Summer design break

I really don’t know. Maybe it is old age and senility at the door; maybe I’m a bigger romantic than I thought. Or maybe it’s just the increasing pleasure found in good food and other basic indulgences that life offers a mature man. Whatever the case, I have enjoyed it all to the fullest. What? Apricot dumplings sprinkled with quark cheese and breadcrumbs, of course. No – this isn’t going to be about design. Or is it? I got the tip from Maxim Velčovský when we met at the first year of the Křehký Mikulov (Fragile Mikulov) Artedesign Festival in June. I missed it that time, as Mikulov itself bewitched me. But I remembered after returning from my family holiday in Croatia with Orson Welles (that story some other time...). The majority of the miserable drive from the coast was behind me and when I saw the silhouette of the Mikulov Castle on the distant horizon, it came to my mind... Café Fara in Klentnice by Arch. Marek Štěpán (www.cafefara.cz). Steve Jobs quickly showed me the way. I ascended the hill overlooking Pavlov and the first experiences occurred. A view of the Nové Mlýny reservoir, the Pálava peaks and the Sonberk winery by architect Pleskot in the far distance (www.sonberk.cz) evoked the first wave of euphoria. And there was more to come. Café Fara is easy to find because the vicarage is generally next to the church. The original building contains a café and a shop with pretty, local and seasonal trinkets. You walk past the church, down several steps and onto a charming courtyard with lovely garden furniture and parasols (no advertisements). On the side, instead of the former sties, is a nicely designed building with 4 rooms for accommodation (apricot, almond, lavender and vicarage). In another building standing opposite, work is busily underway on further expansion – a cellar, sauna and more. Concerts are organised here, and there is a children’s corner. The service was excellent and the “apricot week” that was just taking place wasn’t limited to dumplings. There was apricot beer, juice, coffee and much more. Those 2 hours were among the best spent this year. It is wonderful that there are people among us that have the ideas and energy to create such places. If only there were more of them.

David Řezníček