Where restaurant meets farm shop: Biskup has opened in the centre of Prague
A new spot is opening on the corner of Prague's Dlouhá and Hradební streets - a cross between a snack bar and a restaurant, Biskup serves a quick lunch offering with a selection of à la carte options, and in the evening guests choose from the menu or can put themselves in the hands of the chef, who will make the selection for them. As is common in Japanese establishments, the general manager of Biskup was inspired by his travels and internships in Japan.
A self-service kiosk, smaller courses and open kitchen
Don't expect service here. An usher greets newcomers and seats them at a long table flanking the open kitchen. Guests place their order at the self-service kiosk, depending on what they're craving and how hungry they are. Thanks to the open kitchen, they can then watch the chefs at work.
"Whether a guest wants just a quick small course, or two small ones with one main course, is entirely up to them," explains Jirka Horák, Biskup's general manager, adding that "contact with guests is mainly the responsibility of the chefs. That's why the usher is an important link between the door and the kitchen. He is the main element of hospitality, because we do not take reservations and we need someone to coordinate the arrivals, explain the concept and the menu, and seat everyone. This emphasis on operational efficiency is inspired by Jirka's internships abroad, where it is common for chefs to deal directly with guests.
Thanks to the large table where diners are seated alongside one another, Biskup is a haven for solo diners.
Dishes from memory and old cookbooks
Biskup's menu will change regularly, featuring classics such as tartare with fried onions, ovár, six-minute eggs with fish salad, Ondráš steak (steak wrapped in potato batter), meatloaf or traditional Czech salads.
"My colleagues and I discuss how things were cooked in my family, and how we prepare our own meals at home. But we also pull from old cookbooks, such as those by M.D. Rettigová or Karel Šroubek, and Jirka recently brought a beautiful publication called The Cookbook of Our Village. We found perfect recipes in it, but none of us remember them anymore," recalls chef Alžběta, who developed the concept.
Chef's choice
On the evening menu, guests will also find Chef's Choice, a tasting menu that will guide the visitor through Biskup's current offerings, and offer under-the-counter ingredients and courses.
"It will be a comprehensive cross-section of our current menu. The tasting menu will make use of premium ingredients - those that will be scarce in the kitchen and the store. And the Chef's Choice will also feature items that won't be on the à la carte menu at all," adds the chef.
Fruits, vegetables, poultry
The other half of the business is the farm shop, where visitors can tick off their entire shopping list. The shelves and counter are packed with vegetables, fruit from the Czech Republic and abroad, poultry, dairy products, flour, eggs and herbs.
For those who are in a hurry and don't have time for a quick lunch, the shop will prepare daily fresh salads with dressings, sandwiches like Japanese-inspired tamago sando, and also dishes that you can just finish at home and serve - for example, mixtures for liver dumplings, rabbit roulade or delicate pate.
The shop is run by Ondřej Kuracina, who visited dozens of domestic farmers in the run up to opening. "I had time to get to know them and understand how they work. We partner with farmers who eat what they grow themselves," Ondřej emphasises.
He has also established cooperation with Výdejna chuti, which brings to the Czech Republic - and now to Biskup - chemically untreated exotic fruits, meaning that citrus fruits, pineapples and mangoes are also on offer.
Chicken is a speciality not only in the restaurant but also in the shop. Birds are available whole, or portioned into thighs, breasts, or carcasses for broth.
"I'm glad that we are able to find farmers who have the space and time to raise breeds of poultry that are not commonly raised for meat production in our country. And that there are farmers who are willing to try non-standard methods of fattening for us, so that the chicken grows up exactly the way we want to sell it to our customers," says Kuracina.
Record music, contrasting interiors and a uniform with a baseball cap
The restaurant and shop interior were designed by Prague-based studio Olgoj Chorchoj. Designer Michal Froněk sees the long bar table as the "heart of the restaurant", complemented by low, not high, bar stools made of solid wood in a warm red tone, designed by Olgoj Chorchoj and rendered by zeitgeist.limited.
"Guests don't sit up high, so they don't create a visual barrier. Then when you come to the door, you have a beautiful, unobstructed view of the whole space. You're looking straight at the most important thing. It's very family-like," says Froněk, describing the atmosphere.
From zeitgeist.limited also come the unmissable red lights made of durable borosilicate glass, produced by Detesk glassworks. The lights play a dual role - the round, elongated part of the luminaire adds atmosphere to the space, while the "protrusions" at the bottom perfectly accentuate the food being served.
Even the uniforms reflect the simplicity and maximum efficiency of the concept - the chefs cook in white T-shirts and white aprons. Designer Kristina Netíková also crafted oversized jackets, and outerwear shirts and vests for the butcher and the greengrocer, so they don't get cold in the shop. Biskup's opening hours are pretty clear too - baseball caps with the inscription Closed on Sundays complete the uniform. The rest of the week, they'll be open for lunch and dinner.
During the day, the restaurant plays a popular playlist of chefs favourites, and in the evening, the atmosphere is enhanced by music from a Voix record player - among others, you'll hear Lou Reed, Depeche Mode, The Smiths and Metronomy.
