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A new method using so-called QR codes is being adopted by some Czech restaurants, with cash increasingly regarded as a slow and outdated payment method. Especially popular in parts of Asia, QR enables guests to scan a code on the table, then order and pay for their food via smartphone. However, some QR experts say the future of restaurant service actually lies in other payment methods.

Czech restaurants throw out tons of food every day. Many would like to give it away to the needy but strict health norms prevent that. Now a restaurant in Louny, north-west of Prague, has launched its own –somewhat drastic –battle against leftovers, telling guests to “eat up –or pay up.”

The international volunteer group Food Not Bombs has been providing free food to the homeless and hungry since 1980, and now has branches throughout the Czech Republic. In recent weeks, police and inspectors in an Ostrava district have been preventing volunteers from distributing food on orders from City Hall officials.

Corporate catering businesses are on the rise in the Czech Republic, with more and more fast food chains and food retailers delivering their products directly to companies, the news site e15 reports. In-office catering is mainly intended for business meetings or trainings but it is also used as one of the benefits for employees. According to e15, Czech companies and institutions spend billions of crowns annually on corporate catering.

Major Czech brewing companies are planning to open dozens of new branded pubs this year, Hospodářské noviny reported on Thursday. The move builds on a trend seen in recent years and is aimed at stemming a decline in consumption.

Two Prague restaurants have reason to celebrate, having retained their Michelin one-star status in the 2018 Main Cities of Europe Michelin Guide. La Degustation Boheme Bourgeoise in Prague’s Old Town can boast holding its one-star-status for over a decade, while Field, one of the world’s least expensive Michelin-starred restaurants, has maintained it for three years in a row.

Josef Maršálek was born in a tiny Moravian village where half the residents were his direct relatives – and the nearest shop, let alone patisserie, was beyond walking distance. Yet, his early love of baking would one day lead him to become head pastry chef at the world-famous Harrod’s department store in London. Now, after a sabbatical of sorts in India, he’s back in Prague, gearing up to co-host the Czech version of the wildly popular show the Great British Bake Off.

Things have improved dramatically in the past 30 years as far as service in restaurants goes, but you still come across irritable waiters, with long faces who make a good job of ignoring guests for as long as possible. According to a recent survey by the STEM/MARK agency two out of three Czechs say waiters must earn their tip, but only one in five people leave the customary ten percent of the bill. So are waiters rude and unwilling because Czechs are skimpy or are Czechs skimpy because waiters don’t give proper service?

Czech veterinary inspectors have traced all of the deliveries of Polish beef which were part of a shipment infected with the Salmonella virus, a spokesman for the Veterinary Authority reported.

Overall the suspect shipment amounted to 700 kg of beef, delivered to stores, restaurants, school canteens and hospitals. According to inspectors 110 kg of the meat has already been consumed.

The Czech Republic has introduced strict controls on all beef imports from Poland. Although Poland protested against the move, the European Commission said on Friday it was up to the Czech authorities to take reasonable measures aimed at protecting consumers.

If you visit the Czech countryside at the start of the year you are likely to receive an invitation to attend a "zabijačka" – in other words a pig-slaughter feast; a centuries old tradition that is still observed in many parts of the country. While for some it is a barbaric practice that has no place in the present-day, for others it is an important part of village folklore that brings people together.