Vltava Czech & Slovak Grocery, W Belmont Ave., Chicago
According to its owner, Tomas Votocek, Vltava is the only shop dedicated exclusively to Czech & Slovak goods in Chicago. Mr Votocek bought the store four years ago and transformed it from a Polish grocer’s into an outlet selling Czech & Slovak food, videos, books and ceramics.
Owner Tomas Votocek behind the counter at Vltava
Vltava is located at 7416 W Belmont Avenue in Chicago and open seven days a week. Customers from further afield can order goods through the store’s Czech-language website, which will then be delivered for a shipping fee throughout the United States.
Books on sale at Vltava - featured is a cookbook from 1968 offering readers 'humorous' recipes
The store stocks a number of Czech and Slovak books and magazines. Books sold are a mixture of brand new and second hand. Earlier this week, there were a large number of cookery books in particular on sale.
Goods on sale at Vltava
Owner Tomas Votocek says he works with a local Polish baker to produce bread baked according to a Czech recipe. Mr Votocek buys perishable Czech & Slovak delicacies like šunka v aspiku (ham in aspic), ruské vejce (egg salad) and chlebíčky (open sandwiches) from a local Czech woman who makes them for him specially. The rest of the food is imported from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Singer Karel Gott at Vltava (photo courtesy of vltava.us)
At Vltava, customers can also send parcels, flowers or money orders to the Czech Republic or Slovakia, convert videos from European PAL into US NTSC format and even buy tickets for Czech & Slovak cultural events in Chicago. As the image above shows, Vltava acted as a ticket office for Karel Gott’s 2009 American Tour (more photos can be found online at http://www.vltava.us/gott.html).
Look out for video highlights from Recording Voices & Documenting Memories’ interview with Czech-born owner of Vltava Tomas Votocek on the NCSML’s website over the weeks to come.
-Posted by Rosie Johnston
