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When 23-year-old Jan Vlachynský and his friend decided to open a bar in their local town they hedged their bets on originality and customer service. Seven years later it seems their project paid off bigtime. He now co-owns five bars across Brno whose distinct character has not only made them popular among locals, but has been covered by prestigious outlets such as the New York Times and The Guardian. I popped down to the Moravian capital to ask him about the secret behind his success.

Is it possible to enjoy home-made meals without the hassle of spending hours in the kitchen? According to journalist Tereza Willoughby, who has just published a cookbook called Bistro Doma or Bistro at Home, it is. With her collection of favourite recipes collected mostly from her family and friends she tries to prove to her readers that cooking can be a fun and stress-free activity, which is definitely worth the effort.

The festive dinner on Czech Christmas Eve is mostly associated with fried carp and potato salad, but few people know that this is a fairly modern tradition, established only after the Second World War. In the old days before the tradition of fried carp and salad was established, Czechs used to eat more humble meals, although they came in a rich variety of styles.

In the Czech kitchen preparations for Christmas start early. While the traditional Christmas dish of fried carp and potato salad take just a few hours to make, the wide variety of tiny, ornate Christmas cookies that are eaten throughout the Christmas holidays take weeks of preparations.

It is not just at local markets where gingerbread in all shapes and colours can be found. Baking the delicacy is a treasured tradition among most Czech families as well. On average each household bakes around eight types of gingerbreads, known as the perník, ahead of Christmas and children are often excited to partake in their preparation. To find out more about the way they are made, Radio Prague visited a museum that specialises in the baking of exquisite gingerbreads.

For the vast majority of Czechs Christmas would not be Christmas without the traditional Czech Christmas dish – carp fried in breadcrumbs and potato salad. The process of getting it to the dinner table for a nation of over 10 million presents a serious challenge for the country’s fisheries.

Prague’s annual Christmas markets have taken over the city center, and with them, the stalls selling so-called “old Czech” trdelník. I spoke with some of the tourists enjoying this not-so-traditional treat.

The Czech food rating app Foodgroot aims to “disrupt” the industry by giving consumers the power to evaluate every product on the grocery store shelf with the touch of a button. At the most basic level, this means the quality to cost ratio – whether it’s worth paying more for a certain brand. Down the road, Foodgroot founder and CEO Petr Václavek says, the app will rate products on over 70 parameters, from their organic make-up, eco footprint, and impact on food security – even to what kind of grass milk cows are eating.

Dining is one of the most important manifestations of material culture. At state dinners the quality of the porcelain and glass used represents a given state. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia, we have prepared a photo gallery, documenting the porcelain and glass dining sets used by Czechoslovak and later Czech presidents. They did not necessarily change with every administration, changes in the porcelain, glass and silverware used were usually related to a change of state symbols. So how was the Czech Republic

Vegetable imports to the Czech Republic continue to grow, the Czech News Agency reported this week. According to data from the Czech Statistics Office, the foreign vegetable trade currently shows a deficit of 11 billion crowns.