Winding your way downstairs you enter an atmospheric basement seating area, with uneven stone floors, rough plaster walls, and dark wood tables and chairs. Red seat cushions paired with crisp red and white table linens lend just the right touch of color to the space. Candles glowing softly in the wrought iron wall sconces enhance the ambiance, their fingers of light sneaking into the various nooks and crannies. The only discordant note was the level of the music, which was a trifle loud for my taste.

Menu selections range from traditional Italian pasta favorites such as spaghetti and lasagna, to fish, meat, veal dishes, and wood oven pizzas. My choice was an appetizer of prosciutto e meloni, followed by pizza quattra stagioni. As is customary with many restaurants in Prague, there was a small cover charge (50 Kc) for the bread, olive oil and Parmesan cheese. It’s well worth it, though, as the Italian bread was warm, the crust crisp: just begging to be dipped in olive oil. The prosciutto and melon appetizer was more than enough to share, with generous slices of ripe cantaloupe and flavorful prosciutto. Quattra stagioni is a pizza topped with tomato, ham, sausage, mushrooms, vegetables and mozzarella cheese. As with other pizzas I’ve had in Europe, the crust was paper-thin and crisp, just the way I prefer it. Service was polite and reasonably attentive. The restaurant also has a large outdoor seating area on a busy square.

My hotel was just down the street from this restaurant; it appeared to be open all hours of the day and evening. Expect to spend about 585 Kc (about $24 USD) for appetizer, entree and a Czech beer.