Disclaimer: before you read the following, please be informed we own two pairs of Michelin tires on our car. They are great, and I recommend them. Also, this is Jan's writing and his opinions may not represent the opinions of the entire Taste of Prague team. Zuzi told me to write this.
We have covered the Michelin guide's choices for Prague in the past here, liking them to celebrities to explain them better if you've never been to any. The new Michelin Main Cities of Europe guide for 2020 is officially out, and so are Michelin's recommendations for Prague. Let's have a look, shall we?
Michelin Guide for Prague - Executive Summary
No changes have been made to Michelin recommendations compared to the previous year: La Degustation and Field have a star each, while Eska, Sansho, Divinis and Na Kopci have received the Bib Gourmand award (quality food at a good value). In total, 31 restaurants have made it to the guide, just like thee year before.
Michelin guide for Prague - Introduction
First of all, it's a bold decision to release the Michelin Main Cities of Europe guide this year given... well, the everything. The deadline for next year's Michelin guide is some time in October or November, so this year's guide does not reflect the pandemic in any way whatsoever - the social distancing, the closings, the changed concepts, nothing. I mean, does the entry for Copenhagen's Noma include any mention of... burgers? Of course it doesn't.
But anyway, here we are. Why should you care about the guide? Well, some people absolutely swear by it, and restaurants tend to see a spike of interest, at least for a while, whenever they receive an award or even a mention by the Michelin guide. And the Michelin inspectors, especially those covering "remote" areas like the Czech Republic, are most likely free of any hidden local interests, friendships, behind-the-back deals and so on, which puts them in a unique position in terms of independence. They're outsiders. And despite the criticisms - and there are many - the guide is the oldest and the most traditional culinary guide still in existence.
That said, there are criticisms, and I will have to get them off of my chest this year. Strap on your hats, a rant is coming.
BUT... if you don't care about my rant, think the Michelin guide does an awesome job and just want to know what restaurants in Prague have received stars and how they changed in reaction to the COVID-19 situation, feel free to skip it by clicking here.
The 2020 Michelin Prague guide sucks balls
If the Michelin guide is the Vatican of dining, consider myself a Protestant after this year's guide. I mean, I get the cultural importance, the work behind the guide, and the benefit for the businesses included, but then again, we write a guidebook for Prague, too (that in no way competes with the behemoth that is the Michelin guide), and we get five messages for every typo in there, so I don't understand why the Michelin guide should be immune from some constructive criticism. I simply have a few issues with the guide, and I have to get them out of my system. Like right now.
Sure, it adds to the mystique, but I think the lack of transparency about the rating process, rules and criteria is one of the weakest points of the Michelin guide. Basically, the Michelin guide tells you "just trust us, we're Michelin." But the problem is, if the results are the same as in the case of Prague, how can you know if the inspectors have even been to Prague? How many times? What have they tried? You're left completely in the dark. There's no rationale, no data, nothing. It creates epic flame wars online, where everybody seems to be the only person who knows exactly what the inspectors want, but other than that, it’s useless.
What's worse, this lack of transparency applies to Michelin guide's communication with the restaurants. I have called the managers of a few restaurants rated in Prague and they have all agreed they are completely in the dark about what they do right or wrong when it comes to the criteria. They don't even know what the criteria are. I mean, having spoken to these people, trying to get a Michelin star seems like a perverted biathlon race: you put all your effort into getting to the shooting range and when you get there, out of breath, you just see random targets appear everywhere around. You know you should hit a few, but you have no idea what particular targets you should aim at. This is just crazy.
And then there are the geographical differences. A Central European restaurant can work its behind off and get nothing, while in France, as one of our friends puts it, "you get a star if you don't overcook fish". And if you've ever been to Hong Kong, you will have found the amount of Michelin stars given to affordable, casual, could-afford-to-eat-there-every-day bistros quite striking.
What really bugs me about this year's guidebook is that you can't even comment on the results in Prague, because they are not even live on the website yet. I have actually bought Michelin's official iPhone app for CZK 350, which says "2020 Europe guide" and guess what - it just recompiles the viamichelin.com website into app format, so you I still get 2019 results for Prague, meaning the guide still tells me that La Degustation is closed for lunch (it isn't) and that the dinner costs CZK 3450 (it doesn't). So please tell me: on what planet is this the work of a great guide? It parties like it's 2019. I could hear Old Town Road loud and clear when I read it.
Also, have you ever read the texts? I am sorry but they are far from great if you ask me. Take a guess: which Prague restaurant serves "well-balanced Scandinavian cooking"? Well Field, of course. Whaaat? And I am sorry: I know a thing or two about writing about restaurants, and when you reference "Kafka's spirit" in the second sentence of describing Café Imperial, you have just phoned it in. How is Kafka relevant to the cooking in Café Imperial? And how does turn-of-the-century anxiety taste, anyway? And is it a good thing, that Kafka’s spirit? Come on, this is a bunch of crap.
You have to think about how content is created and published. Remember when Taro got a write up in the New York Times? How do you think that happens? Do you think the editors of NYT sit down with a cup of coffee and list through great restaurants around the world and then decide, "yes, Taro deserves to be mentioned in this issue. We all ate there, right?" Wrong. Evan Rail, a US journalist and beer writer, whom we love and who's lived in Prague for ages, simply pitched the piece to NYT and it got picked up. Or when Eater finally started to cover Prague? Did they all fly here for two weeks? Nope, it was Kat Odell, an Eater contributor (and our dear friend) who just happens to fly here from time to time to visit her Czech grandma: she pitched the story and got it published. We even consulted a bit on the story. So you think Eater did anything beyond publishing it? Think again.
We're afraid that the glory and lustrous heritage of the Michelin guide is just a cover for the work of one or two inspectors who come to Prague occasionally, try a few restaurants and give them rankings based on single visits. I would love to tell you more about it, but I can't - Michelin, again, will not tell you anything about the process. I mean, the Czech Euro annual rankings written by our friend Klára Donáthová and her team (listen to our podcast with her here) are at least based on two visits to each restaurant and are a better guide in my view than the MG. I have heard from a restaurant manager that on his last visit, a Michelin inspector stayed a bit longer and asked the staff about Czech cuisine, what it means, what is the classic produce, dishes and so on. The Michelin guide had covered Prague for years. ‘Nuff said.
What angers me the most about it all is the local reception: whenever the Michelin guide rolls out the results, a good part of the local foodie community sees them as the ultimate judgment of the direction Prague's food scene is heading. You can read about "progress" in a good year, while "stagnation" or even "recession" is often mentioned when the results are similar to the previous year or a restaurant loses a star. I mean, don't we have brains of our own here, people? Haven't you been eating out throughout the year? Can we please form our own opinion, stand by it, and perhaps be proud about what we do here in Prague once in a while? Even if the Michelin guide brings nothing new?
And the, of course, there’s the big white elephant in the room. COVID-19. If you woke up from a year-long coma and picked up a copy of the 2020 Michelin guide, you’d have no idea there was a pandemic. We get it - long refresh cycle and lots of restaurants to go through and update. But come on. This should be the best guide. And it isn’t. As one of Prague’s best hotel managers once told me: “Arrogance is totally fine, as long as there’s excellence.” So I get the arrogance, but I just fail to see the excellence. Sorry.
As I wrote, I respect the work behind the guide. I am in no way saying that there are any specific restaurants in Prague worthy of a star or a Bib Gourmand that have not been included in the guide. What I am saying that if you disregard your emotions about the whole thing for a bit, you simply cannot close your eyes to the fact that the guide, the process, the concept... and thus the results, of the Michelin guide are fundamentally flawed. How would I correct them? Probably more transparency. What are the criteria? How many people have ranked? How many times they have visited? Any local inspectors were involved? This I think would lead to more accountability.
Anyway, phew. This felt good. Thank you for staying with me. Here's some current information about Prague restaurants awarded by the Michelin guide.
Michelin-starred and Michelin-awarded restaurants in Prague
So long story short: the 2020 results are the same as the 2019 results, so please feel free to read them here. What we thought we'd do instead is describe how the restaurants reacted to and changed due to the pandemic. That makes more sense to us than describing them as if nothing happened.
La Degustation - one star
La Degustation was the first Czech restaurant to receive a Michelin star, and they still are, to many Czechs, the prototypical "Michelin-awarded" restaurant. Before the pandemic, they used the serve only 8-course tasting dinners for CZK 3450 (EUR 125). They remained closed for most of the quarantine, only to sell take-out lunches towards the end of it.
Today, La Degustation has opened for lunches that are, dare we say, reasonably priced at CZK 590 for 3-course vegetarian meal, CZK 695 for fish as main, and CZK 810 for a beef main. Their dinners are either 3-course dinners for CZK 830 through 985, and a 5-course tasting menu for CZK 1800.
Field - one star
Field was a dinner-only restaurant that served a NYE menu for CZK 10,000 or 13,000 (EUR 400 or 500, depending on the wines), which seems crazy in hindsight, but hey, they sold out the venue, so the price was right we guess.
Today it's a bit of a different story. Field is now serving business lunches again: 2 courses cost CZK 490 and 3 courses cost CZK 590, and both include coffee. You can then do either a 6-course tasting menu for CZK 1800 or a 10-course tasting menu for CZK 3200. These can be served any time during the opening hours.
Field also has an a la carte menu with appetizers between CZK 290 and 420, and mains all priced at CZK 590.
Eska - Bib Gourmand
Eska successfully responded to the covid-19 challenges by refocusing on reselling of groceries, baked goods and ready-made meals to the general public, while furloughing all non-essential staff. They reopened with a streamlined concept in a streamlined setting: the upstairs seating now sits 30 instead of 90, and the prices have dropped, too: the signature dish, "potatoes in ash" are CZK 225, and the 5-course menu is a steal at CZK 598. Eska is still strongest at weekend brunch game, now with more focus on the outdoor seats.
Divinis - Bib Gourmand
The upscale Italian restaurant by Chef Pohlreich, "Czech Gordon Ramsay" (being the face of the Czech version of Kitchen Nightmares), now offers 2-course business lunches at CZK 495, and the prices of the a la carte dishes have dropped slightly, too.
Sansho - Bib Gourmand
The popular Asian restaurant by Paul Day was very quick to react to the pandemic, signing up with delivery services and opening a take-out window right away. They even cooperated with us on the second edition of our #eatingalonetogether dinners. In doing so, they have joined forces with their sister business, The Real Meat Society, to take advantage of the synergy and offer take-out boxes of ready-made meals and ready to cook boxes. Their menu has expanded and now offers items from the late Maso a kobliha (itself a Bib Gourmand-awarded gastro pub) and a few other things that may not be strictly Asian (moussaka, anyone?) but always delicious. Somebody has told us the prices are now a bit lower, too, but we honestly don't remember what these dishes cost back in the day.
Na kopci - Bib Gourmand
Na kopci, tucked away "on a hill", as the Czech name suggests, has never relied on tourism to a large degree: located so far from the city centre, it required a genuine effort to find it and get there. But a look at the menu shows they had to adapt, too. Their 4-course tasting menu costs CZK 750, and the 5-course "chef menu" costs CZK 850. What has changed (as far as we remember) are the wines, as the restaurant gravitated towards local production, which is fantastic news.