CACAO Prague - Summer Hotspots 2014

This summer Prague TV will be highlighting the best of the city’s restaurants and cafes, arts and cultural events, parties and activities as part of our new Summer 2014 Hotspots series. From film festivals to fashion and from new cuisine to networking events, we will keep you updated with Prague’s social calendar.

First in line is Cacao, a new Prague café specialising in delicious ice cream that opened in March this year, that is already becoming a firm favourite with locals.

Based in the heart of the city on V Celnici, just a few moments from Republic Square (Náměšti Republiky), Cacao offers a comprehensive menu coffees and teas, soup and sandwiches, cakes, and of course, ice cream.

Cacao Prague manager Josef Land was inspired to open a branch of the popular Slovenian franchise after visiting the café’s charming seaside location at Portoroz on Slovenia’s southwestern coast.

“We were really impressed by Cacao’s mouth-watering menu and unique products, and as there is nothing quite like it here we thought, why not bring Cacao to Prague?” said Josef.

Working in close cooperation with the Slovenian company, which has another successful branch in the capital Ljubljana, Josef began planning the opening of Cacao Prague about a year ago and maintains a good working relationships with the original franchise today.

“Everything happened fairly quickly. It was pretty challenging and time consuming,” said Josef, “But our Slovenian partners were very helpful. It would have been difficult to open the café without their insight and expertise.”

While the company originated in Slovenia Cacao Prague is distinctly Czech and serves local specialties including Doubleshot Coffee, thirteen different types of tea from local business Tea Mountain and beer from the historical Únětický Brewery.

Cacao, which is open for breakfast and lunch, serves a comprehensive menu full of fresh and healthy fare that includes homemade granola and recipes made with raw ‘superfoods‘ like guarana, chia seeds and goji berries.

But of course, the main event at Cacao are its delicious ice creams – perfect for cooling down in the summer heat. All ice creams are freshly prepared in-house daily using natural fruit and fresh milk.

“You won’t find a tastier ice cream anywhere else, unless you go all the way to Slovenia!” said Josef. “We have the option to serve around 180 flavours but we have chosen to sell just 24 – which is often too many for our customers to choose from!

“Our specialty is a Forest Jahůdek ice cream imported directly from Slovenia, but our dark chocolate and raspberry is proving very popular.”

For those looking for a snacks and drinks that are a little more ‘sinful’, Cacao also has tempting treats like raw tiramisu, chocolate cake and a range of signature cocktails specially designed by Czech bartenders.

Whether a refreshing beer or cocktail, velvety ice cream or the best tea in Prague takes your fancy, a visit to Cacao Prague is a must this summer.