A quick browse of Coda Restaurant’s website (separate from the hotel’s own site) hints at the originality to come: there’s more than first meets the eye. Both sites share the musical theme of the hotel, but a glance at the restaurant site soon reveals that one’s visual (as well as taste) senses are the target of chef David Šašek.

Whilst nicely branded with the musical theme of the Aria Hotel (limited edition plates with cartoons of musicians included), once at the table it becomes even clearer that one is about to experience the personal creations of a chef whose talents are as artistic as they are technical.  Šašek has been in the business since he was 12 – a natural: his family ran a gourmet restaurant B&B at Pistina in southern Bohemia. Culinary studies, the experience of establishing sous chef reputations at five-star hotels in Prague (and then at the luxurious Ballynahinch Castle in Ireland) and he was ready to pick up the baton at Coda, where he has been Executive Chef since 2007. 

Particularly relevant to Coda has been Šašek’s experience with the celebrated chef Laurent Gras, former chef de cuisine of Alain Ducasse, developing an expertise in the French technique of cooking ‘sous vide’. This requires assembly of all the ingredients within a vacuum-sealed bag, and maintaining their integrity by heating them for an extended period at relatively low temperatures, sometimes well over 24 hours – this way, the molecular structure of the foods remains intact throughout the cooking process. A delicate and painstaking method, requiring specialist equipment, which delivers tender results full of flavour. Šašek carefully selects fresh and natural ingredients to delight the taste buds, even growing some of them at home or picking them wild (e.g. Dandelion Flower Sorbet, one of his many un-missable gelati).

The vibrant and ever changing menu offers guests international cuisine accompanied by an excellent selection of fine wines. “When creating dishes, I don’t like to limit myself to certain ingredients, food combinations, or regions, I rather try to use only what’s fresh, and what feels right at the time.” So seasonal produce, daily-caught seafood, farm-raised meats and game are showcased on the ever- changing dinner menu, with dishes such as Pan Seared Sea Scallops with a Vibrant Green Asparagus Emulsion, Confit of Pyrenees Lamb Fore Shank with Creamy Polenta, or Braised Rabbit Legs Laced in English Bacon. And there are plenty of Czech dishes as well: don’t miss Šašek’s duck dishes, e.g. Duck Leg confit served with potato gnocchi and sauerkraut.

The restaurant operates from breakfast through to dinner in three equally stylish rooms: the main dining room establishes a formal atmosphere, whereas the adjoining Winter Garden is an airy setting for guests to enjoy the Aria Hotel’s daily complementary breakfast or lunch. In summer you can dine on the Roof Garden Terrace, which looks up to the castle with panoramic views over the rest of Prague. So fine tune your senses and head for the Czech capital: if food be the music of love…

Without wines 1,850 Czk (approx £63) 

With wines 2,500 Czk (approx £85)

Coda Restaurant, Hotel Aria 

Tržište 9 

Prague 1, 118 00 

Czech Republic

Tel: +420 225 334 761    

coda@aria.cz   www.codarestaurant.cz