Words Elisabeth King

THE TRANSITION was almost jarring. We had arrived at Prague's Nadrazi Holesovice railway station, which looks as if the Iron Curtain was lifted only yesterday. But within 20 minutes we were stepping through the doors of the Four Seasons Prague, the Czech capital's most luxurious hotel. Overlooking the famous Charles IV Bridge and Prague Castle, this toney bolthole has the best location in town - only five minutes' walk from the Old Town and the former Jewish ghetto. It's made up of three historic buildings - the Classical, the Baroque and the Renaissance - and you can even choose which equally venerable group of buildings you would like to view from the huge picture windows of your room: the Neo-Gothic university building, the historic centre of Prague or Mala Strana - the Baroque lesser town on the other side of the Vltava River.

But many people come here just to eat. This year, Allegro - the hotel's signature restaurant - became the first restaurant in eastern Europe to be awarded a Michelin star. The chef is 31-year-old wunderkind Andrea Accordi, whose previous work includes stints at the Regent Hotels in London and Bangkok, La Residence Pinede in St Tropez and the Villa la Vedetta in Florence, where he gained the first Michelin star of his career. Not that Allegro was short of accolades. The Zagat guide named it the best restaurant in the Czech Republic in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

According to Michelin Guide director Jean-Luc Naret, "There will be more and more stars for Prague." And about time, too. Refined cuisine all but vanished under the heavy hand of Communism because it was deemed too bourgeois, and it has taken the Czech Republic nearly 20 years to claw its way back into contention. Thankfully, Accordi beat Gordon Ramsay to the punch. The loud-mouthed British celeb chef, who opened maze restaurant in the Hilton Prague in November 2007, predicted he would win the city's first Michelin star. There are plenty of Mediterranean and Italian dishes on the menu at Allegro, but Accordi is creative with one-off dishes like pigeon with spices, pan-fried foie gras and Bohemian suckling pig with horseradish mashed potatoes. The latter is just the thing for a cool night on the restaurant's outdoor terrace with floodlit views of the Vltava River and Prague Castle.

Another welcome development that has benefited the city in the past 18 months is that the tawdry British stag parties, courtesy of rock-bottom fares from low-cost airlines like Ryan Air and easyJet, have largely moved on to cheaper destinations in the Baltic states. That's not to say Prague isn't overrun with souvenirs, tourists, buskers and caricaturists. McDonalds and KFC hold pride of place in Wenceslas Square, too. But the girls who seem to be on every corner handing out flyers aren't tempting you with "adult" entertainment or discounts at a nearby pizza bar; they are touting classical concerts featuring the music of Dvorak, Smetana and Rossini. Even under the onslaught of 10 million visitors a year and what some have called the "Disneyfication" of the Old Town, the awe-inspiring beauty of the Czech capital makes it easy to understand why Mozart chose the city's Estates Theatre for the premieres of The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni.

Nazi occupation in World War II left Prague relatively unscathed, and even Soviet domination, including the "put down" of the Prague Spring in 1968, has done scant damage to the city's graceful appearance. Its melancholy grandeur is also easily accessible on foot. It's best to start in the Old Town Square, where the cynosures are the Church of Our Lady of Tyn and the Astronomical Clock. Every hour, a little skeleton tolls a death knell, upending an hourglass that sets off a number of other events. The 12 apostles pass the clock windows. A rooster crows and a Turk bobs his head. All around there are quaint little wine cellars offering beer and wines by the glass and restaurants with menus heavy on goulash and dumplings. There are also many Italian restaurants that lead to streets full of pizza restaurants and Wenceslas Square, one of the few parts of the city centre with something of the flavour of modern life from discos to arcades.

A second day was spent at Prague Castle. There is the impressive St Vitus Cathedral and you can visit Golden Lane, a tiny street nearby where Franz Kafka once lived. The movie Amadeus was shot in Mala Strana, the lesser town that many rate as more picturesque than the old town because of its resplendent palaces and narrow streets. The area is also quite hilly, so when it's time to stop for a pivo, the Czech word for beer, there are plenty of bars where you can slake your thirst.

Almost architecture-happy by this time, we decided to explore the enigmatic charms of Prague cuisine more closely. If you are here for the beer, your only "work" is learning the vocabulary. The ubiquitous Pilsner Urquell is a cinch, of course, but the other brand names worth committing to your palate and memory are Gambrinus, Radegast, Krusovice and Staropramen aka a Staro. Look for signs that read pivnice, hostinec or hospoda - all of which indicate typical beer halls. Czech food is geared towards the consumption of beer, and for all the Italian and Michelin-starred places most restaurants rely heavily on starches and meats. Dumplings are either potato or bread-based and go well with everything from venison and duck to the goulash which is listed on every menu.

Czech wines are a bit of a local secret. The Moravian region south of Prague is where most of the best wines come from and I enjoyed several good chardonnays and frankovka, a light, spicy red. Beceherovka, a herbal liqueur from the spa town of Karlovy Vary, is reputed to be a health tonic. But then, what locally made liquor in most European countries doesn't make this claim? Another local word to memorise is vinarna - or wine bar, as we say in English.

Like in all modern cities, Prague's dining scene has everything from Irish pubs through TGI Fridays and Mexican cantinas. The Palladium sports 30 "themed" restaurants. But your first stop for a feed and a draught beer should be U Medvidku (The Little Bears), which has been around for 500 years. A traditional pivnice, it serves Budvar on tap and traditional staples like wild boar in berry sauce. Then move on to the thriving scene that has emerged since top-rate ingredients rather than fat and flour achieved dominance - Restaurant Flambee, where Nicole Kidman picked at the food (www.flambee.cz), the Rybi Trh ( first-rate fish; www.rybitrh.cz) and The Americky Bar - a glossy 19th century jewel which claims to be Prague's oldest bar. Now if there's one way to make Prague even more magical, a champagne sipped in these beautiful historic surroundings has to be it.

Getting There: Thai Airways International flies to several European cities with good connections to Prague. Visit <www.thaiairways.com.au> or your travel agent. In Germany, you can fly to Frankfurt and Munich and book onward connections with Thai's partner airlines, Lufthansa and Air Berlin. Or fly to Bangkok with Thai and then to Vienna with partner airline, Austrian Airlines. It's only a four-hour train journey to Prague from Vienna; pre-purchase tickets or a European rail pass from Rail Plus at <www.railplus.com.au>. For further information and bookings at the Four Seasons Prague, go to <www.fourseasons.com>.