The wait is over, and Prague (and the whole of Czechia at large), now has its own Michelin guide. The ceremony took place in the casino of the Nové lázně spa in Mariensbad, and was attended by nearly the entire food industry of the country.
So what were the restaurants rewarded by the Michelin guide? Let’s recap:
Two stars
As many predicted, the only two stars in the country go to Chef Knedla’s Papilio in Velký Újezd, a small village just a short drive from Prague. And for good reason: we ate there recently and loved the experience. The very young kitchen carefully curates some of the country’s best ingredients (we had to google many of these little farms and producers, and we thought we had a pretty idea of what is good here) and turns them into excellent dishes. The wine pairing is great, and Zuzi could not have been happier about the tea pairing.
The kitchen only serves sixteen guests for dinners, which we’re afraid is quite limited given what’s going to happen after the awards, but we were the only diners for Friday lunch, so this is your window of opportunity: lunch. We asked Jan at the ceremony when would he raise the prices after they got the two stars. His response: „when the farmers raise their prices“, so they should keep their prices for now. A week before our meal at Papilio we at at Bangkok’s three-Michelin-star Sühring, and this was in many way comparable. Excellent stuff. If there was one restaurant that deserved two stars, it was them.
Chef Knedla and his wife in Papilio.
Papilio.
Papilio, a two-star Michelin restaurant.
One star restaurants in Prague
La Degustation and Field have defended their stars… from five years ago. (Michelin’s focus on legacy and continuity was a bit weird, given their five year’s absence in the Czech Republic.) Credit where it’s due.
New stars: Štangl. Amazing. They deserved it. They needed it. They got it. Chef Štangl was incredibly emotional. Štangl is a fantastic restaurant that does not only talk about farm-to-table, but actually does it, vetting their suppliers and carefully curating their produce. As a result, they have also received the green star for sustainability. They have struggled given their location a bit off the centre and Eska’s legacy. So this is excellent news.
La Degustation, one-star Michelin restaurant in Prague.
Field, one-star Michelin restaurant in Prague.
Štangl, Prague’s new Michelin star and green star holder.
Casa de Carli has also received a star. This is a bit below our radar, to be honest, but we have loved every meal we had there, and we know it’s the very favorite restaurant of Chef Andrea of Sugo and Enoteca JZP. Levitate has also received a star - Christian Chu is a young chef with Asian roots who serves elaborate multi-course tasting menus that subscribe to the whole idea of nordic cuisine. This is a very fine-dining-y restaurant… and an excellent choice if you want your dinner to be an experience.
Leaving Prague, Moravia has received three stars: Entrée in Olomouc by a famous TV chef Přemek Forejt, a modern place with a playful take on some Moravian classics and tables that have already been hard to get on a Friday. Essens by chef Otto Vašák (our secret tip for two stars), housed in a beautiful resort by a calm lake that serves multi-course dinners with great technique and flavors, along with excellent local and foreign, wines in beautiful settings. A great destination for overnight if you’re traveling from Prague to Vienna or vice versa, or if you’re visiting the Moravia wine country. Finally, La Villa in Zlín got a star, too. We have never been, but congrats to them! Running a fine dining restaurant in a relatively small town must be hell, so this is at least some consolation.
Green Stars in Prague
Four restaurants have received the green star, awarded for sustainability. Two in Prague: Štangl, mentioned above, and Leaf, the little restaurant that could by Chef Barbora Šimůnková, the only female chef to have received any award. We know they have struggled to keep this place open, so we hope this will boost their bookings going forward. The valiant effort that is Sůl a řepa in South Bohemian Strakonice, and Dvůr Perlová voda in Budyně nad Ohří, less than an hour from Prague on the way to Dresden, have also received green stars.
Bib Gourmands in Prague
The Eatery, Dejvická 34 and Na Kopci have defended their Bib Gourmands. Chef Pohlreich’s Divinis has been demoted to mere „selection“. New Bib Gourmands in Prague include Alma, U Kalendů, U Matěje and Výčep. All of these are excellent choices, and if we are recommending places to eat in Prague, all of the four are in our top five. We are super happy. Also, our Prague food tours visit Alma nearly every day. Hope this does not change anything about our relationship, guys!
Alma, new Prague’s Bib Gourmand.
The Eatery, Prague’s Bib Gourmand.
U Kalendu, Prague’s new Bib Gourmand.
Výčep, Prague’s new Bib Gourmand.
Brno has two Bib Gourmands: Atelier Bistro & Bar, our fave dinner place during our Moravian wine tours, and Valoria. Other notable bibs include Long Story Short in Olomouc, Goldie in Tábor, or Štipec in Pilsen.
Personal acknowledgements
Miroslav Nosek of Field has won the Michelin Service Award for excellent hospitality. Zdeněk Oudes of Marie B and La Degustation has won the Sommelier Award, and Khanh Ta of Taro has won the Young Chef Award, which was especially funny - Khanh is 39 years old and older than many of the chefs present. His brother and maitre d in Taro, Giang, was laughing, shouting „the baby face has paid off!“ (Khanh does look much younger than 39.)
Snubs
The Czech foodie internet has exploded after the announcements, proving once and for all that the Czechs are world champions in complaining. The same people who wanted the Michelin guide to cover Czechia have also been the harshest critics of the results. But there were some recurring remarks and complaints:
First, most people missed at least a mention of the excellent El Camino in the guide. With no disrespect to Mr Nosek, David Böhm of El Camino is a beacon of excellence in hospitality, something pretty much everyone in the Prague foods scene can agree on. Honoring him would give the guide a lot of legitimacy among the locals.
Many also missed Terasa u zlaté studny in the guide, Chef Hlaváček is one of the most talented young chefs in the country, with incredible credentials from abroad. Zlatá Praha in the Fairmont hotel hasn’t been mentioned, either, although the chef was, inexplicably, present at the ceremony. You might say it opened too late, but Parzival made Michelin’s Selection despite being opened later than Zlatá Praha. Finally, many people expected Salabka to get a star, including its chef, who spent the rest of the evening absolutely heartbroken.
Recap
In any case, Prague now has five one-star restaurants:
La Degustation
Field
Štangl
Levitate
Casa de Carli.
The Bib Gourmands are
Alma
Výčep
U Kalendů
U Matěje
Na Kopci
Dejvická 34
The Eatery.
The green stars are
Leaf
Štangl.
Can’t wait to the next year’s results!
Final note
Jan had the distinct pleasure to be one of the hosts and presenters of the Michelin ceremony, and Zuzi had the privilege of attending the event, too. We will write about our experience next.