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November 23rd, 2008
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Honorable mention

A rare showing by a Kampa Park chef and other new exhibits

By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
July 16th, 2008 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
Kampa Park sous chef Jan Všetečka will compete against the world in January.
At one time, it would have been unthinkable to send a Czech up against 19 of the best chefs in Europe. But nowadays — well, why not?
Kampa Park sous chef Jan Všetečka recently competed in the European finals of the prestigious Bocuse d’Or and not only cracked the top 10, but also qualified for the international finale. Not a bad performance by the first Czech ever to reach the penultimate round.
Bocuse d’Or requires chefs pick up assigned ingredients — the same for each team — create recipes, assign tasks to a cooking crew and prepare and serve dinner for 12 (including side dishes), all within a scant four-hour period. Each chef works with the same equipment in one kitchen studio and presents meals on identical plates. It’s like Iron Chef without the excitement.
For this event, the teams worked with lamb and salmon. Všetečka whipped up glazed Norwegian salmon accompanied by smoked king crab and roasted lamb with mint and bacon … kidney baked in fat, lamb sausage, lamb sweetbreads — it’s as if he couldn’t stop.
First place went to Geir Skeie of Norway, who may have benefited from a little home-field advantage (Stavanger, Norway, hosted the event). Either that or the guy really knows his fish. Všetečka finished eighth.
The international contest will take place in Lyon, France, in January 2009.
Outtakes
The Indian favorite in Old Town, Rasoi, blames “technical problems” for closing its doors. This is a time-honored excuse when Czech operations decide to step out for a little R & R — typically during all of July, August and the odd weekend. But Rasoi’s troubled ownership removed the restaurant’s signage completely.
Café Savoy reopened after a very brief remodeling session, lasting less than two weeks. The improvements were explained in Czechlish, but had to do with the ceiling and kitchen.
Stating the obvious: A court ruling last week affirmed that Jan Becher holds rights to the Becherovka trademark.
Making a splash
With the flow of Czech lifeblood — that would be alcohol — threatened by new regulations forbidding open consumption along sidewalks, parks and other public areas, Prague’s chronic drinkers begin to poke through loopholes almost immediately. My favorite discovery: The law allows people to hang around refreshment stands and knock back a few beers, but fails to define just how close to the stand one must be to legally consume.
Meanwhile, everybody’s favorite radar-base junkie, Karel Schwarzenberg, tried to engage a group of protesters last week, who responded by pelting him with tomatoes. One smacked him in the chest, he claimed afterward, but merely bounced off and did not leave a stain. Next time, he concluded, anti-radar protesters should forego the commercially farmed, chemically grown stuff and lob ripe organic produce.
Final (slurred) words
Two rules: When you host a party, it behooves you to actually show up. And if the menu mentions a lava grill, it’s probably best to fire it up. Ah, but neither host Max Munson nor his advertised lava grill were in evidence at Jáma’s Fourth of July bash — the latter garaged when cooks failed to show up for the gig. As a result, the party faltered, wait staff spent their time grumbling under their breath, and the grilled ribs tasted like boiled, greasy lumps of gray matter. Shoulda ordered the wings.

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (16/07/2008):

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