Vinohrady
“I was here two days ago with some very picky
eaters and we ordered your chicken — it was
the best meat we’d had in Prague. I wonder if
you also sell cuts?” an eager customer says,
bursting into Mikrofarma bistro. That’s
the sort of unprompted recommendation
you want to hear when you sit down to eat.
Mikrofarma, I discover, is an oddity. You
can point at any cut of meat on display and a
chef in the small adjoining kitchen will cook
it for you. It started life some years back as
a butcher’s, and now also has shelves full of
chutneys, pickles and other deli products.
It’s a tiny place, but so are many of the other
joints in Vinohrady. They defy the pork-and-
dumplings stereotype of Czech cuisine: small
ramen, pho and craft beer places have found
a home amid Vinohrady’s more characteristic
sea of coffeeshops.
It’s those sprinkles of innovation that
prevent Vinohrady slipping into moneyed-
but-idle pastiche. The area was absorbed
into Prague in 1922, during a boom period
for the city. The upper middle classes chose
to live there, and this continued under
communist rule when Vinohrady was eyed
with suspicion as a bourgeois hotbed.
Walking in from neighbouring districts,the change is immediately obvious. Trees
suddenly line the streets and buildings go
from mousy affairs given a lick of paint to
showily proud. Balconies become big, jutting
statements, and the decorations on the walls
and roofs become fiercely competitive.
Most of these late 19th-century status
symbols were built in the Romantic style,
which pilfered the best bits from trends of
centuries gone by. The same block can have
elaborate neo-gothic, neo-Renaissance
and neo-baroque efforts, each fighting for
attention with frippery. None are more brazen
than the Vinohrady Theatre, though, which
is topped by two angel statues boasting
extravagant wings. It’s a perfect symbol of the
district — a thirst for culture married to a lack
of concern about displaying wealth.
Rich but broadly tasteful is the vibe, and
that also applies to the cafe around the corner.
Dolcemente oozes presentational drama.
Inside, dried hams hang from the ceiling;
outside, the door and window arches are
outlined with flowers. But its focus is precise:
stunning Italian-style cakes, porchetta
sandwiches and blackberry or tiramisu gelato.
Again, it’s a brave concept idea that probably
wouldn’t work elsewhere in Prague. But
Vinohrady embraces the finer things in life.TANK & CRAFT BEER
Tank beer — poured unfiltered
and unpasteurised from copper
tanks — is as fresh as it gets. Look
for the words ‘z tanku’ on menus
and pub exteriors. Craft beer has
taken a little longer to catch on,
but an increasing number of bars
stock them.ICE HOCKEY
Football is the main sport in the
Czech Republic, but ice hockey
runs it a close second. During
winter, top local team Sparta
Praha plays at the Tipsport Arena,
with tickets very reasonably
priced. tipsportarena-praha.czGARNET
If you want trashy souvenirs,
then you’re in luck — Prague has
plenty. If you want something
genuinely good with a local twist,
then jewellery made from garnet
is a strong bet. Look for jewellers
just off the main tourist route
through the Old Town.GARDENS
In the busier chunks of Prague,
there’s often glorious respite to
be found in small, often walled-
off gardens. They’re particularly
prevalent in Malá Strana.CZECH WINE
A surprising amount of wine is
made in the Moravia region in
the east of the country. Very
little makes its way over the
borders, but key varietals include
Svatovavřinecké and Frankovka
(red) plus Müller-Thurgau and
Grüner Veltliner (white).When in Prague
46 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel
NEIGHBOURHOOD