In small town Czechia, ‘an amazing place to start a business, to have a family, & to live’ 🇨🇿

Ostrava is probably not the city you have heard of in the Czech Republic. On the far eastern border, it is closer to Krakow than to Prague. Ostrava “has been kind of a ‘black sheep’ for the last few decades, and a lot of young people have moved to Prague, Brno, or overseas,” explains Petr Kvasnička, who is from Ostrava and founded CØKAFE and then Father’s Coffee Roastery in the city.

Petr’s Filter guide is a look at quiet parks, festivals, and cafes in small town Czechia.

*Father’s Coffee Roastery is located in Ostrava, on the eastern border of the Czech Republic. Photos courtesy of Father’s*

Filter: What do you enjoy doing in your free time in Ostrava?

To be honest, in the last eight years, we have done most of the fun things with kids, so we explored a lot of forests, playgrounds, fields, and bike rides that fit our three youngsters. For more tips, you should watch @ostravaknakole. Anyway, that's what we do :)

Filter: If a good friend came to visit, where would you take them?

One thing is where to go and then when. There is one specific time in the year when it is much more fun to come to Ostrava than any other, and that is during the Colors of Ostrava music festival, the most significant music festival in the Czech Republic. This music festival takes place in an old industrial area in the city, so you are standing between mine towers and listening to a concert with another 80,000 people. Ostrava also tries to show her best side at that time so you could enjoy a lot of gastronomy, great coffee, and outstanding culture!

Filter: What do you like to do to escape the city?

We live outside the city because it is one of the best things about Ostrava. The closeness to mountains, forests, and nature in general, imagine in 25 minutes you can be in the beautiful mountains of Beskydy and have brunch at POG or get a cup of coffee and Zelenkavá.

One of the places my wife and I loved the most, even before our wedding, is a village called Hukvaldy. There is a beautiful castle and an even better deer park with over 500 deer and 300 mouflons. After the walk, you can have a great meat dish straight from the fire in one and only U Námořníka or get coffee and cake at Ráj na zemi (the translation is heaven on earth—and we used to live like 100m from that place, and let me tell you, the vibe is there!)

Filter: What touristy things in Ostrava are worth the hype?

The former industrial part of Ostrava, DOV (Dolní Oblast Vítkovic), is the most touristy part of the city, but you should not miss it. There is also a heap called Ema with an amazing view over the city—fun fact—it is forbidden to go there officially since the heap is still kind of burning inside.

*An Ostrava native, Petr Kvasnička founded Father’s in his hometown.*

Filter: What's another coffee shop near there that you admire, and what about them stands out to you?

My favorite, personally, is Kamerlik. The lovely people running this coffee shop make their coffee with passion and love; you can see and feel it every time you go for coffee there.

Filter: What makes Ostrava feel like home to you?

That one is easy. It is home. My wife and I were both born and raised here. We also have a great family here and the perfect background to do what we like to do.

Filter: How did you end up creating Father's?

Even though we were born in Ostrava and started our coffee journey here as co-founders of CØKAFE we learned the most in Berlin working for Five Elephant and meeting some of the most remarkable people on our coffee journey, like Bara from Falcon or Patrik Rolf, founder of April. After some time working as baristas there, we moved back and with some intermezzo in our old coffee shop, we founded Father's in 2018.

We started Father's with my wife believing we would be small local roasters. But initially, we only had a little success with the local coffee shops, so we explored markets around Prague, the rest of the Czech Republic, and Europe. Being successful there, we got much more recognition in our home city of Ostrava and finally became local roasters.

At this point, I am CEO of Father's and am also in charge of any coffee-related issues in the roastery.

Filter: What has it been building the team at Father's?

We were lucky to find and hire some fantastic people who initially believed in our values. Our first employee has been with us for almost 5 years now, and without him we wouldn't be where we are and would not be able to focus on building and deepening our core values. I believe that Ostrava played a major role since starting a "something else" business in our city attracts great people.

Filter: If you could move to any place in the world just for the coffee scene, where would you move, and what shop would be the biggest reason?

That is easy. Copenhagen. Coffee Collective. From the beginning, they have been our greatest inspirations.

Filter: Anything you’d like to add?

It is great that we can talk here about Ostrava. Our city has been kind of a "black sheep" for the last few decades, and a lot of young people have moved to Prague, Brno, or overseas, but Ostrava has so much potential. It is an amazing place to start a business, to have a family, and to live!

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Father’s Coffee Roastery is located in Ostrava, western Czechia.

Food & Beverage

Attractions

Dolní Oblast Vítkovic

Outdoors

Beskydy Mountains

Ema