Tomáš Kysela, owner and head cook of the Prague café Cukrkávalimonáda, never took a single cooking lesson and keeps his recipes to three ingredients. He is also a glass designer.
My name is Tomas (Tomáš, with the Czech diacritics) Kysela, and I am the owner and head cook of Cukrkávalimonáda, a small café and restaurant in the center of Prague. The only way to translate its name into English is literally Sugarcoffeelemonade.
I was born here in Prague in 1968, when it was still a socialist country. But let me get back to my café.
Cukrkávalimonáda was founded in 2000. Soon after opening, I decided on my own to take over the stove and cook for my guests myself. I worked out recipes day after day with no previous experience and no official courses, and I never took a single cooking lesson. I simply wanted everything to be very delicious and wanted people to like everything we do in my café.
Mistakes followed one after another, as I went through the whole process of organizing a food business with no experience. But I kept my eyes open and listened to everyone I had to work with: staff, suppliers, friends and, above all, customers.
Gradually, step by step, I achieved exactly what I had wanted at the beginning. My café became so successful that word about it spread across several continents. Among my customers are movie stars and singers. Right now, for example, the screenwriter of Star Wars is having dinner in the next room, and he is a regular guest at Cukrkávalimonáda.
I have always liked simple home cooking, whether it was made by my mother or by some old woman somewhere in southern Italy. I use recipes with no more than three ingredients. The power is in simplicity, because that is the only way to preserve the original taste of a dish.
Yet I also like to enjoy and discover the different shades of flavor in a meal. Each of them is interesting, and it is very important to catch the right moment to enjoy them.
But my main work, besides Cukrkávalimonáda, is glass, and yes, I am a glass designer. I like to draw my ideas by hand, with a pencil on paper, and give the drafts to an age-old glass factory in the north of the Czech Republic. They treat my sketches with care and always carry out any of my whims.
In the photo you can see one of my guests' favorite desserts, and it is my own idea. When you are in Prague, be sure to try this dish, because it is very delicious.
I am also very proud of the traditional Prague dessert we serve in my café: the Prague strawberry pancake. It is a bit thicker than standard classic crêpes and is made from fresh eggs, flour and whole milk. I fill it with curd seasoned with grated orange zest and a pinch of salt, and top it with three ingredients: fresh strawberries, whipped cream and mint leaves. Bon appétit!
