A Zelenina v Praze

Dobrý den, kamarádi a nepřátelé!! As many of you may know, I spent the past week in the Czech Republic, visiting my Uncle ExPat and his girlfriend Fu in Prague.

This was a 'Really Big Deal' for many reasons.

First of all, I don't particularly like Feeling Conspicuous or Being Lost. In fact, both are borderline phobias. Additionally, I have a terrible sense of direction and do not read maps all that well. I have an irrational fear/dislike of public transportation. And (as I may have mentioned once or twice) I am a mostly-raw vegan with some pretty eccentric eating habits.

Now, seeing as how being out of place, unsure of where you are, using maps and buses/trams to get around, and enjoying local cuisine are all hallmarks of being a tourist, it may seem a tad strange to you, loyal readers, that I chose to visit a foreign country at all, let alone all by myself.

But I went, I saw, I returned mostly victorious. Since this is, ostensibly, a food blog, I'll focus on how I managed to stay fed and watered for seven days in a country whose national dish is vepřo-knedlo-zelo.

Day 1: I am taken to the giant Tesco on Národní. Vegetables are expensive, but available. Fruit is a little easier on the budget, and I recommend Tesco's house brand Orange-Carrot Juice. A glass of that and a banana or apple makes for a pretty good, raw breakfast. For a late lunch, Uncle ExPat and I head over to Restaurant Jama, right around the corner from The Prague Post (where my Uncle is the features editor, general manager, & editor-in-chief) and owned by another expat friend of my Uncle's. Order the House, Greek, or Side salads "bez sýr"(without cheese). Surprisingly large for the price, and delicious. The dressing on the house is especially nice: an amazing honey-ginger with fennel and poppy notes.

Day 2: On the way back from Petřín Hill, I stop at the Vietnamese Market (take Tram 22 to the Ujezd stop) for some excellently fresh produce. Fu is Japanese, into healthy eating, and a great cook so I lucked out; getting home-cooked dinners most nights I was there. Tonight was fresh red vegetable curry with rice, miso soup (using home-made miso). To help digestion, a shot of Becherovka and a mug of steaming peppermint tea hits the spot.

Day 3: Fruit and juice for breakfast, lunch at Jama again, sparkling water with Josh Ritter at The ICON Hotel lounge, leftovers for dinner, and a bottle of Gambrinus at the Josh Ritter/Swell Season concert.

Day 4: Fu stops by Country Life and pick up some bio chocolate soy milk. Maybe it'd just been a while since I had any, but this was some of the richest, thickest, soy milk I've ever had. Also at Country Life: tofu, natto, soy yogurt, and sprouted lentils/garbanzo beans. For dinner, Fu made sushi rice with avocado and wasabi soy sauce, ginger marinated vegetables, and miso soup.

Day 5: Fruit and soymilk for breakfast. While waiting for the Strahov Monastery and The Loreto to open, I stopped by the monastery's brewpub for a St. Norbert's amber. 35 crown for a small pivo? Very dobrý indeed.

Day 6: For a late lunch/dinner, I head to the Olympia. A good selection of Czech delicacies (one can eat the knuckles from more animals than you might expect); but for the vegan - order the Řecký salát, bez sýr. The marinated veggies are crisp and vinegary and delicious. I am bought a Staropramen Dark at the Hany Bany for a night cap.

Day 7: Fruit and soymilk for breakfast, tea and beer for lunch. Fu made ratatouille for dinner with fresh bread. Later that night, we all meet up at The Monarch for some Moravian wine and tapas (some of which are vegan-friendly).

Now if you're really lucky, you will have someone who loves you enough to make you wild-rice-and-seaweed balls for the 7-hour plane ride from Prague to NYC. If you are unlucky enough to have your flight from NYC to CMH cancelled, refuel at Balducci's and try and get re-routed through Hot-lanta. Concourse E has a nice little deli, Nature's Table, where you can get salad, humus, and steamed veggies. If you have a lot of time to kill (and a few extra dollars left) stop in at One Flew South, a schwank little sushi restaurant with over-priced (but delicious) cocktails.

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So there you have it, kids. One week of eating and drinking in Prague. I highly recommend it.

Until next time (coming up: Valentine's Day treats!): Dobrou chuť!