Christian Chu: Prague chef who risked all for a Michelin star

Chef Christian Chu turned the Prague restaurant Levitate from a loss-making project on the verge of closing into a Michelin-starred one — and admits that, for the sake of success, he was ready to sell his car and his apartment, and that working with him is, in his own words, “sheer hell.”

Chu's path to the top of Czech gastronomy was anything but smooth. He grew up in a family that ran a Vietnamese bistro, earned an economics degree in Vietnam — a diploma that, he says, is completely useless in practice today. His parents dreamed of seeing their son become a doctor or a lawyer and still don't know about his triumph: his father lives in Vietnam, his mother in the US.

In 2017, at the age of 25, without any formal culinary education, Chu opened the fine-dining restaurant Levitate in Prague. The first year of operation brought heavy losses, and friends considered the venture sheer madness. He had no backup plan — he was ready to sell his personal car and apartment, and borrowed money from acquaintances, just to keep the business afloat.

The turning point came in March 2019, when the prestigious Michelin Guide included Levitate on its worldwide list — after that, foreign tourists poured into the restaurant and the business took off. But the real breakthrough came in 2025, when Chu was awarded the Michelin star itself. He knew nothing in advance about the jury's decision: before the ceremony, his business partner asked whether he'd even booked a hotel room. Chu answered honestly — if there was no award, he'd head straight home. In the end, he arrived at the hotel to celebrate only at three in the morning, overwhelmed with euphoria.

Despite his international recognition, Chu flatly refuses to cook traditional Czech classics — he will never offer guests goulash or roast pork with dumplings, explaining that he isn't Czech, and that local chefs will always cook those dishes better because they feel them from the inside. He prefers to stick to what he can do to perfection.

The Prague restaurant is his last project on Czech territory. Chu's further ambitions are tied to Zurich and, especially, Dubai, where he sees huge market potential and where it's much easier to obtain licenses without getting bogged down in paperwork. He's convinced that in business you need to keep taking risks and keep moving forward.

Success at the highest level comes at the steep price of absolute perfectionism. Chu himself admits: at work he's a real psychopath, and working with him in the kitchen is sheer hell. He demands perfect cleanliness, order and strict adherence to a system from his team — one that he himself changes daily. He lives in a state of permanent dissatisfaction he can't shake, and promises himself genuine inner satisfaction only once he earns a third Michelin star — though he honestly admits that after so many years of grueling work, that pure happiness might last only about three minutes.

By the Around Prague newsroom