U Zlatého Tanku (U Pečalku)

The restaurant & setting. In the village of Divina near Žilina, at the end of the village beneath beautiful hills, stands the pizzeria U Zlatého Tanku. It was named after the tank-poured beer the owners were once so proud of that they put it straight into the name. The place was built by the current owner's parents and the family has run it for six years now. By day, though, it feels more like a village pub than a restaurant.

The people. The place is run by Janko together with his wife Erika. Janko works the kitchen, Erika pours beer and serves, with help from waitress Oli and cook Ľubo. The whole thing is a family inheritance built by Janko's parents, and Janko holds enormous respect for them and a fear of letting them down. „Aby raz boli na mňa deti pyšné, ako som ja pyšný na svojich rodičov," he says.

Why they called Martin. During the week nobody comes in to sit down, people only order pizza delivery on Friday and Saturday. The locals drop by mostly for cheap hard liquor, small beers at eighty-five cents and shots of borovička, so tipsy regulars loiter at the door and families with children never come. That is why Erika called Martin, to help them figure out why their restaurant is not working.

The first visit. Martin orders from a menu with around thirty kinds of pizza and gets one disaster after another. The fries pizza is rubbery like a lokša, the cabbage pizza pečalka „voní ako segedín" and tastes, in his words, like one of the worst pizzas he has ever eaten. Then come convenience-product wings with no salt or seasoning („vyhodiť z lístka preč, ďaleko preč") and the so-called UFO, which simply collapses once it leaves the oven. „To je niečo hrozné," Martin says, shaking his head, and Janko admits most of his offering is convenience food.

The diagnosis. Martin names the root problem with a single question: is this a restaurant or a pub? The place has no character, it is a pub by day and a pub with pizza delivery by afternoon, with food playing no role and cheap alcohol carrying everything. Janko is afraid to raise prices because he lives off the locals and dreads that if it failed he would let his parents down. Erika withdraws into silence during the confrontation, which hurts Janko, but Martin holds up a mirror and sends him off to decide overnight what he actually wants to be.

The reset. The next day Janko decides clearly, he wants a restaurant, and the whole family commits to it. Martin also visits Janko's parents, confirms they are immensely proud of their son and his fear is needless, and sends the couple for a day of rest at the Rajecké Teplice spa so they finally find time for each other. Into the kitchen, which until then had only a pizza oven, he buys a proper gas range, enlarges the storeroom and brings new equipment, because you cannot cook on a pizza oven.

New concept & menu. The place proudly embraces the Pečálek family name and Martin prepares honest dishes to show that Divina wants something other than pizza. The menu has a classic utopenec, a crackling spread, sour mushroom soup, tripe stew with halušky, chicken breast with potatoes and the main highlight, roast pork knuckle, plus a trhanec with raisins and vanilla cream. „Všimli ste si, že na lístku dnes nie je pizza?" Martin announces, because for a good product you are allowed to ask a fair price.

The big night. The trial service first reveals there are only six knuckles and no beer, because the tap was dismantled during the rebuild, but the family pulls it off. The restaurant fills up, guests praise the soup and the knuckle and do not even think of pizza. In the scorching kitchen Janko nearly faints from stress and heat and has to catch his breath on the terrace, but Erika takes over and the evening ends very well.

One month later. A month on, Martin finds that the name U Pečalku has stayed and the place is thriving. Janko barely enjoys pizza anymore and makes it only for delivery, while he bakes his own bread and invents divince with pulled meat that draws people from far away. The family has pulled together, even the grandmothers come to help out, the only sore point being that cook Ľubo left right after filming and they are short of staff. Martin tastes the crackling spread with homemade bread, homemade potato chips and the pork knuckle and is delighted.

Verdict: According to Martin, Janko and Erika made one of the biggest leaps he has ever seen, turning a village pub into a real inn with honest home cooking. For that they receive 4 knives. Martin keeps one knife back as motivation, so Janko keeps pushing himself even further.