He's led the kitchen at Brasileiro for over 20 years: It's like a factory, but we still enjoy it, says Karel Brigant
A brazilian restaurant with the pulse of the city
Karel, how did you get into Ambiente?
I came to Pasta Fresca in Celetná Street thanks to a chance meeting with former chef Honza Douša. I was employed at another restaurant where his wife worked, and the place was closing. And since Celetná was opening, I was lucky enough to get in. It was really a coincidence.
Are you a trained chef?
Yes, I have an apprenticeship certificate, and then I did my GCSEs. I went to the cookery school so I wouldn't have to study, and I ended up studying for six years. I started in Celetna when I was about seventeen. I went to school, but at the same time I worked a lot, it was purgatory. And then there was the compulsory military service, I was driving a multi-car in our village, so it was a kind of holiday. (laughs)
What did you do after the army?
I went back to Celetná, where they kept my job, but the kitchen was just full. But in the meantime, just around the corner in Hastalska, a bar called Happiness opened, which no longer exists. I worked behind the bar there for a while. Then when Radek Chaloupka and Martin Matys left Pasta Fresca for Brasileiro U Zelené žáby, I got a chance to go back there. After a while, I became a party boss in Celetná. Eventually Michal Chovanec and Radek approached me to ask me to join the second Brasileiro. And I've been here for over twenty years.
How was the transition from Italian to Brazilian cuisine?
It was fun, plus I became a chef at twenty-five. That was a challenge. Before, I was just holed up in the kitchen, and suddenly I had to go on set with meat and a knife, which was new for me. On top of that, we had eight Brazilians coming to teach us everything about churrasco, but they didn't speak any English or Czech. That was quite an experience.
What were the beginnings of the restaurant like?
We had a solid attendance - we were opening because the first location couldn't handle the influx of guests. Fortunately, it wasn't crazy and we had room to work with the Brazilians. We were learning their language while they were learning ours. Some of them got married here and still live in the Czech Republic, but none of the original group work in our company anymore.
What does your day look like today?
It starts with taking the children to school. Then I come to work, check the goods and the people who are supposed to be on shift. There's always something that needs fixing, or maybe the goods haven't arrived. I'm such a jack of all trades.
Do you get to cook anymore, or do you just run the kitchen?
Of course I cook. Recently, a colleague I started with came back - he's been through other restaurants, here and abroad. We complement each other very well. I admit that when it comes to recipes, I'm frozen, we've already cooked them all. But my colleague has brought new energy here and now the guests praise the salad bar a lot. In the next phase, we want to move sushi - we will test new rice.
You also go on inspirational trips to Brazil. Have you had any negative surprises there?
We've been to some nice churrascarias and been inspired by them, but we've also visited cheaper ones. In Fortaleza, (Brazil's fourth largest city) they took me to a churrascaria in the kitchen. Generally the people there are friendly, they show you everything and they are not ashamed of anything. But they had frozen meats piled up in buckets of water, which was a shock.
Then we went to the butcher's shop, and a truck had just arrived and they had taken out cartons of meat - also frozen. I wondered how that was possible, because they have farms and slaughterhouses nearby and they send it frozen halfway around the world to us. But in the nice churrascari in Rio, it was flawless.
I was actually surprised that while we try to present fresh salads to our guests, they often pour them only from cans, or rather put fresh salad down and pile the rest of the canned salad on top. The Brazilians like to simplify their work, while they have wonderful fresh ingredients growing right around the corner.
Which local flavours have influenced you?
Mainly fruit - passion fruit and mango. We never get the flavours they do.
Brasiliero also has sushi. Do the local churrascaria offer it?
A lot of people initially asked, how come we have sushi when we're a Brazilian restaurant? But Brazil is home to the largest Japanese community in the world, especially in São Paulo, and they have a neighbourhood there. Sushi has become quite a common menu item thanks to them, especially since Brazilians generally like rice.
The fire gave the meat new tones, it was a major change for the better.
In Brasileiro, the menu doesn't change much, does it?
It doesn't seem like it, but we have thirty types of salads and they vary quite a bit, as does the sushi. The constant is the meats, we've tried all the varieties, but the breed and country of origin change.
Is it still the case that the guest always gets the picanha first?
That's right, we start with beef, picanha and fraldinha. It used to be the other way around, we offered white meat and fish first. In Brazil, they don't mess around with it too much, they often just bring the guest what's on hand to start.
What is the average amount of meat consumed by guests per day?
It's 200-300 kilograms of meat, so basically a kilo per person. We are a meat factory.
You've had a barbecue with a fire for seven years. Has it changed the taste of meat?
It certainly has. It gives the meat a completely different tone. Unfortunately, we didn't have the technology to bring fire here before. But we've got it now and it's a major improvement.
What kind of guests come to you most often?
Mostly Czechs come here, but we also get a lot of foreigners. Most of the visitors come here thanks to reservations, not many people come here from the street because the restaurant is hidden inside a shopping centre. Surprisingly, a large part of our foreign guests come from Scandinavia. We also had an ambassador from Malaysia and his entourage, they spent three days in Prague and had lunch with us each time.
A passador walks about 17 kilometres a day.
The Brasileiro team was multicultural right from the start. How is it now?
It's doubly true now. We have Vietnamese, Ukrainians, Russians, Brazilians, Cubans, girls from Moldova, and of course Czechs and Slovaks. We're creating a beautiful Babylon.
What attracts them to work in Brasileiro?
People like working here because we have a great team. We're a team. And it's not butchery, the passadores are clean and scented. But if you want to give it a try, you can't be afraid to talk to the guests. Communication is key here.
What would you say to someone considering joining you?
You've got to be prepared for a lot of hustle. We've got a great team, but it's not a job for everyone. There are only two chefs in the kitchen who do cold cuts and grilling, the rest are either passadores or do sushi or cold cuts. Just today I have a new chef - he's starting slowly, after all he has to get to know thirty people! He'll spend a couple of hours just watching how the place works, and then later he'll try everything out for himself.
How hard is it to train a passador?
It's a specific skill that you have to prepare for. Cutting meat is a discipline of its own - for example, we don't want the customer to get a thick slice of meat. A passador starts in the kitchen, where they learn how to properly pull the meat off the skewer and how to sharpen the knives. Only after a few weeks, when he is sufficiently prepared, does he take the meat to the restaurant.
Brasileiro Slavic House is a large restaurant. Do you have any idea how much the passadores walk in a day?
Seventeen kilometres, that's a lot. Of course, we have a certain system, everyone takes care of a certain part of the restaurant, but since we have a wide range of meat, now about thirty kinds, each table is approached up to thirty times.
Have you ever had a female passador here?
Yes, I had one working here for about a year and a half. She enjoyed it, but I wouldn't generally recommend this job to women because it's very physically demanding.
Even after 20 years, I still find the work fulfilling.
What do you think still draws guests to Brasileiro after 20 years since it opened?
The uniqueness of the concept? Slováč and Žába are definitely unique restaurants in Prague. There have been attempts to create a similar concept, but most of them failed early on. It is not easy to build, finance and maintain such a restaurant. If it wasn't full, it couldn't work. And we're always busy, so we're probably doing it right.
After all these years in the kitchen, is there anything that drives you crazy, or do you still enjoy your work?
I enjoy it, I don't really know anything else. (laughs) But I still get pissed off every day. Especially when someone is unprepared or when I can't satisfy the guests. On the other hand, I'm happy to see that we're getting better, we're getting more positive reviews and guests are leaving happy. That's the best reward for me.
Is it difficult to reconcile work in gastronomy and personal life?
I don't do short and long weeks anymore, but I spend eight hours a day here, so it actually works out the same as going to the office. Sure, sometimes I stay here all day, but it's more rare when the chef is out. And I still have a good time in the kitchen with the boys.
Do you cook Brasileiro at home?
If I grill something, I can say it's Brasileiro. (laughs) Asian cuisine is close to Brazilian cuisine, but I also enjoy Czech or Italian cuisine. There is something perfect and something weaker about each national cuisine. So I like a bit of each.
Do you have any hobbies outside of cooking?
I like to fish. I haven't had much time for it in recent years, but once a year I go fishing in Sweden with my friends. And of course I have a family, a cottage... I always have something to do and that's great.
