Food review: Renommé

"Dinner and a show" is the classic idea of a date. But no matter how confident you are that you'll laugh and cry in all the right places at the theater, if the meal beforehand doesn't match the tone or quality of the evening it can practically ruin it.

With the elegance of Prague's National Theater to play up to, Renommé, a tiny spot behind the theater with just a few tables and a focused, Continental menu, is a new restaurant that manages to be rewardingly unpretentious and yet also sophisticated, somewhere equally comfortable in jeans as in black tie.

The restaurant has made the most of the awkwardly shaped, tiny space. Purple and gold trim banquettes, and each table has a fishbowl centerpiece, complete with swimming tenant. It's hard to make eye contact with it, however, if you're tucking into the sea bass.

The star of Renommé's show is its foie gras. The coveted and contentious delicacy comes in three presentations, each emphasizing a different shine of the fatty liver. One of the address's previous incarnations was a sekt bar, and Renommé maintains an impressive list of champagne, sekt, Prosecco and other bubblies. Apart from these sexy starlets, though, the rest of its concise offerings are humble, comforting dishes with a dash of fine-dining quality to them, yet most are refreshingly close to the 200 Kč mark.   

Some people are squeamish about the texture of beef tartare, and it can be an art form to mix the requisite egg, garlic and other ingredients to one's exact taste. At Renommé, the beef tartare came pre-mixed, which might anger purists but was satisfying nonetheless. The supple ground sirloin took the simple additions of a tomato sauce, mustard, diced onions, a dab of garlic and a hint of Worcester, and was delicious, straight-up comfort food, spreading soundly on to wedges of crunchy fried toast.

Likewise, the foie gras, served with a confit of duck breast, was nicely mixed in and evenly distributed, pacing its extreme richness. Its silkiness paired with roughly shredded, tender pieces of duck in what was an earthy, elegant combination elevated to angelic heights by a tart ginger and pear compote, the sweetness of which complemented the buttery liver. Hot, soft baguette slices arrived with this plate, as well as a tasty homemade butter, topped by lemon salt, that melted immediately into the floury crevices.

Renommé's dishes carry a richness that attests to skill and carefully vetted ingredients. The Milanese risotto, for example, was creamy, buttery and cheesy, a tang of Parmesan cutting through to meet the musky pan-fried forest mushrooms sprinkled on top. It ended up being much more filling than it first appeared, and the Arborio rice was cooked perfectly al dente.

The braised neck of fallow deer was a winter warmer of the Sunday dinner tradition; a red-wine gravy oozing over the cut and pooling in the creamy potatoes, ensuring every last bite was scooped up and eaten. The reduction, dotted with fruit, brought out the gamey flavor of the deer. The meat was slightly chewy and difficult to cut through in places, having not been served with a steak knife, but each forkful was rustically pleasing and simple. The potatoes were pureed to airiness.

On a lunchtime visit, a daily menu was on offer, with several specials (such as a venison goulash for 99 Kč) scrawled on a chalkboard outside. There was an option for a starter and main for 160 Kč, which applies every workday, and which veer more toward Czech tastes. On a recent visit, there was potato soup and baked trout with lentils and horseradish cream. Happily, though, the regular menu is also available, and several of the dishes are light, lunch-friendly fare.

Baked sea bass with grilled vegetables was two tender filets of fish in-skin. The flesh was flaky and gently aromatic, and fresh. Red and yellow bell peppers, zucchini and forest mushrooms had been nicely grilled, with char marks to prove their time over the heat, and were soft and snappy.

The cornfed chicken breast was a substantial portion, comprising a super thick breast and part of a thigh. The skin was buttery and crisp, and the meat incredibly juicy if a tad oversalted. The same went for the bed of wilted fresh spinach, which was tangy and tasteful but had some bites that were overwhelmed by sprinklings of rock salt. Browned, house-made potato gnocchi were also filling, doughy rolls that sponged nicely into the light, tarragon sauce.

A dessert of chocolate fondant was a fitting finale. It took a while to come out of the kitchen, having been freshly prepared, but arrived piping hot and steaming, breaking open to ooze chocolate, mingling with a rich, white-chocolate velouté and orange cream drizzled prettily.

Wine can be steeply priced by the glass, so it's advisable to buy a bottle, for which there's a respectable list, reasonably priced. Renommé is a good bet for a courteous meal in unpretentious yet chic environs, before or after a show. Even if you're not headed to the theater, there's bound to be some memorable numbers.

Fiona Gaze can be reached at
fgaze@praguepost.com