Prague Michelin-starred restaurant to offer new concept, more affordable meals

Restaurants throughout the Czech Republic are due to open on May 25 but with restrictions on table distance and other challenging measures in place, the fine-dining landscape in the Czech capital, in particular, will be irreparably changed.

“For starters, we will lose about 60 percent of our clientele, because foreigners simply will not come. [Guests] will be Czechs and we will try to bring the concept closer to them…offer a kinder face that is more affordable for the general public,” he said of his current plans. 

Kašpárek believes that restaurateurs will need to be more down to earth in both price tags and concepts in order to stay afloat in the new post-coronavirus dining scene.

“The era when some companies were able to price beef sirloin or confit duck for 600 CZK is over,” the chef told the Seznam interviewer.

“We didn’t offer a classic espresso, but only filtered coffee. In retrospect, we wanted to return the Czechs to the Castle, to become a place of family reunions, and we didn’t have as basic a drink as espresso for the 40+ guests?” Šimoník wrote on his blog, adding: “The environment will only tolerate it for a while. Then people will go after those who meet their needs.”

Kuchyň has since taken advantage of the “COVID-19 moratorium” and was able to renegotiate the terms of its lease with the National Gallery’s Salm Palace in which it is located. It reopened its terrace earlier this week.

Kašpárek is also considering launching a more traditional restaurant concept geared toward Czech customers. He spoke about the challenges of defending a Michelin star when the awards had been delayed.

“The announcement of the Michelin stars was supposed to be in the middle of March, and we still don’t know if we defended ours from last year. This is due to the fact that the restaurants have remained closed and the defense should come only when the new operation of the companies starts,” he said.

Field opted out of a take-out window during the closures opting to deliver 160 lunches daily to paramedics in nearby hospitals instead.

Kašpárek said in the interview that he believes 30 percent of restaurants could close by the end of the year.