Prague Food Festival 2012

"Did perpetual happiness in the Garden of Eden maybe get so boring that eating the apple was justified?" Chuck Palahniuk

People used to call the Czech Republic a culinary backwater. Some still do. Ten years ago, I'd agree with them.

While this country doesn't have the depth of the great world capitals, it does have world class quality. Assembling much of it in one place is something to behold.

That's what the Prague Food Festival does. It is the event of the year for foodies: a perpetual showcase for more and more inspiring restaurants.

I've only missed the fest once since it began. This year, it returned to the fairy tale-like setting of Prague Castle's Royal Garden.

It is the best of the locations they've used, and I hope it stays there.

The deal remained the same this year.

It cost 400 CZK to get in, which includes 250 CZK worth of food tickets called "Grands." You buy more books of 10 tickets for 250 CZK as needed. And you will need.

I attended with my Italian companion on Friday evening. We enjoyed good weather and almost no lines.

I was warned Saturday would be the busiest day, but several people told me Sunday was actually busier, with occasional 15 minute waits for the most popular offerings.

The festival tried to manage the crowds more efficiently this year by selling tickets with entry times. Mid-day slots were sold out in advance.

The event was founded by Pavel Maurer, who publishes the Grand Restaurant guide.

One welcome new addition this year was much more seating for diners.

My only criticism is that many dining areas were not close enough to where food was being served. I mostly ate while standing at the small tables near the food tents. You had to be lucky sometimes to find a free spot.

We started off in the lower garden.

The first place I hit was V Zátiší.

I've greatly enjoyed their offerings in previous years. This was no exception.

They served slow-roasted lamb, organic quinoa, lemon yogurt, and lamb jus (150 CZK).

I love lamb, and I loved this. The meat was rare and tender, if a little too salty. The jus caught the essence of the meat. A dab of that and the tangy yogurt sauce made for a lovely bite. I really dug the quinoa. I wish it would appear on more menus.

We moved up the narrow path to try Le Patio. Chef Sofia Smith has completely redone the restaurant's menu with an Asian theme. There were so many tempting options like slow-cooked Indonesian-style organic beef or calamari confit.

I settled on Singapore shrimp with black pepper, curry leaves, and green chili served with rice and banana leaf essence (125 CZK).

The three small shrimp were properly cooked and had a delicate crunch. The sauce certainly provided a peppery heat. I wished there was more of it to coat the rice. It was gone all too quickly.

The next stop was La Truffe. I've heard good things about this truffle-inspired restaurant. It's not cheap though, and their dishes carried the top price of 250 CZK.

I had the puff pastry filled with baked black truffle, a slice of foie gras, and pancetta on a sauce Bordelaise. I sliced it in half for further inspection.

There was a decent-sized chunk of the dear and subtle flavored mushroom inside. It was somewhat overwhelmed by the other ingredients. The foie gras didn't fare so well in the cooking process and didn't have the smoothest texture. The pastry was nice.

Surprisingly, the sauce, made with a rich demi-glace, was the best part. Thick and beefy, with a hint of wine, it was so damn good I licked the plate, even though I know this mortifies my more refined companion. The dish got a tongue lashing and so did I.

We walked back to the upper garden and went to Alcron at the Radisson Blu, which received a Michelin star this year. Here we purchased their dorade (sea bream) with candied eggplant purée (150 CZK).

The fish was simply done, and the Italian lady liked it very much. I thought one part of the fish had gotten a little dry. In any case, the quite sweet purée balanced well with the flavor of the fresh fish filet.

Le Grill Restaurant at the Kempinski had an interesting creation: barley risotto with beetroot juice, goat cream cheese, and rucola, topped with Pecorino (100 CZK).

My friend and I split on this. She loved the combinations of textures and flavors. I thought it could have been great, but I found it too salty. The Pecorino was quite intense by itself.

Not far away, we checked out U Zlaté Studně. This restaurant got the most diners' votes for best restaurant in Maurer's Grand Restaurant guide for 2012.

We tasted the pork loin cooked sous-vide, served with a sauce of smoked bones and mashed potatoes with truffle butter (175 CZK).

The meat was so tender. The vacuum bag cooking method gave it a wonderfully silky texture. The creamy potatoes, with the strong flavor of truffle, were fantastic.

My companion is not a big meat eater, and she actually went back for a second portion of this. It doesn't get much better than that.

We also tried their goat cheese mousse with marinated green asparagus and a spicy honey sauce (100 CZK).

The cheese was light and creamy and the tiny asparagus was surprisingly sweet, but with none of the expected sharpness. It was nice, but nothing to write home about.

We realized we needed something to drink. A bottle of Mattoni could be had for 25 CZK. For the same price, one could have a glass of Master beer, a premium brand by Pilsner Urquell. Unfortunately, when I tried, only one tap was working, and painfully slowly at that.

We waited in a line that didn't move for a while and gave up. A few others did as well.

We saw a restaurant I often recommend, U Emy Destinnové. First, I picked up the ceviche of Yellowfin tuna with coconut-ginger-lime vinaigrette with toasted sesame seeds (125 CZK).

The ruby red little cubes of fish were pristine and I liked the interplay of sesame, slivers of pepper, and the tangy dressing.

Then I tried their Maryland crab cakes with roasted corn sauce and chili (175 CZK).

I was amazed to find that this was the real deal, with big chunks of genuine crab meat. I'm very particular about crab cakes and these tasted very good. I prefer them with slightly less bread crumbs, but it is a real trick to get them to hold together.

I asked the American chef and owner, Steve Trumpfheller, where he got such precious seafood at an affordable price in this town. He told me his mother brought him something like 150 kilos. I've rarely seen this American dish served in Prague, so it was a rare opportunity for many to try it.

While resting, we stopped for a glass of wine. Many were at least 75 CZK for a tiny glass, so we went for the cheapest option -- a rosé Merlot for 25 CZK.

Neither of us liked it. That's what you get when you try to save money on wine. Bad idea.

I like Krystal Mozaika Bistro and I used to be a regular at its sister restaurant, Mozaika. I tried their boar shoulder cooked sous-vide with red wine, served with an herb dumpling (150 CZK).

The meat was tender and had good flavor. The sauce was OK, but was similar to the one served with the Beef Bourguignon at the bistro. You could taste the wine clearly, but it was too sweet for me.

Last but not least, we tried the food from Rickshaw, the restaurant at the Corinthia Towers Hotel. We had the tempura tuna and pickled radish roll with seaweed salad and wasabi cream (100 CZK).

My date liked it. Everything was fresh and tasted fine, but I've just never found anything exceptional about sushi in Prague.

Before I go, I should say something about the prices, as I heard a few complaints last year. We spent over 2000 CZK. That's not a cheap night out for most, but then again  you could spend that for an evening at just one of these restaurants. Some of them can run even double that.

For me, it's great to be able to sample them all in one place on one evening. I know I'd feel that way even if I wasn't writing about it. But I understand if not everyone feels the same.

I'd also add that there were plenty of restaurants we missed for lack further appetite. I was sorry I didn't taste the "culinary lab" offering from Essensia at the Mandarin Oriental.

It looked interesting, and everything was edible, except for the containers.

Top restaurants like Aromi, La Finestra, Bellvue, and Buddha Bar only served on Saturday and Sunday, so we missed those. But there's always next year.

I'm still far from bored with the festival, so I'm pretty sure I'll be back for another visit to this garden of eatin'.

Maurer's Grand Restaurant Guide 2012

"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." Theodore Roosevelt

I rarely attend "industry" events. I've turned down a number of invitations and the chance to eat free food over the years.

Every once in a while, I make an exception and slip inside to see what goes on. A couple of weeks ago was one of those times.

I went to Prague Castle for Pavel Maurer's Grand Restaurant Guide party. Just arriving was pretty spectacular.It was a beautiful walk through the castle gardens to get to the event.

Maurer's guide, in book form and online, is something like Zagat's for the Czech Republic. The event honored voters' choices for the top 10 eateries in the country. Their chefs were there, cooking for the invited guests.

It was a unique opportunity to sample the food of many of Prague's best and brightest cooks, all in one place. I went as an invited guest's "plus one."

The party took place in the Míčovna or Ball Game Hall, which looked gorgeous all lit up at night.While the outside is richly decorated, the inside is plainer and less distinctive.More impressive were the tables with the 10 winning restaurants showing off their cooking skills.

That would have to wait. First came a ceremony to announce the winners. That's Pavel Maurer on the right with the glasses.He's also the founder and organizer of the annual Prague Food Festival. Back in 2007, Radio Prague called Maurer "arguably the Czech Republic’s best known and most influential gourmet." Since then, foodie culture has really taken off in this country, but I still wouldn't argue.

When the award-giving ended, the eating began. It was nothing less than heartbreaking to me that I would not have the stomach space or the time, because of lines, to sample even half of the offerings.

I'll now list the restaurants and the food I sampled from each restaurant in the order they were ranked by Grand Restaurant Guide voters.

10. Sansho
For the sake of efficiency, I planned to skip this table because I had already had the two dishes. I've been to Sansho five times, liked it a lot, and have the photos of everything I've tried.

The soft-shell crab sliders were a favorite.These are playfully called "sliders," basically mini-burgers, because they are served on a bao. It's a round Chinese-style bun. This one is served with a dash of wasabi. It's lighter than you might imagine and a clever concept for the delicately crispy crab.

The other dish was Sansho's mackerel ceviche taco.This had good and fresh flavors going on, including a lot of the cilantro that chef and owner Paul Day favors. But it's less appealing for me, mainly because I find mackerel too dense and oily.

9. Chateau Mcely, Piano Nobile
This restaurant served a terrine of game with a cherry chutney. It was dense and yes, gamey in a good way.I like sweet and salty combinations so the cherries worked for me. They also served chunks of venison that tasted to me and my friend like a fairly simple goulash. We weren't so impressed with that.

What I ate during my visit to the restaurant several months ago was much better. The lamb and foie gras dishes were particularly good. Still, the tab of close to 4000 CZK with no alcohol involved was hard to swallow.

I write from a personal perspective, and it is worth making my particular value system clear. Although I'm a well-known burger fanatic and appreciate greasy street food, I'm also someone who spends 1500 CZK for a meal on a fairly regular basis. If I spend over 2000 CZK, it's usually for a place I already know is good or comes with credible recommendations. When the bill is over 3000 CZK, I start to get skeptical about value for money.

8. Francouzská restaurace Art Nouveau, Obecní dům
A cook here excitedly told me about this next dish. It was a goose neck stuffed with goose, duck, pork, and foie gras served on French lentils.I'll be honest and say I was taken aback by the description. I'll also be honest and say the combination and texture of these meats wrapped in goose skin did not work for me.

Much better was the veal "gravlax" with celery root remoulade. My friend raved about that. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of it.

7. Le Terroir
We only got to one dish here, but it was a good one. They served a small plastic cup filled with veal tongue, fresh-water crayfish, and pumpkin.The salty chunks of meat, with the delicate shell fish and the sweet squash was quite a unique and enjoyable combination. It's fair to say the chef was more focused than my camera.

This restaurant received Michelin's Bib Gourmand for its "good value European cooking" and I suppose dishes like this. I was sorry I missed out on their beef ribs with chanterelle sauce.

6. Koishi Fish & Sushi
This was the one Brno restaurant that made it to the top tier. Here we tried their surprising interpretation of salmon and tuna nigiri.Instead of putting the fish on rice, here they put it on buffalo mozzarella with vinegar for dipping. You have to suspend expectations when you take the first bite, but we both gave it thumbs up.

We also had the salmon tartare with spring onion and cucumber with miso-mustard sauce and quail egg. This was fine, but made a more ordinary impression.

Due to our passion for fresh seafood, we tried a third offering: the oyster with vinaigrette, foie gras, and beet.The reaction here was mixed. My friend loved it and thought the combination was excellent. I didn't.

5. V Zátiší

While I'm not thrilled about paying this restaurant's prices, I think they often cook well. I was especially impressed with their dishes at the Prague Food Festival.

On this night, we liked their game pâté with homemade brioche and cranberry jelly.I thought it was more flavorful and moist than the game terrine from Chateau Mcely.

We didn't get a taste of the perch with beet, potato kasha, and Riesling sauce.

4. La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise
This is a restaurant that I've talked about going to for a long time. I've had a number of friends tell me it was an amazing experience. They also told me they spent more than 8000 CZK for two with the wine pairings that they considered a must. It's just me, but I'm not sure I can enjoy any meal at that price.

First, I had a parsley and pine dumpling topped with a mushroom purée.This restaurant is famous for its fun presentations and distillation of flavors. The ethereal and delicate green dumpling looked like a sponge. It was a nice little bite.

Also entertaining was the carrot wafer with sorrel, corn, and something I'd never heard of before (if I got the translation right): sea-buckthorn berry. It was intriguing, different, and I liked it.I might feel a little differently if I paid a princely sum for the single mouthful.

I also had the beef tartare, cutely sandwiched between thin, delicate wafers. This was much less creative and tasted relatively simple.If you want a better picture that someone else took of this at the restaurant, you can find it here.

3. Radisson Blu, La Rotonde
In the past, this restaurant's seafood-starring Sunday brunch has been an expensive favorite of mine. At this party, I tried their lobster bisque.It was sweet, creamy, lobstery, and I really enjoyed it. My friend was a little less excited about it.

The deer saddle with chestnut-truffle purée and rosehip sauce was something special.While I liked the rare meat, the lightly sweet purée with a hint of the expensive mushroom was just amazing.

2. Radisson Blu, Alcron
I ate in this restaurant many years ago and enjoyed it. It's tiny and felt like eating in rather exclusive club. I'm sure it has changed a lot since then, but their event offering showed they still have top talent.

We loved their expertly seared scallop with cuttlefish ragu, fregola, which is something like a large couscous, and saffron foam.Sorry the picture is not very good. I didn't drink any alcohol, but perhaps I was suffering from serious food intoxication at this point.

1. Terasa U Zlaté Studně
You'd expect this restaurant to wow people with one of the best dishes. And in my view, it lived up to that expectation. Their small block of duck liver dusted with Valhrona chocolate sat smartly next to Poire Williams-flavored jelly and a homemade brioche.The rich and creative plate inspired a big smile from me.

Because of long lines, I didn't get to try their veal cooked sous vide with homemade pasta and these amazing looking morels.They ran out before I got there at the end of the night.

I end pondering the question: Did the voters get it right? Certainly, many of the Czech Republic's biggest talents are in the top 10. The list seems to line up more with my views with each passing year. But there are still anomalies.

For example, on the voters' list, Sansho is ranked 10th, but SaSaZu, another Asian fusion spot that is one of my favorites, is 36th. However, on Maurer's list decided by 45 restaurant experts, Sansho is 5th and SaSaZu is 6th. That's closer to my thinking, but I'd rank SaSaZu even higher.

On the Czech Please Facebook page, some questioned whether the vote was free and fair or whether some restaurants stuffed the ballot box. I wondered about that myself. Pavel Maurer himself replied on the thread:

"1. Restaurants do not have to pay to be included. 2. Independent voters are all people who wants to participate and register on web. Not only Czechs. 3. Every year our security system excludes approximately 25% false votes."

Even if I don't agree with all the voter rankings, I do enjoy debating them. And I certainly appreciate that more and more people in this country are not only paying attention to good food and restaurants, they're also paying for it.

Restaurateurs who are aiming to be the best don't always win prizes. But they are doing worthy work because to me, a fine meal is one of life's great prizes.

I just wish I had room for one dessert at the end.

Prague Food Festival 2011

"Let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths." The Bible

I've been attending the Prague Food Festival religiously for the past three years. It's a heavenly way to sample a wide array of offerings from many of Prague's best restaurants.

It's eater's paradise for endlessly searching grazers like me. The fest is also something of a moveable feast. This year, the extravaganza was in the Eden-like setting of Prague Castle's Royal Garden.The location has changed every year I've attended, and this was the best so far.

I liked it very much in 2010 when it was in lower gardens on the other side of the castle. The 2008 location on Slovanský ostrov was quite good. But all were much better than the cramped and divided areas on the Vltava used for the 2009 festival.

I was there on Saturday and Sunday which, for some, are days of rest. But there was no rest for the foodies.The deal was the same as previous years.

It cost 400 CZK to get in, but that includes 250 CZK worth of food tickets called "Grands."Each Grand is worth 25 CZK and they are sold in packs of 10. I bought 500 CZK extra on both days, so I spent 900 CZK a day. Not cheap, but I had a lot of eating to do.

There were cooking demonstrations in the beautiful Míčovna or Ball Game Hall.It was between shows when I looked in.Later, I tried to see one, but it was too full and I was shut out.

The weather was cool on Saturday with a few threatening clouds, and crowds were light. It was easy to move around.The first dish I tried was at the tent for the Mandarin Oriental's restaurant, Essensia.It was Sri Lankan pork belly in black current with lentil salad and basmati rice (150 CZK). A great start.The fatty meat was cooked into a melt-in-the-mouth state.

I didn't taste blackcurrant, but it was accompanied by a delectable salty, spicy curry sauce. The lentils were mixed with vibrant mint and cilantro. I scooped up the extra sauce with the papadum and rice.

Then I hit the Aromi-La Finestra stand -- two of the top-end Italian spots in town.I had the grilled Marchigiana beef with bean salad (150 CZK). Terrific.The beef, cooked to medium was ever so tender. There was beautiful seasoning along the edge of the meat, which was lightly glazed with an intense olive oil. Crunchy beans, mixed with mushrooms, were a great complement.

Along with this, they gave diners a gift of hand-carved prosciutto on toast with olive oil and a basil-infused tomato sauce.A sweet (and salty) deal.

Then I walked down to the lower garden level, next to the garden's very modern-looking greenhouses.I found the stand for Chagall's Club, which was one of my favorite restaurants in recent months.I got the cod with coriander, parsley crème, and marinated onions (100 CZK). Loved it.The fish was just lightly seared, giving it a light firmness on the outside and a pristine, clean flavor and texture inside.

The crème leaned toward the sweet side and had an interesting texture, almost like hummus. I asked the chef what else was in it, but he wouldn't say. The sweetness was balanced by the sourness of the vinegary onions. I thought this dish was perhaps the best of show -- and a bargain to boot.

Then I went meditate on the offerings from the Buddha Bar. I had trouble deciding, so I got two dishes.

First, I tasted the grilled pork belly marinated in garlic and lime with a caramel glaze (150 CZK).It sat on a salad of carrot, cilantro, and mint. The pork portion was half the size of Essensia's. The sweet glaze had a teriyaki tang and a light char flavor.

This porcine cube was meatier and less fatty than Essensia's and was on the chewier side. I mentioned my preference for one from the Mandarin Oriental to a food journalist I ran into. She told me her preference was the opposite. When she had Essensia's, that one was meatier and less fatty.

It just goes to show -- cuts of meat and critics can vary widely. So take it all with a grain of salt. However, we both agreed that the pork belly at Sansho beat them both.

The other dish I sampled there was the crab cake. The fried ball was filled with a shredded crab mixture that had a creamy texture and a red peppery flavor.I thought it was OK. My friend Mr. T thought it didn't taste crabby enough. The sour salsa underneath didn't really work for me either.

Of course, with all this food, there must be drink. Wine was available, but I went for beer. This year, Pilsner Urquell products were available.They had regular Pilsner, but I went for the richer and more complex Master 13° amber and the Master 18° dark. At 25 CZK per .3 liter glass, I spent more than a few Grands here.

I returned on Sunday and it was a gorgeous day.As wonderful as that sounds and as fantastic as it looked, it also brought out the crowds.The lines for some restaurants like Kobe and Krystal-Mozaika were so long I didn't have the patience to try them.There was a line, though shorter, for another restaurant favorite, U Emy Destinnové.

There I had the wasabi-crusted scallops with julienne garden vegetables, honey soy vinaigrette, and sesame seeds (100 CZ).The small scallops were seared perfectly, with a delicate texture. I didn't taste wasabi. Instead, there was the strong, sharp flavor of peppercorns.

U Emy's American chef and owner, Steve Trumpfheller, was on hand to make sure everything went according to plan.He was very excited about a new menu he had just put together for his restaurant.

The crowds did cause some bottlenecks in the narrower sections of the garden. But there was no line at all for Kampa Park, one of Prague's most expensive restaurants.

There, I tried the halibut with cauliflower, raisins, and dill beurre blanc with capers (175 CZK).It certainly looked pretty. However, the fish was sadly overcooked. Halibut is known for its dense, firm texture, but this one had become mushy.

It was a real shame because the sauce was fantastic. It had a buttery tang along with the sweetness of the raisin and salty, browned cauliflower. It was so good, I picked up the plate and licked it clean like a lollipop at the end.

The last place I tried was Mlynec, which is now focusing on high-end Czech cuisine. I ordered the grilled fallow deer medallions with a vegetable cream sauce and blackcurrant jam (175 CZK).It was a happy ending. The gamy meat was super tender and easy to slice with my plastic knife.The thick, sweet, fruity sauce was divine. Again, I went into plate-licking mode.

As I made my way out, I picked up my parting gift. Everyone who attended the festival received a case with three types of Pilsner Urquell's Master beer.Since I went twice and had a friend who didn't want them, I ended up with three sets. Nice.

Of course, Czechs are the biggest beer consumers in the world and someone should have considered whether such elaborate cardboard cases were really necessary. Large numbers of people drank their Masters on the spot. Unwanted, unneeded boxes were strewn all over the place outside the gates.

I spent the Sabbaths judging the food and drink . Now I'll pass judgement on the festival.

Yes, the prices do seem to be creeping higher. But overall, I'd say this was the best fest yet.

The garden was just gorgeous, the weather was perfect on Sunday, the crowds light on Saturday, and I think I enjoyed more dishes from more places than ever before.

I pray that next year's fest will be as good or better as this one was. Even though my expectations have risen to an ever higher plane, I have faith it will be.