World Cup in Berlin!!!!

July 14, 2014 Charity Prawitz Leave a comment

We planned to watch the game outdoors on a huge screen in a square, but it was pouring and the square was too full. Police weren’t allowing anyone else to enter. So we ended up at the Sony Center instead.

There were thousands of people. Service was terrible! We ordered beers and soups, but only got beer. Finally after an hour a single bowl of soup arrived. It was delicious. We shared like good boys and girls do, but we didn’t want to 🙂

We made some new friends- Germans and Norwegians! We had a great time watching the game with them and celebrating after the big WIN!!!

Food, Travel

Heading to Berlin

July 14, 2014 Charity Prawitz Leave a comment

Snack time!

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Breakfast in Prague

July 14, 2014 Charity Prawitz 1 Comment

Our lovely hostess made a delicious apricot cake for breakfast. It was buttery and crumbly with fresh, tart apricot slices baked in on top. Really yummy! Thanks for the great stay Marie and Zdenek!

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Last night in Praha

July 13, 2014 Charity Prawitz Leave a comment

After enjoying a few beers, we walked across the Charles Bridge and through Old Town Square to enjoy the beautiful Praha sites one last time.

We stopped at another Michelin recommended restaurant for dinner. The service and ambiance were adequate. The food was good, but not special in any way.

We started with the recommended dark beer and soups. I had the potato soup and Adam had the goulash soup. Both were served with delicious fresh bread. The potato soup came in a fresh, crispy rye bread bowl (super cute!) and the goulash soup came with a hot, buttered pretzel on top! We would have only ordered one if we had known we were also getting a lot of delicious bread.

For our main course, I ordered goulash with dumplings and potato pancakes and Adam had the wild boar ragu with corn bread. Both dishes were satisfying and homey, but they lacked any pizzazz.

After dinner we walked and enjoyed some beautiful architecture.

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Little local treats

July 12, 2014 Charity Prawitz 1 Comment

We walked down the hill to a bar we’ve been wanting to try. On the way, we picked up a couple local treats we didn’t want to miss. I had a mini gingerbread cookie and Adam had a treat he described as “eating candy with paper wrapper still on”. The gingerbread was spicy and a touch crisp… Should’ve gotten the full sized cookie 🙂 Adam’s was a tube of layered crispy cookie with chocolate hazelnut cake icing inside. It was weird.

We also had some excellent Czech beer- Budweiser!

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Petřín Hill

July 12, 2014 Charity Prawitz Leave a comment

We took the funicular car up to Petřín Hill. A fun, strange ride in an odd staircase-like trolly up the hill. We arrived in the rose gardens and walked to the Prague “Eiffel Tower” (they really wanted one like Paris, but couldn’t afford it, so they built a smaller version on a hill so it’s “higher” than France’s, LOL). We enjoyed some great views and some raspberry soft serve- yum!

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Pizza pizza!

July 12, 2014 Charity Prawitz Leave a comment

Quick lunch on our way to Pětrin hill. I had Ham and mushroom. Adam had mixed vegetables. It wasn’t very good, but it was hot and cheap.

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Breakfast

July 12, 2014 Charity Prawitz Leave a comment

Plums, toast with butter, and Czech smoked ham. Tasty!

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Another Michelin win! (Lunch/dinner)

July 11, 2014 Charity Prawitz Leave a comment

Michelin delivers again! Today we went to Čestr- a modern restaurant focused on quality ingredients, especially heritage Czech-raised beef. Our meal was amazing from beginning to end. The atmosphere and service were very comfortable. We each had the three course tasting menu.

Before we ordered the chef sent an amuse-bouche. A lovely custom in better restaurants. It is a single bite appetizer sent as a gift from the chef to “amuse the mouth”, to get you excited to eat and to offer a glimpse into the chef’s style. We had a small piece of Czech bread (similar to light rye) with a light egg salad spread topped with chives. Yum- I was amused!

We started with tawny port- sweet, fruity, great pallet wetter. For our first course we opted for raw. Adam had the house tartar and I had the “sashimi”. Wow! Adam’s tartar was buttery and flavorful with just a hint of minerality from the steak. It was served with house-made chips and an ever-so-slightly poached quail egg on top. Superb! My “sashimi” was thin slices of tenderloin with mirin, Apple purée, and ginger micro greens. I could eat this dish every day- clean, deceitfully simple, satisfying to every taste bud.

Adam had the unfiltered cask-conditioned Pilsner Urquell. I had the Cuvée Čestr 2011- a spicy, fruity red perfect for steak and roasted meats. For our second course Adam had the Golden Muscle and Shank slow cooked in goose fat served with a delicious gravy and onion potato dumplings. It was deeply, satisfyingly homey. I had the roast chicken with truffle stuffing and country potatoes with homemade cream cheese and parsley. Heaven. We had thoroughly tucked into our meals when I exclaimed, “oh my goodness! It’s Thanksgiving!”. Seriously. Everything was so delicious. There was so much of it and it was only the second course! Did I mention heaven?

We were worried the third course would push us over the edge. We were so full and so happy already. The kind waitress asked if we would like her to wait to bring the steak course, perhaps have some brandy? She read our minds. “Yes, please”!

After a short intermission, the steaks arrived. Adam had the Hanging Tender – wet aged for 28 days- with French fries and the mushroom sauce. Again. Amazing. The fries were so good. The steak was perfectly cooked medium rare with a smoky char on the outside. I had the Flap. Again, perfect. With the perigord sauce (truffle, butter, port) and the mixed vegetable salad. Wow!

We were so full, but the food was way too good to miss dessert… We just had to… I had a scoop of the fresh house-made orange sorbet and the apricot brandy. Adam had scoops of house-made vanilla and dark beer ice cream. Both were excellent. The beer ice cream was unique and delicious.