The land that vegetables forgot

Lowly smažený sýr, that fried square of unremarkable cheese topped with mayonnaise and served in a bun, was for a minute elevated to exotic new heights by Anthony Bourdain, the American chef and travel show host who rapturously declared, "It's magnificent!"

And the man was sober.

Bourdain's Travel Channel show No Reservations, which filmed in Prague and its environs in late October, aired Feb. 1 in the United States. Part culinary adventurer, part tourist, Bourdain visits a different city each week to mix history, travel and food.

If Bourdain genuinely "wished I were drunker" in order to heighten the pleasures of a fried-cheese sandwich, he certainly acted on that impulse for most of his other meals, pork-heavy standards that were washed down with plenty of Czech beers and slivovice.

Bourdain chowed down on beer cheese with topinky and roasted pigs' tails at U Medvídků, talked dumplings with artist David Černý ("dumplings are shit" the artist declared) and tackled and conquered an entire pig knee at the Pivovarský klub in Karlín. Beyond the obligatory pub grub and street food, the show was invited to visit what some would say is the top restaurant in Prague: La Degustation Boheme Bourgeois. Chef Oldřich Sahajdak sat down with Bourdain and walked him through Czech cuisine and his modern take on it.

Bourdain also got a look at a real Czech tradition, a zabijačka, or pig killing, watching Christopher Robertson of Robertson's butcher shop roast a pig in a suburban backyard, cooking up nearly every part of the animal.

The show also took an interesting side trip to the SAPA Vietnamese market in Prague 4, where Bourdain struggled to get a bowl of pho, as the merchants balked at the arrival of a camera crew. As of press time, the entire show was available in five segments on YouTube, which a simple search of "Bourdain Prague" should turn up.

Overall, No Reservations did a fantastic job of surveying the diverse cuisine available in Prague, rather than hobbling along on the tired cliché of the Czech Republic only being good for beer and pork. Even if you think you know all there is to know about the local culinary scene, the show is worth checking out for the witty chef's one-liners, which veer from silly to shocking. A sampling:

On a rabbit dish at La Degustation: "I'm really loving this meal, but rabbit three-way? I'm not sure, someone always gets left out, you know? Poor bunny doesn't even get a reach-around."

On the huge pork knee at Pivovarský klub: "Served in all its austere simplicity with red cabbage and horseradish on the side, a nice, astringent counterpoint to the generous amount of fat you're going to be shoving into your gob."

On frequenting a Wenceslas Square sausage stand with the chef of Divinis and Imperial Café: "Zdeněk Pohlreich is the chef of one of the grander, better restaurants in town, and frankly seems a little horrified and disgusted by my passion for sausage. ? I'm all blissed out by this inviting wall of wieners, and I guess for him it's like another chef coming to your town and being only interested in string cheese and curly fries."

After the suburban pork feast: "I feel exactly like this sausage: Filled with fat and pork and overbrimming at both ends. I'm going to need a transfusion of green vegetables after this. Doctor! Spinach, stat!"

On his smažený sýr: "Fried cheese on a bun? It may seem like a small thing to you. But to me, it's an answered prayer."

On the rocks

In case you can't get enough of this frozen weather, try enjoying your drink outdoors. For the second year, the Hilton's Cloud 9 lounge has created an ice bar on its terrace overlooking the Vltava. An entrance fee of 590 Kč gets you 30 minutes in the ice bar, a glass of Taittinger Champagne, unlimited Skyy Vodka shots (to stay warm, presumably) and an oyster. The vodka shots aren't straight, but rather come as one of nine shooters crafted by Roman Uhlíř, Cloud 9's master mixologist. The ice bar was built by the Ice Art company in blocks measuring 100 x 50 x 20 cm from nearly 1,000 liters of water. The terrace has also been outfitted with ice tables, chairs and ice sculptures. The bar will be open for as long as weather permits, so hurry before it warms up.

Winging it

As noted in this week's review, Old Town's Angel restaurant closed recently. The space hasn't changed hands, however, and the owners have reopened the Céleste Bistro in its place. Instead of Asian fusion dishes, however, the bistro serves French cuisine.  

Claire Compton can be reached at
ccompton@praguepost.com