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Identity crisis

Someone's past is always present at confused Bissli
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By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
April 18th, 2007 issue

What's in a name? The old Dinitz space has found a replacement, but new owners seem loath to change.
In his classic The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald cautions readers against the natural human desire to recapture moments past. If I remember correctly, nostalgic reverie has some pretty devastating consequences. Sam Waterston as a neighbor, for one.
FROM THE MENU

Hummus (small) 75 Kč
Falafel 75 Kč
Meruez 95 Kč
Shrimp croustini 160 Kc
Feta terrine rolls 125 Kč
Rucola grill salad 220 Kč
Chicken escalope forestiere 260 Kč
Spring chicken kebab 185 Kč
Lamb kebab 185 Kč

Like its fictional alter-ego, Bissli seems unwilling to shake the trappings of yesteryear — the yesteryear in this case being the building’s former occupant, Dinitz. Take a look at the windows, where Dinitz is still etched in glass. Check the menu board outside, and you’ll see both old and new names represented. Sit down and pick up a menu, and there’s Dinitz stamped on the front. Flip through the pages, and there’s a rundown of “Dinitz sandwiches.”
For one visit, I asked someone else to call and reserve a table. The voice on the other end of the line asked, “Are you looking for Dinitz?”
The only evidence of the restaurant’s new identity, besides a bright-red sign out front, is one page listing kebabs and other specialties, stuck inside the old menu.
In almost every way, Bissli appears to be uncomfortable in its own skin. Over and over again, promising dishes betray hesitance, apprehension. Falafel, for instance, are fried to a beautiful hue of crisp red-brown … and are so bland, the small orbs of chickpea lose badly in their tussle against a pool of tahini — which in turn, yields to an excessively bitter note. A runny consistency undercuts mellow, nutty flavors in the hummus. Lamb kebabs cower helplessly, again from the bitter onslaught of tahini.
Only two items emerge unbowed from Bissli’s inconsistent kitchen — three if you include decent bread topped with either butter (not whipped, a refreshing change) or an intriguing onion jam. For starters, try merguez, small lamb sausages laced with harisa (chili paste), garlic and fennel. The presentation assembles assertive, pungent, spicy and herbal flavors into a dense mélange, managing somehow to subdue bold seasonings and allow them full expression at the same time. Then pick up a skewer of tender spring chicken cubes, scored by licking flame until a golden patina forms, dusted with coarse salt. It’s nothing elaborate, just the simple pleasure of smoke and caramelized meat’s earthy sweetness.
But the past always intrudes, slinking around like a boorish party guest. Dishes borrowed from — what’s the old restaurant’s name? — often contradict Bissli’s Mediterranean theme. And the hand-me-downs lack the same charisma. Time had not been very kind to the greens in an artless rucola salad, for instance, nor had the kitchen treated thin slices of beef with any generosity (think graying strips of meat masquerading as raw material for a pair of Manolo Blahniks). An overly zealous dousing of salt only adds insult. Chicken escalope “forestiere” fares a little better, thanks to tender meat slouching in a gentle cream sauce. Pieces of decent bacon contribute a meandering smoky essence to the sauce, but the effect is dampened by dispirited mushrooms resembling, in texture, wads of chewy latex.
Starters culled from Dinitz’s well-worn pages survived Bissli-fication more or less intact. Shrimp croustini brings large slivers of garlic, tomato and small whole shellfish into a nice balance of sweet, tart and bitter flavors. Timid feta rolled in thinly sliced eggplant with grilled bell pepper, sun-dried tomato and a musty olive tapenade strike an equally harmonious tone, lolling easily between distinct ingredients.
Of course, feta, olive tapenade, the combination of garlic and tomato — these are natural crossovers.
Maybe one day Bissli will create its own identity. But it will require shutting down, scraping away layers of recent history and erasing Dinitz from the menu. For now, it would be helpful if management would repair dings and stamp up-to-date logos around the place.
Either that, or hook up a green light and be borne back ceaselessly into the past.

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (18/04/2007):

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