Reading time: 4 minutes 
Summary for: This summer, Prague’s most dramatic dinner may be 40 meters above the street“Fly Vista is not just about food, but the view, atmosphere, and position in Prague,” explains Karel Caldr, executive chef of the rooftop restaurant at Máj Národní, one of the largest entertainment centers in Europe. His 'office view' includes the unobstructed skyline of Czechia's capital city, on display through a sheath of tall glass windows that wrap around the restaurant.
It's also where his international menu takes shape. Along with the two toques in the 2026 Gault & Millau guide for Fly Vista, Caldr’s earned Michelin stripes at Allegro at Four Seasons Hotel Prague and La Faventina at Terre Blanche in Provence. Yet, the soft-spoken chef lets his cooking do most of the talking.
At Fly Vista, Caldr’s talents find full expression in a new summer menu. The curated three-course, journey draws inspiration from the lightness of the season, premium ingredients sourced from around the world, and Prague panoramas that shape any dining experience, day or night.
What summer tastes like above Prague
“We always try to give something new,” explains Caldr. “I always take recipes and motivation from the past and combine elements that I know are good together.” Summer is a prime opportunity for diners to explore these new flavors, especially for Praguers who’ve not yet tasted Caldr’s talents here or his other restaurant, Graf26.
That experience starts with pea velouté, a French-style soup with salmon tartare and sugar snap peas. “It’s a creamy soup from the fresh pea,” the award-winning chef elaborates. "In the middle of the plate we have the fresh salmon tartare mixed with chopped gravlax.”
The amuse-bouche parts lips for the throuple of beef tartare, tuna tartare, and salmon gravlax to follow, as the full appetizer. Each is dressed up in house-made additions like ponzu dressing, wasabi mayonnaise, and burrata. But the real oohs and aahs come with the presentation, which plays Mr. Wizard with dry ice to conjure a dramatic mist around the dish as it lands on the table.
Between this and the main dish, guests can take in the dazzling views Fly Vista was designed to amplify. That feeling goes electric on the open-air rooftop terrace above the enclosed dining area, set at 40 meters from the street, which lays out an incredible 360-degree view of the City of 100 Spires. After dark, digestifs, nightcaps, and bubbly mingle romantically with the starry night and streetlight glow.
Almost any spot on the two levels of food and drink offers postcard views of Prague however, including the river and castle. Inside, guests can also admire Europe’s longest marble bar (36 meters long), and a glass case featuring more than 100 varieties of Champagne next to the world’s largest ice bucket, a sparkling black-and-gold bathtub filled with bottles.
The view inevitably sets mouths agape and ready for the main dish: either the fish of the day (such as sea bass, red snapper, John Dory, or other) served with pea purée, green asparagus, fava beans, and house-made squid ink sauce; or U.S. prime beef tenderloin with mashed potatoes, baby spinach, roasted foie gras, and a truffle demi-glace.
Post-culinary bliss is cued by the summer menu’s coup de grâce: an apple tarte tatin with tonka bean ice cream. “We soak the tonka beans for three days in cream to infuse the flavor,” explains Caldr. “This allows us to extract their fullest flavor and aroma.”
A restaurant that grew into its view
The summer menu also marks a new step in Fly Vista’s evolution since opening in June 2024. Caldr recalls that the initial concept leaned into tapas, wine, and the Prague views. But opportunity soon began to knock.
“We started to see that people really wanted to eat good food, so we started to change,” he explains. “We rebuilt the kitchen to separate pasta preparation from the grill and expand the cold kitchen. Then we started to make very high-quality food.”
Caldr calls this luxury dining, rather than fine dining. He defined the difference in an interview for Vogue:
“Luxury used to be defined by formality, white gloves and complex rules. Today, in my opinion, luxury is something completely different. It is time, individuality and quality without pretense.”
Caldr’s personal curation of the menu ensures a complete experience of the concept, as well as Caldr’s overall culinary credo:
“I believe in minimalism. If an ingredient is perfect, it doesn't need to be masked by 20 other flavors. For me, luxury is simplicity brought to perfection… At Fly Vista, we don't hide behind pretentiousness. We show pure taste at the highest standard.“
The summer menu at Fly Vista is available through August at CZK 2,850 per person, drinks not included. Parties larger than 10 must reserve in advance. Modifications due to allergens are possible.
