Piváreň u Kultána

The restaurant & setting. Martin Novák ("Maťo") arrives in the village of Radoľa near Kysucké Nové Mesto in the Kysuce region, at Piváreň u Kultána. For decades the pub thrived on good beer and loyal regulars; it is named after the late founder, a beloved beer-tapper named Kultán, and the building is his daughter's childhood home. A proper kitchen was added only recently to replace ready-made food with honest cooking. The family went into debt for a new tap and kitchen, and the refit took yet another loan.

The people. Martin was called in by Renáta Kočvarová, née Kultánová, the operations manager and daughter of the founder Kultán, after whom the pub is named. Together with her husband Viliam Kočvara, a trained engineer, the family went into debt for the new venture. Running the kitchen is Kika (34), promoted from dishwasher through prep cook to shift leader, and she lacks both confidence and energy. Beside her are a very young helper, Stanko, and a back-up cook, David Kováč.

Why they called Martin. The stated problem: customers wait 45 minutes and more for their food. Martin finds Renáta, surprisingly, in the kitchen: "I didn't expect to find the owner in the kitchen," and she corrects him that she's the manager.

The first visit. Martin sits down as an ordinary guest and orders schnitzel with homemade fries, a pickled sausage (utopenec), a garlic sandwich, and gentian in puff pastry. The result is a disaster. The utopenec is tough and under-marinated, the "coleslaw" in the sandwich has neither flavour nor dressing ("If that's coleslaw, then I'm Miroslav"), the homemade fries are rubbery and not fried, the schnitzel is bone-dry, the soup isn't creamy and has no salt. "Yeah, they must not have any salt in that kitchen." On top of it, courses come out in the wrong order: the appetiser after the main.

The diagnosis. Martin praises the facilities: "you have a back-of-house unlike anything I've seen on this show," separated fridges, proper temperatures, a beautiful kitchen, but asks what good it is when the basics fail. The kitchen, he says, "has no system, no head." He runs a test: orders food for his whole crew and watches from the outside-broadcast van as the owners constantly hover over the staff, checking every move. Dropped cheese is picked up off the floor and put back in the box. Hygiene: zero. The diagnosis is clear: cooks keep leaving because the owners micromanage them and stand over their shoulders. Martin drives Kika home and learns the painful reason for her block: last year her brother died in an accident (he was 29). "At work it kicked me back into gear… but then it started falling apart." He promises to help her rediscover her appetite for cooking.

The reset. Meanwhile the owners call in reinforcement for the next day: Mariana "Maja" Nováková (47), a baker and cook they trust. The next day Martin has all three, Maja, Kika and David, cook kôprovka (creamy dill soup), "the most basic dish there is." He discovers none of them can properly toast flour or build a roux; they are timid, frustrated and afraid to ask. "The word 'somehow' does not exist in a kitchen." Not a single plate is flawless. Martin realises the kitchen lacks a leader and a strong personality, and he doesn't see Maja, the owners' great hope, in that role. He drives to an old friend and former Na Nože alum, Janko, in the village of Divina, and asks him to run the gala evening as head chef. "Maťo, years ago you poured this energy into me, so I'm glad to pass it on." Janko agrees. Martin also reworks the family's story: he hangs the missing portrait of the founder and adds the pub's little story to the menu, and hands over €2,000 for ingredients.

New concept & menu. Janko builds a simple, honest menu: ham off the bone with horseradish, mushroom velouté, chicken with dumplings and mashed potato, fried oyster mushrooms with garlic aioli, and the star: classic svíčková (beef sirloin in cream sauce). "Going to a pub that doesn't serve svíčková is a sin." The gala awaits with 4 mains, 2 desserts, 3 starters.

The big night. Suddenly the kitchen comes alive: people communicate, smile, have someone to lean on. A crisis hits: the svíčková scorches and the beef boils away, but Janko calmly rescues it from what's left. Guests praise the chicken and the sauce; orders of "five svíčková" come flying. Martin watches Kika light up: "I can see who'll have what it takes in the future." The only homework left for the owners: find a chef like this of their own.

One month later. Martin returns and Renáta is transformed: relaxed, focused on staff, customers and marketing, no longer running the kitchen. They did their homework: they found a new head chef, Patrik from Žilina (nine years in the trade), with a young partner alongside. Kika stayed and blossomed. Martin tastes: a delicate, balanced mushroom velouté; smoked beef tongue with dill sauce and a steamed dumpling, a dumpling "like a little cloud," a sauce that "made him truly happy"; bread with pulled pork and pickled onion; a steamed bun bursting with plum jam. It's clear that someone genuinely thinks about both the food and the plating, and that the new chef can not only talk with his mouth but cook with his hands.

Verdict: Martin acknowledges the turnaround was "from 0 to 100" and that the family did everything to earn their score. Piváreň u Kultána is awarded 5 knives, the top rating. Renáta finally feels the fulfilment she'd waited over a year for, and believes her father would be proud.