From the family table to iconic hotels
Kotlán's path to professional cooking began at home. “My cooking goes all the way back to early childhood. I come from a big family, so our door never stopped swinging. With a touch of exaggeration, you could say that my mother only ever left the kitchen to go out into the garden, where she grew every vegetable and fruit imaginable. Before long, just watching over her shoulder wasn't enough for me and I started cooking myself.” Kotlán recalls.
Over twenty years he has worked in top hotels and restaurants in the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany, including three years as head chef at the legendary Grandhotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary. He now brings that long experience to Resort Český les to offer guests precise, clean and approachable cuisine.
Inspired by the forest
Kotlán's first menu at the Hvozd restaurant is a celebration of autumn. It is built on Czech ingredients, yet it is not afraid of subtle detours. The culinary highlights of the season include marinated salmon trout with a mustard and honey sauce and a hint of orange, roast venison with svíčková cream sauce, chicken roulade with ricotta and sun-dried tomatoes, veal schnitzel fried in butter with Bavarian potato salad, beef goulash with bacon dumplings and pork tenderloin with a chanterelle ragout.
The relaxed spaces of the Hvozd restaurant sit naturally within the surrounding nature of Český les. The interior works with natural materials, and under the new leadership of Radek Kotlán the kitchen reflects exactly the same values: purity, simplicity and authenticity.