We have long been saying that foodservice can be leisure in its own right. While people are sceptical about this in the UK, they are much less so in Europe, and EPD has created a fabulous new facility in the centre of Prague, which opened its doors to the public at 10.00pm on Thursday 23 October. The centre combines an old barracks and stables building, retaining original facades, with a strikingly modern interior set over five floors.
The top level is dedicated to gastronomy. Called the Gourmet Level, café bars, restaurants and coffee shops trade well into the early hours without a 'traditional' leisure anchor such as a cinema. This has been achieved through a combination of retail units trading until 10.00pm and the creation of the city centre's first covered critical mass of foodservice. Throw in a programme of evening entertainment, some striking unit design and the centre's central location in the city, and it's clear that the foodservice could potentially trade up to four meal occasions a day.
Foodservice is clustered elsewhere in the centre, most notably in the two 'glass columns' that each contain one offer at different levels. One such unit is Fashion Café, where my companion and I chose to eat due to the great views over the centre.
A caesar salad, artichoke, tomato and pepper panini, two glasses of white wine and two cappuccinos came to 450 Czech koruny - about £11.60, and while the food was just competent, the service was excellent.
We would urge more people to consider this gastronomy model. It's early days for Palladium, but if it continues to hold and attract customers at the Gourmet Level, foodservice will indeed prove to be the leisure anchor.
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