bredovsky dvur – prague 1
http://bredovskydvur.unas.cz/poloha.htm
Close to Vancaslav Square (2 mins walk). They brew their own beer. There is a patio in an inner court. What’s not that good is that it’s in an office building.
50% locals, 50% foreigners (expats, tourists).
There’s not much to add: it’s a must.
What matters here is the overall impression; details, like service is not that important.
The pork knee is highly recommended; even the presentation is great, which is unusual here.
After 9pm it maybe difficult to find a spot.
If there is no spot, there is Ferdinand and Mosqito within 100 m.
The street is Politických věznů, which means political prisoner. The HQ of the communist party is still here.
Bašta – Prague 4
Stereotypical Czech pub under Táborská 49. This is a sleepy street, there is absolutely no action. Once we enter, we enter a different universe.
The place is busy even on Monday at 7pm. Mostly locals come, the cool type. The waiters could be characters in a Czech play. It seems people aren’t really leaving…the same guys who were there when I arrived, were still there when I left at around 10pm; so it’s always pretty full.
The bottom line:
They brew their own beer. I guess they have 4 different types. The semi dark is probably the best one. The strongest is a 15 (mostly you come across with 10 and 12).
You can see a creative variety of beer food. There is one entry on the menu that simply says: 10kg ham. Some of the better food, like the famous duck must be ordered one day ahead.
I went for the duck buried under lard (this I didn’t have to order one day beforehand), which is presented in a small jar. It really is buried under a pretty thick and hard layer of immaculate lard. It also comes with a jar of onion and of course fresh bread.
I have the feeling that I’ll be back soon.
views on integrity
The word integrity is abused; it is abused to such a degree and so pervasively that it is worth having a clear look at what is actually meant by it.
To keep this short, we won’t draw conclusions here, we will only resort to the presentation of facts in the context of organic organization, explaining the meaning of the word starting with the point of view of specialists, positioned at the bottom of organic organization, and finishing with that of the main integrator, positioned at the top of the organic organization. Not wanting to become overly philosophical, we will not elaborate on world views and only briefly present the following factors for consideration: will and role. As a general rule, it must be mentioned that the fundamental will of superior players in each role is to integrate up. To what degree they are ready to make compromises on this, determines their level of integrity; the less integrity the more deviations we can see in behavior and communications.
Before we continue we must emphasize, that organic organizations and business organizations are in almost polar opposition to each other, meaning that in business organizations the top of the perceived hierarchy is mostly occupied by specialists, unable to exert any kind of integration, and a so called “main integrator” is almost never persent.
The function of specialists is performance. Integrity on this level means that the person actually does what he says he does. Being a specialist -just like the other three roles within an organic organization- is a mode of existence with a very specific world view, and corresponding thinking. The behaviour of specialists is conditioned; it has the least amount of freedom in comparison to the other three roles, it is the most dependent on circumstance. It’s easy to see that if the conditions are not favourable, meaning that the other roles are not purely present (and they are never purely present), to live up to the premise of “I do what I say and I say what I do” is almost impossible. So even on this lowest level, integrity is constantly compromised; and of course the more it is compromised, to more it is talked about. What specialists want, in addition to the chance to perform, is recognition and reward. In lack of a direct force of integration coming from “above” (from integrating specialists), the coveted recognition and reward becomes purely quantitative, in other words they completely get out of control.
The role of integrating specialists, in a business setting is to manage expectations. Not up, but down. Since the roles are never present in a pure form, reality is that they have to manage expectations both up and down. On this level integrity means (in addition to not lying) successfully representing groups and finding consensus. Integrating specialists want acknowledgement.
The role of the specialized integrators is only minimally connected to specialized functions. They are focused on so called vertical integration. Vertical integration is qualitative, based on principles. Simply put: principles are the cause of organic organization. What makes an organization mechanic is precisely the lack of principles: they can’t “emerge”, they must be created; so specialized integrators represent principles and this representation, this “presence” (of principles) is what ensures upward vertical integration. From another aspect: specialized integrators are trying to transform a mechanic organization to an organic one. Since it is obvious to everybody that this can’t be accomplished perfectly, the integrators role is comparible to that of a warrior.
Integrators do not make compromises on principles, because this would mean that they compromise themselves. We can only talk about near perfect integrity among integrators.
Café Zanzibar – Prague 2
Explosive calm.
There’s a laid back atmosphere to the place throughout the day, but at night there reigns an interesting dynamism that doesn’t upset the overall calmth. Complementary; the two qualities come from the same source. This complementary quality describes the area, too: serious but easy. Americka (street) stops, lays back, turns into a square for a while, then continues on about its business. In the old days it was highly unusual for people to stop on the street for a chat or a meeting. The street was the place for people without roots, meaning their existence was not rooted in principles: beggars, criminals, etc. The meeting place has traditionally been the square.
This square attracted 4 pubs/cafes; out of these Zanzibar is the one that has managed to best capture the spirit of the area. The setup is simple: small patio, somewhat larger interior. What makes the place unique is not any of it’s details (decour, service, food, whatever), but this harmony with the essence of environment.
The audience is completely mixed. White rasta kids, proud gay couples, business types, ladies’ groups, etc.
At night it’s best to come around 9 (in the summer). The natural color of dusk is rosé, which the square captures and reflects back nicely. The place has good coctails, but I typically opt for some rosé wine of course.
I like to come here for brunch during the day time. The brunch/breakfast menu is rich. They keep 3dl champaign for the more sophisticated audience. I consider it a nice touch.
http://www.lokola.cz/ext/?u=http://www.kavarnazanzibar.cz
Il Primo – Prague 1
One of my favourite places. The place was discovered by a Bulgarian friend of mine. The chef is Bulgarian, he’s called Nikolai; he has worked at serious places practically everywhere in the world.
Nikolai must be late 40s, early 50s; he is the type whose age you can’t guess, kinda looks like he’s just stepped out of an animation movie. Mediterrean type; friendly, his presense sets a positive atmosphere. Once he invited us for a special home made rakia after closing. It really was special. Following that we went with the staff to an after hour joint, but that is a different story.
The “clientele” grows through word of mouth. They do virtually no marketing, they don’t even have a web site. In 5 years, since they opened they have been noted as one of the top 50 restaurants in Prague (I think there is some official list). The price category is medium.
Diverse guests. I’ve met here Canadian real estate developer and a movie producer from Switzerland, too. The ladies are mostly artzy, the type that shows up with business men (the other type who shows up with business men is the barbie type, but I haven’t seen them here yet).
The place is pretty small. The waitresses are selected based on looks -I guess-; I have no idea based on what criteria the waiters are selected… the last one I saw the time was not a waiter type at all.
The bottom line:
The name Il Primo is misleading because the food is mediterranean, not specifically Italian. I have only eaten from the menu once. Typically we describe what we feel like eating (salad, some meat or fish, etc.), or that something light, medium or heavy, and we let the chef improvise. So far I haven’t been disappointed.
The salads are simple and fresh, exuding that extra dimension that differentiates the salad from a bunch of garden vegetables.
I guess I had a mixed plate the last time: beef, chicken and fish. The spices are serious but hardly noticable, light. The human equivalent of such spicing is the type of highly intelligent man, who profoundly confuses the … our less than bright fellows; such are the topics, as well: deep but light. Depth is always somewhat playful, since on its own level, nothing can be heavy. If somebody described himself like “I am a heavy man”, he’d be in contradiction with himself.
They carry wines from better known and lesser known regions (e.g. Tuscany, Bulgarian regions).
When it comes to desserts, it is also recommended to let the chef improvise, and create a surprise. They do desserts right: here, it is what it is: a stimulant, for some: an aphrodisiac. Good dessert is in reverse analogy with high level women: on the outside it is shameless, but when it comes to its taste, its substance, it is reserved. One doesn’t need a highly developed imagination to be able to think through the complementary nature of desserts and women. Il Primo is an ideal locale for such conversations.
http://www.nelso.com/cz/place/3/