How a Prague restaurant is reinventing a ‘plant-forward’ dining experience

Traditional Czech food is delicious, but its heavy meat-based dishes only capture a fraction of the potential of the flavors of local cuisine. Vegetables and fruits are much loved by Czechs yet often overlooked by restaurants focusing on “typical” meat-heavy dishes such as svíčková, guláš or vepřo knedlo zelo.

One Prague restaurant aims to change this through an innovative approach combining the delights of premium meat, poultry, and fish with vegetable-based dishes that pack a remarkable punch. The new-look Alcron Restaurant at the recently refurbished Almanac X Prague Hotel presents a “plant-forward” concept that will be a revelation to those for whom Czech food has only ever meant those classic meaty dishes.

This modern reimagining of Czech cuisine has many benefits. A dining experience more diverse and flavourful than that found in most Czech restaurants is also healthier for the body and more sustainable for the environment. In this context, it’s no surprise that the Alcron Restaurant’s “plant-forward” concept is going down a storm with foreigners and locals alike.

Stepping away from a reliance on meat and embracing the potential of vegetables and fruits allows Alcron Restaurant Head Chef Richard Bielik and his team to celebrate Czech cuisine in all its glory. A menu balancing meat- and fish-based options – including chicken, wild lake salmon trout, rib eye steak, and pork cutlets – with diverse non-meat options provides options to suit every kind of diner.

Bielik explains the thinking behind this concept: “Our ‘plant-forward’ approach is about elevating vegetables and fruit while presenting beautiful, locally produced meat and fish. Where possible, in our vegetarian dishes, the concept involves limiting the use of animal products and focusing on the flavors of vegetables.”

This approach unlocks culinary delights previously unknown to those familiar with typical Czech food. Some creative takes on well-known flavors include a starter combining traditional “bryndza” Slovak sheep’s cheese with white chocolate, hazelnuts, red onion, apricot purée and a light, warm brioche.

Bielik points out a further benefit of this approach to dining: “After eating this kind of food, you feel full and satisfied, but you still have energy. Your evening can continue after you finish your meal.”

There’s a delectable irony in the fact that this innovative “plant-forward” approach to Czech cuisine is being implemented at one of Prague’s most historic establishments. The Almanac X Prague Hotel is the modern incarnation of the Alcron Hotel, the first luxury hotel in Czechia, built by renowned architect Alois Krofta in 1932 during Czechoslovakia’s period of First Republic prosperity.

In those days, the Alcron Hotel was a favorite haunt of Winston Churchill, Charlie Chaplin, and Ella Fitzgerald.

The Alcron Restaurant, set within the hotel’s grand open-plan ground floor, styles itself as a place “where tradition meets modern trends.” This is true both in the creative and forward-looking menu and in the restaurant’s new-look, Art Deco-inspired design, which followed a sensitive renovation of the entire hotel, which reopened in March 2023.

Despite the distinctly progressive approach, the restaurant abounds with references to the property’s storied past. Historic features of the building, such as original crystal chandeliers and wood paneling with translucent marble lights, have been maintained. A signature “Alcron” cocktail pays tribute to architect and hotelier Krofta through a remarkably refreshing combination of gin, apple, cucumber, and lovage.

The Alcron Hotel’s reopening under the Almanac X brand follows the Austrian Haselbacher family’s 1995 acquisition of the property. With 204 rooms located just a stone’s throw from Wenceslas Square, the redesign and renovation have retained the hotel’s grand character by paying tribute to Krofta’s original vision, creating an open-plan lobby and restaurant area suffused with natural light.

The reopened Almanac X Prague Hotel is a shining light of the Prague hospitality scene. It also features a specialty coffee shop named ELIAS and the Alcron Bar, serving cocktails inspired by the history of the property and Prague.

The Alcron Restaurant’s plant-forward food concept is a key part of the hotel’s wider focus on bringing traditional Prague hospitality into the 21st century. It’s no surprise that taste sensations crafted by Bielik and his team are already winning over foreign visitors and Czechs alike.

“Czech society can be slightly more conservative when it comes to food,” says Bielik. “But when people experience these types of dishes, they make a really big impression.”