Twelve cocktails, twelve personal stories, and illustrations not created in a graphic design studio, but by the bartenders themselves. Café Bar Pilotů in Vršovice returns to the analogue world of drawing, writing, and storytelling in its new PEARLS 2026 menu. The result is a collection of drinks that is just as bold and unexpected as the Pilots themselves - only this time, much more personal.
A lot has changed on Donská Street in recent years. Vršovice is no longer just a somewhat forgotten corner of Prague, where people go in search of pubs, cafés, and places that lead a life of their own. Nevertheless, Café Bar Pilotů retains something that is becoming increasingly hard to find in the city centre: it is a distinctly local bar, with a loyal regular clientele, and yet (or perhaps precisely because of this) uncompromising in its quality. Guests return here not only for the cocktails, but also for the atmosphere, the décor, and the people behind the bar. And it is precisely this combination that has received further recognition this year: in the first edition of the Bartenders’ Choice Awards for Central and Eastern Europe, Café Bar Pilotů won the People’s Choice award in the Czech category. The winner was chosen by the guests themselves, which is perhaps one of the most meaningful awards of all for a venue built on the foundations of everyday hospitality.
Café Bar Pilotů has never been the sort of bar that tries to blend in. Its interior is just as distinctive as its cocktail menu, and several previous menus have already shown that simply mixing a good drink isn’t enough here. The “Pilots” always have their own ideas, their own language, and their own way of drawing guests in. The previous menu, for example, drew on home and the bartenders’ personal memories, while earlier concepts centred on art, regulars, or unexpected ingredients.
PEARLS takes this a step further. The menu’s introduction alone suggests that the Pilots are returning “to where we love it most” - to cocktails with a story they’ve experienced themselves. “They’ve gathered the pearls of their lives: brief, fleeting moments that one carries within oneself.” Each of the twelve cocktails is one such pearl. And to make the personal touch complete, the bartenders have also illustrated each drink themselves. The menu thus deliberately moves away from the perfection of the digital world and returns to paper, drawing, handwriting, and storytelling. With their characteristic humour, the Pilots even admit that they’re well aware the contents of the glasses far exceed the quality of their drawings. But it’s precisely this self-deprecating humour that’s part of their signature style.
Four memories, four completely different worlds
One of the most striking gems is ‘Tuscany’, Vojtěch Drahokoupil’s personal memory of a holiday in Italy. The drawing accompanying the cocktail was sketched by Vojtěch himself and coloured in by his five-year-old son. It’s a detail that perfectly captures the logic of the entire menu: the aim isn’t to create a representative image, but to capture a specific memory exactly as it really is. A little imperfect, a little childlike, but authentic.
The cocktail itself is just as personal. Cantaloupe, mozzarella, and prosecco make up a drink that Vojtěch simply describes as full of joy. The yellow melon brings sweetness and a summery feel, the mozzarella adds a surprising salty, creamy touch, and the prosecco lightens the whole combination. “Prosecco is fresh, lovely, and light,” says Vojtěch, describing a drink that is both his memory of Italy and one of the most playful moments on the new menu. Decadent? Perhaps. Lovely? Definitely.
From Italy, you can be transported to Naples with a single page turn. It was there that the memory hidden within the Inverze cocktail was born - the only low-ABV drink on the entire menu. For the Pilots, who in the past have tended to favour bolder, stronger cocktails, this is a remarkable exception. And not just in the recipe. Inverze also receives the most spectacular presentation on the entire menu: inside a simple cocktail glass appears a model of Mount Etna, with a tiny little man perched on top. It’s exactly the sort of idea that might come across as a pointless gimmick in another bar. At Piloti, however, it fits with their ability to take cocktails seriously while having a bit of fun with them at the same time. That’s also why the end result is more amusing than ostentatious.
Then comes the Marhanský les, a drink which, according to Vojtěch, fulfils an important function on every menu. “Every menu deserves a bit of a weird drink or some unusual flavours,” he says. Here, they certainly aren’t playing it safe with cocktail classics. The base consists of hoppy soda, Bombay gin, and Apollo beetroot spirit. The result is a combination of earthiness, hoppy bitterness, and refreshment. The drink is long, distinctive, and slightly provocative - perfect for a guest who doesn’t want yet another crowd-pleasing sour, but something that makes them pause and think for a moment. “If you want something special, long, refreshing, and bitter, then have this,” recommends Vojtěch.
And then Vojtěch mixes the Córdoba cocktail, which evokes a completely different kind of memory. Whereas Marhanský les relies on pronounced bitterness and Tuscany on joy and decadence, Córdoba is almost minimalist. It’s all based on natural orange wine, complemented by a dash of Seville oranges and vetiver. Just a few ingredients, and it’s done. It’s perhaps the best example of how the Pilots’ originality doesn’t have to mean an overloaded glass or an overly complicated presentation. Sometimes, all it takes is the right choice of ingredients.
Pilots remain Pilots
It is precisely the diversity of the four drinks presented that clearly illustrates why PEARLS doesn’t come across as just another flashy cocktail menu. Behind every name lies a specific person and a specific moment: an Italian holiday, Naples, a distinctive taste memory, or Córdoba. Here, a cocktail isn’t just a recipe, but a way of translating a personal experience into a glass.
At the same time, however, what makes Café Bar Pilotů “Piloti” is not lost: courage, humour, playfulness, and a desire to do things a little differently. This Vršovice bar has long since built a reputation as a place where you don’t just go for one specific drink, but where you’re happy to return. Its location off the main tourist trail also helps. Piloti isn’t the sort of place that needs a constant stream of Prague visitors passing through all evening. The core of the clientele consists of regulars - and they keep coming back precisely because the bar manages to be high-quality, distinctive, and sufficiently informal all at once.
PEARLS thus essentially serves as a small return to the bar’s roots - not out of any nostalgia for old bars, but out of a simple need to sketch something, write something down, and tell someone about it. At a time when most similar projects are born digitally and flawlessly, this menu deliberately showcases the handwriting of the person who crafted it. Twelve cocktails, twelve stories, and twelve little pearls that the bartenders have decided not to keep to themselves.
Because that’s exactly what Café Bar Pilotů is all about: a drink that’s perfectly mixed; service that makes a guest want to come back; an interior you’ll remember. But also that moment when a glass stops being just a glass and becomes, for a moment, a memory of someone sitting behind the bar whom you may not even know.
