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| Prague -
Czech Republic |
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| at the
Corinthia Towers Hotel |
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Extraordinary -
Society
November - 2006 |
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5 Stars
& 6 Stripes
Cuisine & Service |
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The
Ultimate Award:
Seven Stars and
Stripes® |
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| Hot towels with jasmine oil and small samplings of
Oriental delights all stuffed into petite mason jars offered us a sneak preview
into the creative inspirational cuisine being touted at Prague's popular and
trendy eatery, Rickshaw. It is located in the excellent Corinthia Towers Hotel
and General Manager Christian Grage, seeing a chance to go against the grain
with a completely unique concept, decided to present 'Eclectic Asian' cuisine
in a city better known for its knedlo, zelo, vepro (roast pork served with
sauerkraut and dumplings). It seems obvious that this dining model for the
signature restaurant of the exquisite Corinthia Hotels works very well at the
Rickshaw Restaurant. Most recently it had been recognized for quality service
and authentic dining experience with the "Best Gastronomy Concept" award from
Food-Service Magazine. |
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| Thorsten
Buehrmann & Marc
Guenther |
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| Kristyna Stachova &
Tatiana Hlavova |
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Gabriela Jonakova &
Kristyna Jonakova |
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| I distinctly remember falling into Richshaw's spell
immediately upon entering as I was greeted by Restaurant Service Manager
Tatiana, amid the textured heterophonic sounds of a bamboo flute. An incredible
floral display featuring Chrysanthemums (kiku) in a fireworks explosion of
white phosphorus graced the entryway. Tatiana guided us to our enigmatic table
situated next to a countertop artfully arranged with papayas, pineapples,
persimmons, lychees and coconuts where we were enveloped in an unmistakable
musky-sweet, perfumed atmosphere. Even an authentic 100-year-old Kimono was
hanging on the wall, which brought me to realize that the reason for all this
was to create an atmosphere of discrete calm in the middle of a city of torrid,
passionate madness. It worked to my satisfaction! |
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| Head
Chef Suchao Huangwatana was prepared to share with us some of his best
loved pan-Asian creations, which have been gathered from such far away places
as Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan and especially Thailand. I must
tell you to prepare your senses for lesson in exotic flavors and aromas as we
found
Head
Chef Huangwatana's cuisine absolutely unique. For starters, we were treated
to series of tasty appetizers arranged in separate ceramic bowls including
Lab Mu (very hot pork salad with red chili), Shrimp Cake (with
tamarind and coconut curry), Yam Pla Tuna (fried with mango, chili and
peanuts) and Kai Ho Bai Tei (chicken with soy, sesame seeds in pandan
leaf). |
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| A bottle of local Czech wine Chardonnay U Venuse
Pozdni sber, Reisten, Moravia was produced to go with the appetizers and
its light, crisp Chablis-like body worked well with all of them. We recovered
somewhat from the very hot red chili, which was actually very refreshing and
produced a real craving for more of the same. We started to imagine ourselves
as pioneers traveling to some far-off Asian land and sharing centuries old
secrete recipes with the locals. Our Sommelier Karel Gult came along now with
an inquisitive look on his face to see what we thought about the Chardonnay
from Moravia. I expressed my pleasant surprise as to how well it went with the
appetizers and was quickly told by Karel to expect another revelation for the
finale. |
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The next course Tom Yam
Kai seemed to reach the apogee of flavor with an interwoven incorporation
of spicy hot & sour soup with chicken, galangal roots, lemon grass, kaffir
lime leaves, red chili and coriander. Not only was this an eruption of
interesting taste, it was also a striking visual presentation. Now it was time
for the main courses. It occurred to us that with so many different cultures
competing for dominance on the palate it might begin to work against the whole
concept. |
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| This was not to be as we found out with the Kaeng
Khiao Whan Phak, which offered a medium spicy assortment of vegetables
in green curry with sweet potatoes, eggplant, lotus and taro root. This dish
should be recommended to the person who desires a harmonious blend of vegetable
that work well together with their spices exciting the palate to life again.
Another example of
Head
Chef Huangwatana's creativity was his rendition of Beef Teriyaki,
which we raved about throughout the rest of the dinner. It consisted of grilled
beef filet with Teriyaki sauce, garlic sesame seeds, radish and ginger and
proves the point that the most delicious foods often don't have to be complex.
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| 2006 Award-Hand-Out: Rickshaw, Prague - CZ |
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We ended the evening with Khao Nioa Ma Muang, a
delectable dessert of sweet sticky rice with mango and jack fruit. As promised,
sommelier Karel approached the table with another bottle of Czech wine, this
time Ryzlink Vlassky Sedlec u Mikulova, Moravia. It was a delightful
golden rich ice wine produced from Riesling grapes and offering a powerful
aroma of ripe fruits with raisins and apricots on the palate. Our dining
experience completed, we were met by Executive Assistant Manager Marc Guenther
for an informal debriefing on our impressions of the cuisine. We spoke about
the quality and creativity shown by Head Chef Huangwatana and his team as well
as the focus of ingenuity and flavor. When in Prague, do as the people do! And
so it was that we experienced Rickshaw Restaurant, one of the incredible
leaders in dining for locals and out-of-towners alike.
na
zdraví! (cheers! in Czech) |
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by
Thorsten Buehrmann & Arno Goudschaal
Editor: John
Lomitola
Editor-in-Chief: Ingrid Lemme |
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| © 2006 ~ Seven Stars and Stripes, Inc. |
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