Design Supermarket Part II

On Saturday, I attended Prague’s Design Supermarket to check out the latest fashion, jewelry, home accessories and art that is being produced by some of the city’s young, talented designers.  The exhibition was located at Palac Archa, a building located beside the Starbucks not too far from subway stop, Florence.  An entire floor was used to showcase the artists goods.

On the fashion front, there were certainly some unique pieces ranging from wearable-fashion forward, to avant-garde.  My favourites included a stylish, marshmallowy, winter jacket by No Fashion (pictured below) in a champagne colour, that I tried on and loved- too bad it was close to $600 CND.  I also loved Ether‘s cow purse and clutch and Leona Skanderova’s oversized, crocodile bowling bag purse (both also very $$.) Likewise, the whimsical, multi-material purses by Gabang (pictured below) were pretty cool.  Lastly, on item that really stuck out and will be a piece that I will purchase at a later date, is a print by a local artist that goes by the name of Antimultivitamin (pictured below).    I’ve included a couple other shots I snaped while walking around to give you a sense of what’s new and exciting in the Prague design world.

via no fashion

via Gabang

 

via antimultivitamin

Design Supermarket

Contemporary design, is probably not what most people would associate with the Czech Republic.  Rather, a style befitting to products from countries Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Japan, Spain or Italy to name a few.  Since moving to Prague three months ago, my contemporary design radar continues to go off.  As I explore my surroundings, I take notice of Prague’s next wave of designers trying to cut through the mass, mainstream stuff by producing arty, modern products.

Walk through any of the following areas, all located outside the touristy, Stare Mesto/Prague 1, such as Karlin, Vinohrady, Zizkov, or Holesovice and you are bound to stumble upon a handful of, dare I say “cool,” design stores featuring local and international industrial designers.

This weekend it is possible to get an introduction to several of the city’s young designers at festival, Design Supermarket.  Design Supermarket provides young artists and designers with a means to showcase their work in a commercial setting and provides consumers the opportunity to purchase unique, local, hand-made pieces of work.  When I first saw the advertisement for Design Supermarket posted on the side of a tram stop the other week, I was astounded.   Could this example attempting to showcase contemporary design and new talent in the city really exist for a city where modern/contemporary design is in its nascent stages of development?

To answer my own question, yes.  Design Supermarket started on Wednesday and runs until Sunday at Palace Archa, Na poříčí 26, Prague 1.  I plan to go check it out tomorrow and will let you know about my findings next week.  I am most excited to see the work of Batousek, de-sign, Dreamer Studio, Eva Pelechova, Gabang, Leona Skanderova, and Milos Nemec.  Pictures to follow….

 

 

Interview w/ The Pillarbox

I don’t know about you, but if you have every tried to find a beautiful, English language greeting card in Prague, it is nearly impossible.  Same plight goes for wrapping paper.  Last week, I conducted an interview with local entrepreneur, Roisin Lamb, on the recent opening of her fabulous stationery store, the Pillarbox, located on Balbinova 24, in Prague’s Vinohrady district.

During my morning chat with Roisin, I learned that the Pillarbox was named after the free-standing, red post boxes found in the UK, and aims to provide Prague-ites with a wide array of English language greeting cards, invitations, wrapping accoutrement, kids items and gifts under one roof.  Carrying both local and UK stationery and product lines such as Rachel Ellen, Jellycat, One Green Bee, Glick, Woodmansterne, and jewelry from Louise Maystrenko, the Pillarbox is the place to go if you have forgotten someone’s birthday, are looking for colourful gift wrapping accessories such as bows, ribbons, stylish wrapping paper and bags or are in need of adorable invitations for a party.

As you get your mind in holiday mode, if you haven’t stopped by the store, it is a must for the upcoming holiday season, especially if you are on the hunt for some quality gifting accessories.  The best part about the Pillarbox is that it is open on Saturday from 11am to 3pm, quite uncommon for your typical Prague boutique!  Filling a necessary gap in the Prague market for stationery and paper products, the Pillarbox, with its knowledgeable and helpful staff ready and willing to gift wrap for you (boys/men- take note!!), will surely grow to become the new go-to store.

If you are looking for other places and spaces to get acquainted with the Pillarbox in Prague, you can find Roisin on December 3rd at the International Women’s Association of Prague’s (IWAP) Christmas fair at the Diplomat Hotel, as well as at the Prague British School’s holiday market event on December 15th and on their Facebook page.

 

pancake factory

What is a girl to do when she is craving pancakes in Prague?  When palačinky, the Czech Republic’s answer to the pancake, are not enough and you are craving North American-style pancakes that are found flipping on every diner griddle on the continent on a Saturday and Sunday morning?  The solution, is the Pancake Factory.

Last week I was at the gym and was flipping through a Czech magazine that was left on a table and noticed a red advertisement that screamed for my attention.  The small box on the middle of the page contained two words that were heaven to my ears, “American and Russian pancakes.”  I was sold.  I scribbled down the website and went home to Google my find, “Pancake Factory, Prague.”  To my delight, I found the restaurant and it was only located 34 km south of Prague, in the village of Kamenice, which makes for a nice drive on a Saturday morning.

The Pancake Factory specializes in American and Russian style pancakes in addition to offering other non-pancake restaurant items like meat and fish.   This place is part bakery and part restaurant and is open from 11 am to 11pm.

On our pancake-seeking mission, we ordered banana pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, a mint tea and a cappuccino and I have to say, it was all pretty good.  The pancakes were light and fluffy and came with a side of two sauces, a raspberry sauce and a maple-esque caramel sauce.  The restaurant’s interior looks like a cottage with wood panels, samovars and other antiques displayed on the shelves and a fireplace in the back room.  There is also a play-pen section filled with toys for kids.  Our pancake breakfast was a fun experience and a beautiful, quick drive and I would totally recommend it to satiate your next pancake craving in Prague.

cake from emil gaigher

Bakeries in Prague rarely disappoint.  On every street, the most marvellous aromas waft out of doors into the noses of pedestrians, luring them in for a treat.  I am all about exploration and trying new things. I had walked by Emil Gaigher,a bakery located in Prague 5,  several times en route to my fiance’s office and had high hopes for this coconut covered, vanilla cake from Emil Gaigher, but to my dismay, it looked better than it tasted (my fellow cake taste testers agreed).  However the cute marzipan mouse on top of the cake photographed well!  I am off to Milan and Florence tomorrow and will report back on any delicious bakeries or fabulous design shops that I find in my travels next week.

Halloween

Happy Halloween from Prague. Belive it or not, Halloween is celebrated here, however not to the North American standard and extreme with crazy decorations and trick or treating.    I had a great weekend visiting a local farmer’s market, shopping around several grocery stores in search of baking supplies and baking up a storm for a Halloween party.  As I was researching what to bake for the Halloween party, I stumbled a cross a couple great recipes that I would like to go back and try such as Chef Dennis Pumpkin Crunch Cake and Sweetapolita Autumn Delight Cake.  Both of these cakes look sumptuous.

I ended up baking two items from classic New York bakeries: Magnolia Bakery Vanilla cupcakes with a lemon butter cream (from cookbook: More from Magnolia) and decorated them with chocolate sprinkles and colourful gummy worms. I also made a batch of Fat Witch Bakery chocolate pumpkin brownies covered in a chocolate icing (from cookbook: Fat Witch Brownies) and my own scary mix of crushed vanilla wafers and fall coloured chocolate covered pumpkin seeds.

Halloween marked my first baking endeavour in Prague and boy did I learn something about the availability of baking ingredients fast.  Apparently, it is IMPOSSIBLE to find food colouring in Prague, hence why no orange frosting on my cupcakes.  It is also IMPOSSIBLE to find vanilla.  Instead I found some gross smelling vanilla extract in 15ml bottle (the size of your pinky finger) and vanilla sugar, which I am familiar with from European cooking shows but I was not about to attempt to introduce a new ingredient to my repertoire last-minute and risk having to throw out two batches of baked goods.  The other thing I found perplexing was the brown sugar situation.  Brown sugar comes in crystal form, not the rich, soft type you can buy in North America.  How am I supposed to make chocolate chip cookies with brown sugar crystals….  I hope someone who is reading this post will have some insight. Anyway, the baked goods turned out great.  The process was good fun and a good adventure. Happy Halloween.

Ecclectic Tea Party Table Setting

Eclectic Tea Party Table Setting by lanshala on polyvore.com

Air Vase | Gestalten
gestalten.com

 The weather in Prague has turned rainy and cold this week and I think fall is here to stay, unlike the 26 degree weather I am jealous of back home.  I’ve enjoyed unpacking all my goods from Toronto and getting everything re-set up in our new apartment.  While the size of the apartment is the same, we’ve gained a considerable amount of storage space that didn’t exist for us in our old place which is nice when you collect platters and tea cups like I do.

One of the selling points of this apartment is that just down the street there is great cafe called Muj Salek Kavy that has breakfast/brunch, cakes/tarts, lunch and dinner.  I found out it is run by a South African guy, which is why the “brunch” items are done well.  This place has a terrific jasmine tea, and I have even overlooked the fact that it comes in a bag instead of looseleaf (gasp) – and drip coffee for the fiance.  In the spirit of tea, I’ve put together an eclectic mix of items that I would put on my table to host a rainy day October tea party.

bakeshop

I was in Prague a couple of weeks ago and checked out this adorable bakery in the middle of Old Town.  I was impressed with the bakery’s stunning poured concrete counter based with its name “Bakeshop” etched in the cement.  Lunch, dessert, baked goods and Bakeshop’s famous sourdough bread is what you’ll find here. 

I tried a couple of cookies along side a cup of tea and while they weren’t the best cookies I’ve ever had in the world, they were good enough for me to return and try something else.   The rest of the baked goods and bread looked amazing and the bakery certainly smelled delicious.  The interior design was interesting with lots of juxtaposition of glass, wood, metal and cement mixed with an ornate high ceiling, cool chandeliere and old posters.  This place is perfect for people watching out their big windows on both sides of the store.