Kuchyň, part of the Ambiente network of restaurants, has declared insolvency in connection with closing of restaurants and stores by the Czech government to fight the spread of COVID-19. Located in the Prague castle complext, the restaurant opened in 2018 through a tender by the Czech National Gallery. “Life has disappeared from the castle,” said Ambiente’s founder and Kuchyně co-founder Tomáš Karpíšek. “We don’t have anyone to cook for here and nothing to pay the rent, salaries or operations with,” he told Lidové noviny. “We don’t even have the funds to pay severance for our employees and the new season won’t begin until next summer, that’s why we decided for insolvency,” he said.
One of the shareholders in the restaurant, Filip Šimoník, wrote an unusually self-critical article for the Czech edition of Forbes magazine. In retrospect, he wrote, the restaurant’s menu was more fixated on ideals rather than reflecting what customers wanted. It offered just filtered coffee rather than espresso, for example, even though people wanted more choices. But Kuchyň’s biggest problem was seasonality. While sales were strong during the high season, those profits were consumed during the slow winter months meaning the restaurant was unable to build sufficient financial reserves. He added that the restaurant’s lease was for just five years, which had begun to look the same as the time it would take its investors to recoup their investment. With no guaranteed option to extend the lease, ending the restaurant became the most logical option, writes Šimoník.
