Il Mercato

"By the time I returned to Czechoslovakia, I had an understanding of the principles of the market." Vaclav Klaus

I first got a taste of Brno in 1995. Back then, one of the most popular "Italian" dining options was a slice of pizza with a squirt of ketchup, served through a tiny window on Česká street.

You can still get it there today.

Even so, eating out in the Czech Republic's second city has come a long way since my first visit. Fine dining establishments have slowly and sporadically sprouted up over the years.

Several years ago, I surveyed the scene and sampled Borgo Agnese, Ristorante Rialto, Noem Arch and many others, a few of which have disappeared. But a new crop of restaurants have been making names for themselves.

There's Pavillon, a modern-looking eatery by the much-lauded team behind U Kastelána. And the sushi restaurant Koishi was voted the sixth best restaurant in the country in Maurer's Grand Restaurant Guide for 2012.

Now Riccardo Lucque, Prague's purveyor of top Italian fare and the creator of Aromi and La Finestra in Cucina has opened a restaurant in Brno.

It is Il Mercato, located on the Zelný Trh (Vegetable Market) in the center of town.

It's in a historic building that also houses the Grandezza Hotel. Dining outside is an option in the warmer months.

But the inside may also give you a warm feeling. The dining room is light and long. Large windows let the sun stream in during the day.

Exposed brick, beautiful wood flooring, and ceiling beams, give the new restaurant a comfortable, lived in feeling.

There's also an open kitchen.

Like Aromi, there's a table with cheeses, olives, hams, and a wide selection of grappas.

The restaurant is dog-friendly. A golden retriever slept peacefully under another table.

We stopped in for a late lunch. Hearing lively tunes by Mina playing over the sound system quickly brought smiles to our faces.

Our waiter quickly brought us basket with light and dark bread, bread sticks, and crunchy, spicy chickpeas.

The bread is good, but the slices they serve at Lucque's Prague restaurants are better.

What we really loved was the Giachi primolio extra virgin olive oil. The olives are picked in the first ten days of November, the oil has low acidity and really presents the essence of the fruit.

To go with that we had a large bottle of Mattoni mineral water (90 CZK) and a glass of Ruggieri Prosecco (110 CZK).

Then, Miss P had the starter portion of the porcini mushroom risotto (295 CZK). This was a daily special.

Although looser, with more liquid than some versions, it was an absolutely creamy, delicious delight. It burst with porcini flavor with undertones of white wine, the rice was cooked perfectly, and the fresh leaf parsley accented it at just the right moments.

I had the scallops with smoked aubergines and Bernaise sauce (295 CZK). The photo does not give the proper perspective -- these three scallops were the largest and plumpest I've seen in a long time.

They were lightly seared, with light brown crusts on top and the most delicate, almost gelatinous interior. The sweet aubergine had just a hint of smoke. The egg yolk, clarified butter and herbs of the sauce sent it into the realm of decadence. Amazing.

There was a noticeably long pause between courses. Only three other tables were occupied in the late afternoon, so I'm not sure what caused the delay. Miss P had a glass of Nino Franco brut rosé "Faive" (130 CZK).

This was fine, but not as complex and enjoyable as the Berlucchi '61 Franciacorta rosé we enjoyed at Aromi.

From the secondi, Miss P had the grilled octopus (395 CZK).

These were the best tentacles I've tasted since the great ones I had at Divinis Wine Bar a couple of years ago. But this version was even better. The lovely char on the outside gave it a smoky, crunchy exterior that gave way to an almost impossibly tender interior.

The close up shot makes it look small, but it was a generous portion. The octopus sat atop a caponata of red pepper, zucchini, green beans, and fresh apricot slices. The juices from the ripe fruit combined enticingly with the reduced red wine underneath.

I got a starter-size risotto as my main course -- the risotto alla Milanese (225 CZK).

Each bite of the al dente rice was a saffron-infused pleasure. Crispy slices of beef bone marrow lay on top. Each piece melted in the mouth. There was added tang from the freshly grated Parmesan on top.

I wanted that dish to last forever, but there was some consolation when it was time for dessert. I went for the profiteroles filled with hazelnut crème Chantilly (175 CZK).

The Chantilly inside the pastry balls tasted like the best hazelnut gelato I've had. But what made this extra special was that the balls were covered with sweet, creamy mascarpone drizzled with apricot syrup. I was told everything was made on the premises.

Miss P ordered the lemon sorbetto.

This is a favorite at Aromi, but this version had more Prosecco and lacked the tartness she was looking for.

We finished with two cappuccinos (55 CZK each).

It's top quality coffee and comes with a dish of cremina, the mix of sugar and a few drops coffee that dissolve more easily in the cup.

The tab for this meal was 1920 CZK before tip.

We only had one day to spend in Brno so we walked around town, shopped, and had more coffee. And then we went back to Il Mercato for dinner.

Unlike lunch, we received an amuse bouche. It was tangy Gorgonzola topped with honey on crispy pane carasau.

The combination of flavors was so simple and yet such a great combination to start off with. My bouche was amused.

We decided to try a Czech wine, so we had two glasses of rosé Merlot (80 CZK).

It was not bad, but nothing special.

Given the short time between meals, we weren't so hungry. Miss P had the seared tuna and artichoke salad (195 CZK).

It included radicchio and Romaine lettuce with a light oil and vinegar dressings.

She asked if the tuna could be extra rare, but was told the tuna was served rare and already cooked. It was a little more done than she liked, but she still really liked it. But what she loved was the raw, thinly sliced artichoke hearts. The chewy, crunchy, earthy flavor was a taste of her Tuscan youth.

"This is the best salad ever," she declared. "Can I have it again?"

"Yes, you can."

So she had another one. I'm not sure if they seared another tuna based on her previous request, but this one was much more rare.

You can also see how these special artichoke hearts looked.

I had a hard time deciding what to order because so many dishes sounded good to me. After much deliberation, I choose the grilled organic chicken "diavola" (295 CZK).

I picked this because I'd had almost the exact same dish at Lucque's La Bottega di Finestra in Prague. I wanted to compare.

The chicken, with most of the bones removed, had the same beautifully crispy skin and moist flesh underneath. However, the sauce was lacking the zing in the version I'd had before.  The roasted potatoes in the Brno dish were done right, but I preferred the vinegared potato salad it came with in Prague.

We also had Mattoni with the meal and finished with cappuccinos. This dinner cost 990 CZK before tip.

The service was generally efficient and friendly, with only a couple of lapses when our servers left us unattended for too long.

The big question is whether it is worth it to pay Prague prices in Brno. My answer is yes, absolutely. The quality and standards are the same. It was a lovely experience.

Shortly after opening, Il Mercato has to be one of the best restaurants in the city. I really hope I'll get a chance to return to this market.

Il Mercato
Zelný trh 2
Brno
Tel. (+420) 542 212 156

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Borgo Agnese - Brno

“Men show their character in nothing more clearly than by what they think laughable.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Fine dining in Brno?

The very idea was laughable when I first visited in 1995. I'm not laughing anymore.

With restaurants like Ristorante Rialto, two Brabander restaurants, and U Kastelána (which I have not tried), there are now some diverse and interesting options.

I recently got a recommendation to try Borgo Agnese -- a place that opened earlier this year on the street level of a building of new luxury flats.The dining room had a number of different sections. Ours had fairly bright lighting.It was next to an ancient section of a wall that had to be preserved as a condition for building the hotel.There were other, more intimate areas with lower lighting.There was a big party in one room that V said was filled with Czech celebrities, including the voice of the Czech language Bart Simpson (ironic since I mentioned the same person's photo was on the wall in my recent post about La Bodeguita del Medio).

The table was nicely set.The service was efficient and friendly, but not overbearing. The waiter even brought a small bucket of ice with our Mattoni mineral water (30 CZK).

We received a bread basket with a wide variety of relatively ordinary breads.There was whipped garlic butter on the side.

We both got an amuse bouche -- a spoon full of slightly smoky beef mixed with a creamy cheese.Pretty good.

For a starter, V got the seared scallop (169 CZK).It was large, but there was only one. It sat on a couple of slices of grilled mushroom -- nothing exotic, but flavorful. I liked it.

I had the shrimp trio with sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, and garlic confit (195 CZK).The shrimp were good, but small. I soaked up all the garlicky oil with some bread.

For a main course, V ordered the grilled venison sirloin with a plum tart, shallot confit, and a juniper berry and Port sauce (459 CZK).The meat was lean but tender. But the tart was cloyingly sweet -- not a good balance there. V liked the shallots.

I got the roasted beef ribs with red wine, mushrooms, pea pods, caramelized carrots, and risotto-like cake on top (290 CZK). We both liked this much better than the deer.My friend recommended this specific dish to me. It was good, but not up to the standard of the beef ribs I had at Maze by Gordon Ramsay. But these were half the cost, which made the dish feel like a good value.

One thing struck me as odd. The waiter asked how I'd like the ribs cooked. I didn't know what to say. I assumed they were braised -- and on arrival, that appeared to be the case. They were fork-tender and cooked all the way through.

V drank three .1 liter glasses of the house Riesling (30 CZK each). She said it was simple but good.

The total bill, including a cover charge of 25 CZK a person, was 1328 CZK.

We thought was a good meal, but not great. It's not a place we'll go out of our way to visit again. We really like the Brabanders a bit more.

It is also worth noting that as the quality levels and number of choices continue to climb, the prices in Brno restaurants are getting close to those in Prague.

And that, my fellow travelers, is not a laughing matter.

Borgo Agnese
Kopecná 43
Brno
Tel. (+420) 515 537 500
Closed Sundays

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Noem Arch - Brno

“Such is the human race, often it seems a pity that Noah... didn't miss the boat.”
-Mark Twain

It was certainly appropriate that it was pouring down rain the day we went to the Noem Arch restaurant in Brno.In English, V said she thought the name roughly translates as "Noah's Ark," but if that is the case, the Czech is not correct. Flaunting her Czech linguistics degree, she insisted it should be written as "Noemova Archa."

It turns out, there were plenty of things we found we not quite right about this flashy-looking place.

There is a giant, smiling photo of "celebrity chef Roman Hadrbolec" on the wall outside the restaurant.

According to his personal website, he served celebrities on a cruise ship and worked as a caterer in California for some big Hollywood stars.

You can also read about how he worked as a model and placed second in a swimsuit competition.

I'm sorry, but after eating in his restaurant, we were left with the impression of style over substance. That he's a pretty boy who serves pretty food, some of which tasted pretty bad.

That's a harsh assessment, but we didn't enjoy it much and honestly thought we could have done many of the Asian-influenced dishes better ourselves at home.

The dining room is big, open, and a little glitzy. We both thought it was a nice, modern space.Unfortunately, just outside the restaurant's big windows, there's an auto garage and a Tesco parking lot.

The waiter was the hyper-attentive sort that some people appreciate. Us? Not so much.

We're just not the types who need a guy wearing one white glove on his right hand to pour our mineral water throughout the meal.And speaking of water, we were offered the sparkling variety, said yes, and received .75 liter bottle of San Pellegrino. It wasn't too crazy a price at 100 CZK , but we didn't realize until later that small Mattoni were also available. I wished he had offered a choice.

One nice service touch was that they had little stools for women to put their purses on under the tables so they didn't have to rest them on the floor or hang them on the back of the chair.

There was an amuse bouche. It was a little piece of toast with creme fraiche and red caviar.

For a starter, V got the calamari with sea salt and chili peppers (250 CZK).

It is described as "lightly crumbed fried calamari rings." The flour-like coating was greasy and soggy. There was no crunch at all.

I've eaten fried calamari all over the world, including Hollywood. I'm something of an addict. And based on that extensive experience, I have come to believe that the exterior should be crispy. It will take more than one celebrity chef to convince me otherwise.It came with chili sauce on the side. From a bottle. Now, I happen to like that sticky, super-sweet stuff with the chili flakes. I have a bottle at home. But perhaps I expected a little more creativity.

It was a pretty small serving of calamari, but perhaps I say that because I just came from a trip to the U.S.A. where the same money would get you super-sized portion of fresh fried rings.

I ordered the stuffed homemade rice paper roll (150 CZK). The menu says the cold roll is filled with "chicken, prawn, rice noodles, lettuce, Rau Om herb and mint."It comes with the chili sauce or peanut sauce. I chose the latter. I really liked the sauce, but I don't have much else good to say.

The chicken was just naked as far as we could tell. We couldn't even taste any salt. Super bland. A missed opportunity. We couldn't taste any seasoning on the rice noodles inside, either. Super-duper bland. Plain lettuce?

The shrimp were OK, but not much expertise goes into those. We love the flavor of mint, but sadly, there were only a few small leaves dominated by everything else.

We've made both of these starters in our own kitchen from an Asian cookbook recipe. When we make the rolls, we soak the rice noodles in fish sauce and a little sugar. Also, we use basil instead of lettuce.

And we roll them thinner and tighter so they can be cut with a knife. The big fat one we got exploded all over the plate with one cut. No more roll.

For a main course, V ordered the Red Snapper in banana leaf and stuffed with aubergine and lime sambal (390 CZK).

The menu said it was steamed in a banana leaf, but it was apparently removed in the kitchen.It was a nice piece of fish. The vegetables, including carrot, bean sprouts, and Enoki mushrooms was quite good.

But the aubergine and lime sambal? Truly awful. Both of us thought it was inedible. The stuffing was intensely salty, and it also had an unpleasant, acrid sesame flavor.

Something was wrong with the oil, we both thought. V had to scrape it off to the side of the plate.

I had the lamb saté with spicy peanut sauce (300 CZK). We both liked this the best.

There was a respectable amount of lamb, which had been beaten into a tender state, and cooked on wooden skewers. It had a slight smoky flavor. The peanut sauce, again, was nice.The rice noodles on the side were mixed with peanut and coconut milk, as far as I could tell. It was also bland.

I asked the waiter for salt. He brought some, explaining that salt is not left on tables because dishes are "as they should be."

Trust me, salt was a big improvement. I threw some on the lamb, as well. I also put some peanut sauce into the noodles (was that how it should be?).

After the DIY seasoning at the table, we both enjoyed it.

But overall, we were pretty unhappy. The bill for lunch, with tip, came to 1500 CZK. I don't mind spending that kind of money if I leave with a smile on my face.

But we weren't smiling. We were disappointed.

This Hollywood extravaganza wasn't worth the price of admission.

And unlike most Hollywood productions, we didn't even get a happy ending.

Noem Arch Restaurant
Cimburkova 9
612 00 Brno – Královo Pole
Tel. (+420) 541 216 160


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Ristorante Rialto - Brno

This rather ordinary looking building, not far from the center of Brno, is actually quite special. There are two reasons for that.

First, in the 1970s, it housed the maternity hospital where V was born.

Second, it is now the home of Ristorante Rialto, which prepared the best meal we have ever had in Brno.

The dining room is nicely done, with tasteful furniture, exposed wood beams, and hardwood floors. But it is not super fancy.

Little, except perhaps the small parking garage in the back, remains to remind one of its former incarnation.

There is also a very pleasant outdoor seating area. It has a wooden deck lined with plants and different styled chairs.

We went for a weekend lunch, and it was almost a bit too hot under the awning. But, lucky for us, the sun ducked behind some clouds and a breeze picked up.

The deck looks out on a garden with beautiful plants and a lush, green lawn. The back of the restaurant looks out on a residential area with a number of villas.

There is also a more primitive garden next door with an apricot tree in the middle. This is V's kind of garden.

Only two other tables were occupied, so we had a very quiet, peaceful time, and practically the full attention of our friendly and efficient waiter.

The meal started with a nice bread basket with three kinds of bread - dark, French, and a rustic country white. All were fresh and crusty.

We received a bottle containing both oil and balsamic vinegar, which could be dispensed with an atomizer spray pump at the top. The only problem here was we did not get bread plates, so there was no convenient way to combine the olive oil and bread.

Then came an amuse bouche of salmon mousse terrine with chunks of salmon, bitter red leaf lettuce, and a little balsamic. It was a light, refreshing start on a hot day, though nothing too special.

If you are wondering why all the food photos have a bit of an orange tint, it is because the sunlight was filtering through the colored awning overhead.

For a starter, I wanted to keep things light and cool, so I ordered the pickled rolls from aubergine (eggplant) stuffed with goat cheese mousse (Nakládané rolky z lilku plněné pěnou z kozího sýru) for 160 CZK.

The three eggplant and goat cheese rolls sat on leaves of crisp endive. I wish there were more. They were two bites each. In the middle of the plate was a salad with more of those red leaves, with shaved Parmesan and a light dressing. On the side were sprigs of rosemary and fresh parsley.

V got the seared scallops on a skewer with limes, zucchini basket, and tomato risotto (Špíz z mušlí Svatého Jakuba a limetek s cuketovým košíčkem a tomatovým rizotem) for 330 CZK.
The scallops were perfectly cooked and tasted great. Again, we wished there were more than two, but quality over quantity is a pretty consistent feature of the fine dining circuit. The zucchini was cut spaghetti style, sitting in a thin flour-based shell. I really liked the risotto -- it had a very strong essence of tomato.

As a main course, I had the roast shrimp "Aglio olio" with cuttlefish ink risotto (Pečené krevety "aglio olio" se sépiovým rizotem nebo bylinkovou rýží) for 590 CZK. Rice with herbs can be substituted for the risotto.
The shrimp were cooked just right. The outer crusts of the shrimp were golden-orange and slightly al dente. But the inner portions of the meat were very tender.

The risotto was delicious, especially after I squeezed some of my lemon over it. It was also slightly al dente, and had a very light amount of cuttlefish ink -- no black teeth. It had a complex flavor and I thought, for a moment, it was mixed with cheese, but the waiter assured me it was cream. A touch of wine perhaps?

V ordered the mixed salad with chicory shrimp and calamari (Míchaný salát s čekankou, krevetami a kalamáry) for 250 CZK. She loved it.It came with three warm shrimp, along with grilled calamari rings. V was glad the seafood was served warm, as it always bothers her when hot food is placed on top of cold lettuce, causing it to wilt. It had a dressing similar to the earlier appetizer salad. There was a mix of several kinds of leaves and endive. She thought this dish was the best value for money.

We decided to go for broke and share a dessert. For some reason, I have a craving for anything with ricotta cheese, so I ordered the "mousse from ricotti au gratin with lemon cream in pistachio sauce" (Mousse z ricotti gratinovaná citronovým krémem na pistáciové omáčce) for 150 CZK. I meant to tell the waiter we would share the dessert, but I mistakenly said "Na půl, prosim" (pronounced "nah pool, pro-seem"), which actually means "split in half, please."

The dessert took a long time to arrive. When it did, the waiter explained that the conscientious chef tried to split it evenly in half, but it did not stand up well to cutting, so he had to make a second one. I felt a little guilty, but appreciated how much he cared about making us happy.

It was worth the wait. I've never had a dessert quite like this one. It really wasn't so much like a mousse. It was denser. The sweet ricotta was studded throughout with pistachios. It was topped with a lemon glaze that was slightly browned like a crème brûlée.

On the side, there was an essentially unsweetened green puree of pistachio. It was fairly intense by itself, but dabbed on a fork full of ricotta, it was perfect. The fresh but somewhat tart fruit also made for a great combination. There was a piece of chocolate on top. It lacked the required intensity, but I was more than happy with everything else.

We want to try the other desserts next time, but wonder how we will be able to avoid ordering our first love.

For drinks we had Mattoni sparkling mineral water for 30 CZK, .25 liter bottles of San Pellegrino still water for 40 CZK, and V had a couple of .2 liter glasses of a very nice 2003 Moravian Riesling from Mikros, I think, for 120 CZK. No beer for me, I was driving.

There was also a cover charge of 30 CZK a person.

Look, this was an expensive lunch. The total bill came to 2100 CZK with tip. Is it worth the money? I can only say that we really enjoyed our meal - the food, the atmosphere, the service - and we left for our trip to Macocha with smiles on our faces. That's worth a lot to us.

I'd say we enjoyed this meal more and paid a lot less for it than our last meal at Kampa Park. Ristorante Rialto compares favorably with the best Prague has to offer.

With the prices as high as they are, we won't be visiting every time we are in Brno. We still have our second favorite place for quality dining in the city, Brabander, which is quite a lot cheaper. But we are already trying to think of special occasions, so we can go back and try other dishes.

Given the history of the building, V's birthday in December would certainly be appropriate. I just don't think we can wait that long.

Ristorante Rialto
Veveří 125
616 00 Brno, Czech Republic
Tel. (+420) 541 235 035, 541 235 040
Monday - Saturday, from 11.30 to 24.00
Sunday, from 11.30 to 15.00

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