How Prague’s Prime Cooks Are Reviving Austro-Hungarian Delicacies With a Trendy Twist

At Mincovna, a restaurant in Prague’s Staré Město (Outdated City), which dates again to the eleventh century, Czech meals historian Martin Franc pointed at his plate and stated one thing that may have gotten him run out of city a century in the past. “We prefer to suppose that these knedlíky are uniquely Czech,” he stated of the ethereal bread dumplings, a perpetual stalwart of the nation’s delicacies. “However they in all probability originated elsewhere within the Austro-Hungarian empire.”

The menu seemed innocuous sufficient to me: schnitzel, goulash, roasted pork tenderloin, and duck confit served with crimson cabbage and dumplings. Any traveler would possibly assume this was typical Czech fare — and a few of it’s. However the crew at Mincovna particularly cooks dishes from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Central European kingdom that, from 1867 till 1918, included elements of right now’s Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, northern Italy, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia. 

“We’re beginning to return to our roots,” Jitka Sobotková, the gastronomy curator of the Nationwide Museum of Agriculture in Szreniawa, advised me the subsequent day. “The re-emergence of Austro-Hungarian delicacies in Prague is an indication that we Czechs are proudly accepting our personal historical past.” They typically really feel conflicted about that acceptance, particularly contemplating their ancestors had no voice throughout these instances. 

Till the tip of World Struggle I, Prague and the area that surrounds it, Bohemia, had been beneath Austrian rule for hundreds of years. Freed from Austria, the Czechs and their Slovak neighbors fashioned Czechoslovakia. However independence was short-lived: simply 20 years later the Nazis invaded, and when World Struggle II ended, Czechoslovakia got here beneath the management of the Soviet Union. For 41 years Czech residents lived beneath totalitarian rule dictated from Moscow, and cooks have been directed, by regulation, to observe Soviet requirements. A state-issued cookbook, Recipes for Heat Meals, was one of many mandated guides. To make issues worse, postwar rationing and a dwindling provide of elements meant recipes shrank and have been additional simplified. “My grandfather used to name that the ‘satan’s cookbook,’ ” stated Martin Bohaček, who was the chef on the tony Augustine Restaurant after I was in Prague.

By the point the nation started to emerge from behind the Iron Curtain in 1989, Czech meals had turn out to be stodgy and unimaginative. For 20 years the eating scene in Prague consisted primarily of fancy, if mediocre, French, Italian, and Japanese eating places, together with a couple of smoky Czech pubs. However prior to now couple of years, cooks like Oldřich Sahajdák, on the Michelin-starred La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise, and Zdeněk Pohlreich, of the celebrated traditional-style Café Imperial and the fashionable bistro Subsequent Door by Imperial, have begun unearthing late-Nineteenth-century cookbooks and placing a contemporary twist on conventional dishes. 

“I’m undecided we have been prepared thirty or forty years in the past to just accept our place on this a part of European historical past,” Marek Hosnedl advised me. On the time of our assembly, he was the chef at Masaryčka, a Bohemian restaurant that opened in 2021 contained in the 1845 Masaryk prepare station, within the metropolis heart. “However we couldn’t have made this meals again then anyway, as a result of we didn’t have the elements to do it. Now we do.” With Hosnedl I feasted on pörkölt, a Hungarian stew, adopted by risotto laced with Gorgonzola — two examples of dishes with elements that have been nonetheless uncommon and costly again when the nation was adjusting to its new independence. 

The subsequent morning, I went to Augustine Restaurant, situated within the resort of the identical title within the Malá Strana district. On the time, Chef Bohaček had been placing on Austro-Hungarian–themed dinners each Thursday, from October to March. “It’s hearty meals that’s good for winter,” he stated. “However our actual motivation was to indicate locals the place our delicacies comes from.” Bohaček tapped his fingers on a burgundy hardcover quantity on the desk in entrance us — a cookbook his chef grandfather gave him. Revealed in 1914 and that includes Austro-Hungarian recipes, it was an inspiration for these weekly dinners, that includes dishes like wild-boar ribs and catfish paprikash. “Meals historians are all the time making an attempt to supply Czech dishes, hoping to seek out they’re particularly Czech,” he stated. “However extra instances than not, they’ve come from the previous empire.” 

A few days later, throughout lunch at Subsequent Door by Imperial — the place I ordered a seasonal dish of dark-beer-braised veal cheeks with mashed potatoes — I requested Chef Pohlreich about this rising appreciation for Austro-Hungarian delicacies. Though Pohlreich and his friends began their culinary careers beneath the restrictive Communist mandates, he says the present wave of cooks didn’t have that have. “The new era has traveled and labored in kitchens round Europe and the world,” he stated. “They don’t really feel politically obligated to restrict their focus to simply Czech delicacies.” 

Because the nation regained its autonomy, it has had a number of many years of strong financial and political stability. At present’s Czechs are in a position to have a stronger sense of their very own nationwide identification than earlier generations. On a regular basis residents at the moment are snug wading out into the waters of the empire they have been as soon as part of — and having fun with the edible fruits of its historical past.

“It’s true,” stated Chef Sahajdák after I stopped by La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise, within the Outdated City. “We have been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for much longer than we’ve been an unbiased nation.” He glanced on the menu, a bodily illustration of the previous and the current. “We now have a linked historical past to all of the folks of the previous empire. We’re extra linked to the remainder of Europe than we have been, say, thirty years in the past.” 

It’s a hopeful signal as the town seems past nationwide autonomy and embraces a wealthy, multicultural historical past — by way of an act so simple as ordering the veal schnitzel. 

The place to Keep

Andaz Prague

Centrally situated close to points of interest such because the Mucha Museum, devoted to the Artwork Nouveau illustrator, this snug resort, half of the Hyatt portfolio, has 176 modern rooms.

Augustine, a Luxurious Assortment Lodge, Prague

This resort is housed inside the Thirteenth-century St. Thomas Monastery (a small cohort of monks nonetheless lives subsequent door). The general public areas and 101 rooms echo the constructing’s authentic clerical type, with vaulted ceilings and preserved frescoes now paired with fashionable artwork.

The place to Eat

Augustine Restaurant

At this Austro-Hungarian-influenced fine-dining favourite contained in the Augustine Lodge, à la carte ordering is feasible, however the only option is to order one of many 5 tasting menus, which spotlight elements like beets, morels, and meats and cheeses sourced from native farmers.

La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise

Conventional Czech delicacies frames the menu at this Michelin-starred restaurant, the place chef Oldřich Sahajdák produces a small collection of starters — like kohlrabi with apple and chives or trout with dill and smoked pork fats — adopted by a five-course set menu with an non-obligatory European wine pairing.

La Republica

La Republica is an informal restaurant in a historic constructing close to Republic Sq., with dishes that evoke the nation’s culinary previous. Meat is the order of the day, from grilled duck breast with cherry sauce to beef goulash and pork schnitzel.

Masaryčka

This upscale venue within the Masaryk railway station serves dishes just like the “outdated Bohemian tasting board,” which incorporates pickled cheese, sizzling peppers, and vejmrda (horseradish and apple salad). There’s additionally a conventional bun pudding, a dessert of apples, macerated raisins, and caramel.

Mincovna

As soon as residence to the Prague Mint, Mincovna, on Outdated City Sq., makes a speciality of hearty, conventional Austro-Hungarian dishes similar to romadur, a fried cheese with cranberry sauce and child spinach, and beef goulash with potato dumplings.

Subsequent Door by Imperial

At this glossy bistro — which is run by the folks behind Café Imperial — one Czech must-try is the duck leg with caramelized white cabbage and potato gnocchi. Lighter choices embrace the younger pea salad with marinated Wagyu, bean pods, and yuzu French dressing.

A model of this story first appeared within the September 2024 concern of Journey + Leisure beneath the headline “Again to the Future.”