Have you ever wondered what it's like to dine at a Michelin Star restaurant? Do the small portions actually even fill you up? Is it like being in an episode of Chef's Table? Is it worth all the $$$$?! I'm here to share my opinion on the first Michelin Star restaurant I visited during my trip to Europe.
Okay so lets set the scene. La Degustation is a very small and intimate restaurant. In total, it seats about 20 guests every night. This is not a place to walk up off the street to and ask for a table. They would probably look at you like you're crazy.
I'm from Portland, obviously. Its a casual city. We have fine dining but it all feels very approachable even if the dollar sign is high. The local blog I read about this restaurant in even said, "food in Prague is no Portland, Oregon", which I kind of thought was insane that they compared their food to ours. La Degustation was like nothing I have ever experienced comparatively to Portland dining. Every man had a collared shirt and suit jacket. Women were wearing designer clothes. Lets just say I was VERY happy we decided to dress up for the evening and that I even packed clothes for a special occasion. I would have looked like a complete idiot.
Upon entering, they take your coat and bring you to your table. You've got about 5 different kinds of wine glasses and far more silverware than you'd ever need ready for you at the table. Next our waitress brought us hot towels to clean our hands. They were soaked in lavender water (some rly extra boujiee shit).
The entire restaurant runs like an orchestra. Not a single thing out of place. People stand up straight and smile rarely. We had three people waiting on us, a sommelier, waitress, and a woman who exchanged silverware for every course. I don't want to call her the silverware lady, but thats what she was.
I felt like if an employee farted they would be fired.
While dining you are watched like a hawk. Not kidding, at least one staff member was looking at us at all times. Waiting for the moment I finished a plate or set down my last sip of wine. Best service I've ever had, but I also don't know how I feel about being watched that closely.
To be honest.... I wished I was hammered immediately upon arriving.
Personally, I hate a ridged, and rather pretentious environment. My anxiety was going through the roof, I felt like I didn't belong. There was not enough pre-gaming beforehand to feel comfortable before I was even seated (I didn't really know what I was getting into). We actually went to an Irish Pub before and slammed two shots of Whisky (should have been 4).
ANYWAYS, you get it. I wanted to be drunk...so we got lots of wine. A Sommelier gave us taste pairings with different courses I end up drinking them all and asking for something different cause I figured all those samples probably added up to $40.00 in wine.
Okay, so about the food. Chef Sahajdak puts a strong emphasis on local produce and seasonality: All the produce is Czech and mostly brought on a daily basis from cooperating farms. Then the produce is turned into deconstructed versions of classic Czech dishes, using an old Czech cookbook from 1894 as the starting point. You get two set menus, a short and a long one, and a wine pairing with mostly Czech wines. I will say the wine was fabulous.
Czech food is hardy. Lots of meats and starches. Overall, the food didn't blow my mind. When I think about this food being derived from an old Czech cookbook from 1894 I see why most of the food is rather simplistic. During that period, people mainly cooked to survive. I think taking that concept as a starting point is very interesting, although I would have liked to see food pairings that pushed some boundaries a little more.
The dessert portion was the disappointment. Blueberries and basil, its not that creative. They used this basil unfused oil throughout the entire dinner and it just wasn't that good. You know that feeling when you're at the end of an Otter Pop as a kid and the melted syrup makes you cough? Thats the only thing I can think to compare it to...and if you have no idea what I'm talking about then I'm sure I just sounded insane.
Then we got a bowl of finely shaved ice with fruit in it. The watermelon was cut into heart shapes. I'm not sure what the hell was going on this course to be honest. I don't care about heart shaped watermelon. Comparatively, I'm used to a city that loves to push boundaries of food, and in that moment I was appreciative of that.
The dumplings course was probably my favorite. There was beef tongue - it tasted like pulled pork, incase you were curious. I also really loved that they brought you all these surprise courses in-between the main menu items. It was exciting to get lots of little dishes you weren't expecting. And yes, the food does fill you up.
There was thought and detail put into the architecture of the restaurant as well. The pattern you see on the window reflects the same pattern on the menu, back wall of the kitchen, and dish-ware used for courses. This cluster of shapes was taken from the biological structure of nature. You see this pattern used a lot throughout the work of famous Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudí and it reminded me of his work. Needless to say, everything was deliberate and thoughtful. As someone who appreciates the art of plating, the food was also beautiful.
Overall, it was an extremely memorable experience. My boyfriend at the end of the meal made me take a photo with the kitchen and drunkenly bursted out that I was a food critic. I wanted to keel over and die. It was like a proud dad moment. He ate things he would never dream of eating and I was so happy he actually let me drag him there.
Everyone should experience a meal like this in their lifetime. I cant say I want to do it again tomorrow, but I will say its something I will never forget.