The Café Buddha Group and Winefriends are organising a series of three tasting evenings in autumn 2026, combining contemporary Asian cuisine with European wines. Two will take place at the PRU58 restaurant in Prague’s Holešovice district, and the third at the Katchi restaurant. Each evening will feature a different menu and selection of wines, but the common thread is how they are created: the dishes and wine pairings are developed simultaneously.
Dates
23 September 2026 – PRU58: Contemporary Asia
14 October 2026 – Katchi: Japan, European Style
4 November 2026 – PRU58: From the Loire to Tuscany
The menu is the brainchild of Štěpán Návrat, head chef and owner of the Café Buddha Group. According to him, the aim is not to create the menu first and then look for suitable wines, but to develop both elements together from the outset. “The best tasting evenings aren’t created by first putting together a menu and only then looking for wine. They’re created together,” says Návrat.
Three evenings, three different concepts
The first evening will take place on 23 September at PRU58 and will feature a menu inspired by contemporary Asian cuisine. The five-course menu will include ingredients such as tuna, salmon, prawns, foie gras and Wagyu. Dishes will include Tuna Tartare with yuzu and wasabi cucumber, Salmon Carpaccio with katsuobushi, Ebi Tempura, Nigiri with grilled goose foie gras, and a Wagyu Roll. The wine pairing will include sparkling wine, a selection of three German Rieslings, and a La Massa wine from Tuscany.
This will be followed on 14 October at Katchi by an evening inspired by contemporary Japanese gastronomy. The menu will include, for example, shokupan with kombu butter, beef tartare with fermented soya, confit leek with nori seaweed, grilled prawns with a lime and soya sauce, and aged duck breast with a plum sauce. Wines from Germany and Italy will be served with each course. The pairings will play with elements such as acidity, fermentation and pronounced umami notes, among other things.
The series will conclude on 4 November with a second evening at PRU58, this time focusing on European wine regions. The title ‘From the Loire to Tuscany’ refers to the wine-pairing itinerary, which will take guests from the Loire, through Burgundy and Piedmont, all the way to Tuscany. An Asian-inspired menu will accompany the wines, featuring dishes such as Tuna Sesame Crostada with avocado mousse, Crispy Salmon Croquette with mango and passion fruit, Pulled Pork Crispy Gyoza, Vietnamese Bo La Lot, and Braised Pork Cheek with Penang curry, coconut milk and kaffir lime.
Wine as an integral part of the menu
This collaboration between the kitchen and the sommelier’s selection forms the core principle of the entire series. Here, wine is not merely an accompaniment to a fixed menu, but an integral part of its creation from the very beginning. Each evening thus combines different approaches to contemporary Asian cuisine with wines from various European regions.
The selection includes, for example, German Rieslings, Burgundian Chardonnays, Piedmontese Barolos and Tuscan wines, including Giorgio Primo from the La Massa winery. The resulting pairings will vary from evening to evening depending on the character of the menu and the chosen wine region.
