There will be no post-mortem (yet) for the Czech Beer Festival, as event organizers plan to try again next year after a considerable period of wound-licking. Instead of anticipated crowds, the 10-day letdown saw half-empty tents. And those of us who lived the event vicariously — sitting at our local — heard plenty of grousing from people who wandered out to Holešovice. The consensus: Drop the entry fee, get rid of the ridiculous token system and truck in beers you can’t actually find in Prague.

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (25/06/2008):

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