Honest taste even in a box: Jan Punčochář on Czech cuisine, tomato sauce, and ingredients

Tomato soup with gingerbread, zander with spicy halászlé sauce, or baked eggplant. That was the menu created for Yes Krabičky by Jan Punčochář. Our clients were able to taste his recipes from September 21 to 25, 2026, as part of another thematic week during which we collaborate with top chefs.

How does he think about Czech cuisine, and what is most important to him when composing a balanced menu? In our interview, we covered everything from the selection of ingredients to his favorite childhood meal.

Czech cuisine doesn't have to be heavy

Honza, it's not common for a chef of your caliber to contribute to a meal box diet menu, yet Yes Krabičky still managed to add you to their all-star team of guest chefs. What convinced you to accept the offer for this thematic week?

"Proper and balanced nutrition is perhaps the most important thing for human functioning, and I believe that for people who want to eat as well and as deliciously as possible while lacking the time to prepare food themselves, meal boxes can be an excellent choice. Most people imagine Czech cuisine as heavy, but when you think about it and cook sensibly, it can be done in a light and healthy way that you don't have to save for just once in a while."

Did you have any experience with a meal box diet before the collaboration began? What was your impression of it, and how did it differ from reality?

"I personally don't have experience with a meal box diet. Logically – I'm a chef, I'm constantly bustling around the kitchen, and I love cooking, so I've never had that need. However, I understand that it's a great help for people who don't have time to cook or want to have an exact overview of their nutritional intake."

People associate your dishes with honest cooking, bold sauces, and generous portions. Was translating this signature style into a nutritionally balanced meal box menu more of a limitation or a culinary challenge for you?

"It was definitely not a limitation. Honest Czech cuisine doesn't have to mean unhealthy food full of fats and carbohydrates. On the contrary, our traditional cuisine is based on nutritionally valuable ingredients, such as legumes or freshwater fish."

From quality ingredients to a finished menu

During the thematic week, the menu also featured roasted rabbit leg with garlic, spinach, and bulgur, or veal in paprika sauce with roasted peppers and cauliflower-potato puree. Even well-known dishes were given a slightly different form.

What key did you use to select dishes for the entire thematic week?

"Just like always when I compose a menu – I focused primarily on quality ingredients. Quality components must always be the foundation, whether it's vegetables like eggplant or cauliflower, or a beautiful piece of meat or fish. Around that, I then build a simple, uncomplicated, and balanced meal with excellent flavor."

Which dish from the thematic week best captures your culinary signature in your opinion, and why?

"Definitely the fish and vegetables. For me, those are currently my favorite ingredients to work with."

Gingerbread, star anise, and dried plums – that’s not the tomato sauce most of us remember from the school canteen. Where did you find inspiration for this combination?

"That's not my invention – these ingredients have always been added to tomato sauce to enhance the flavors. It's something that genuinely belongs in an honest tomato sauce. For example, dried plums perfectly accentuate the taste – they add sweetness, acidity, and freshness."

On schnitzel and midnight ideas

Which dish from your childhood might someone label as unfashionable today, yet you would still stand by it?

"Schnitzel. I love it, and I always have."

They say the idea for the Šnycl restaurant woke you up at two in the morning, and before dawn, you already had the menu planned out. Do you have any other 'midnight ideas' in your head right now?

"We opened Šnycl a year ago, so I think it's necessary to focus on that now. We want to let the concept settle well and establish it on the gastro scene."

A quick fire round at the end

What do you enjoy on the current gastronomic scene, and what, on the contrary, irritates you?

"Nothing irritates me, it's all development. In general, however, I regret that it is possible today for everyone to anonymously rate businesses without ever having been there. But those are things you deal with both inside and outside the gastro world."

Who inspired you the most or was your role model?

"I don't have any role models, just inspiring people who accompanied me through my education and my whole life."

Your greatest culinary experience?

"Singapore and Japan. In general, I really enjoy traveling for food; actually, all my vacations are mainly about discovering gastronomy."

Quality ingredients and honest flavor. That is exactly what Jan Punčochář based the menu for our thematic week on, showing that even Czech classics have their place in a balanced diet. Thanks for the collaboration, Honza!

Follow the next thematic weeks of YES Krabičky and discover how varied balanced eating can be.