Day 12

The Lass O'Gowrie
Aug 12
4 min read

Czech Republic

During one summer driving home, we were heading north through Czechia to Berlin. There was a terrible crash on the motorway and we were diverted off up into the hills on an alternative route approaching the German/Czech border near Dresden. We were blindly following the satnav assuming it knew where it was taking us but at the cost of almost running out of fuel. The services we had planned to stop at were unreachable due to the crash so we were running on fumes with our fingers crossed hoping the next village would have a fuel station. Our blind faith was rewarded when we arrived in the village of Petrovice and found the required fuel but then turning a corner, we thought our tired eyes were deceiving us. An airplane at the side of the road? Surely not.

But it was indeed and better still, it was actually a restaurant! Air Restaurant opened in 1995 and is housed inside a TU-104 aircraft. Originally used for Russian Nuclear Military operations, the aircraft was used in the former Czechoslovakia for passenger flights before this particular plane was retired and bought privately in 1993.

We hesitantly climbed the steps to check if it was open, and it was. We were rather nervous for some reason. The village was extremely quiet and no cars were passing, so we wondered if we were in the right place. But there was nothing to worry about. The waitress welcomed us in and showed us to a table. We were obviously agog at our surroundings and she was really helpful, showing us that it was OK to take photos. The menu was in English and Czech, so ordering was easy and while we waited for our food we wandered around the cabin reading the information displayed about the history of the plane. The cockpit still had the original instruments and the interior, whilst altered to accommodate tables and seating, still had the original storage bins at the front and overhead signage.

It was a fascinating meal, full restaurant service with waiters dressed like air stewards. Schnitzel and mash served with airline cutlery. Uncomplicated, Unfussy and Utterly delicious. As we ate, we realised that it was the tenth anniversary of the day we met, so discovering such a unique place for lunch was serendipitous indeed. We headed back on the road full and happy, arriving in Berlin about five hours later than planned.

Our other trip to Czechia was by air to Prague, where we spent our second wedding anniversary investigating the cultural side of the capital and a special dinner at Restaurant Allegro in the Four Seasons Hotel, another Michelin star to add to the collection.

We had worked up an appetite during the day by clocking up thousands of steps around the city visiting the Franz Kafka Museum, The Jewish Cemetery, Prague Castle and Karlov Most. Naturally, we built up a thirst, so we also discovered the “tankovna”. These beer houses are licensed to sell unpasteurised ales due to their high-volume output and we can confirm that Pilsner Urquell tastes exceedingly better at U Pinkasu than anywhere else we’ve ever tried it.

After a quick disco nap, we headed out to Allegro and this is another thing that made our list of favourite food memories: Piedmont Beef at the Four Seasons.

An amuse bouche of smoked haddock with green apple sorbet followed by a celebratory truffle themed menu to herald the start of the season. White truffle ravioli with a clear consommé. Linguine with white truffle. “Cod Four Ways” with truffle mash. Seafood gnocchi. Red prawn tagliolini. Truffled pork belly with apple crisp and sage parsnips. The service was exceptional, attentive but not overbearing. The room was beautifully lit and everything we ate was brought at the perfect pace.

And then Piedmont beef. To this day, we couldn’t tell you what made it so memorable because the dish, as a whole, was stunning, but the softness and way it had been perfectly cooked combined with phenomenal flavour just activated something that has stayed with us forever.

The breed of cattle itself is from the Piedmont area of Italy, the Piedmontese is a relatively rare breed, similar to the Belgian blue, that usually has less than 2% fat: the polar opposite of wagyu that is bred for its fat marbling. The very fact that the meat is so lean means that the chef has to handle it in such a specifically gentle manner, so all kudos to the kitchen for plating up perfection in every way. Our meal ended with an outrageous selection of desserts followed by coffee and a tower of petit fours.

To have experienced this country from two different culinary perspectives was memorable for very different reasons. The sense of relief to find fuel in the middle of nowhere alongside a random plane restaurant serving extremely tasty food was something utterly surreal. To book a table in a fancy restaurant celebrating truffle season and serving Piedmont beef was extraordinary.

Czechia – highly recommended. Prague is such a stunning city. We timed it just at the start of the Christmas markets that sadly have now become quite commercialised and extremely busy but to see the gothic architecture lit up at night was certainly something we would go back for. If we knew that the Piedmont beef was on the menu, we might even consider moving there.

This is Day Twelve in our series sharing 31 Food Memories for the 31 Days of August.

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Day 12

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