OUR TEAM

Meet Our Team

The concept of Finestrina is brought to life by the well-coordinated duo Riccardo Lucque & Ondřej Rákosník, ensuring quality, authenticity,
and true craftsmanship under the umbrella of the Italian network La Collezione.

Riccardo Lucque

RICCARDO LUCQUE

Founder of La Collezione

Riccardo' s career in gastronomy began at age of 16, working in hotels in the Marche region of Italy. In 1990 he began working at the Michelin starred Da Alceo seafood restaurant in Pesaro. Since 1993 Riccardo worked in London, e.g. for Zafferano restaurant. Because of his work he moved for a short time also to New York. In 2002 Riccardo came to Prague as headchef of restaurant called Square. Three years later he opened his first restaurant - Aromi on Mánesova street. La Finestra in Cucina and La Bottega bistros followed shortly.

ONDŘEJ RÁKOSNÍK

Co-founder of La Collezione

After finishing the hotel school in Klánovice, Ondřej went to England, where he studied Business Administration at a business school and at the same time gained experience in various restaurants. During his stay in Britain, he often made trips to Italy, which he fell in love with. After returning to Czech republic, he worked at the Square restaurant on Malostranské náměstí, where he met Riccardo Lucque for the first time. Their collaboration begins in 2005, when Ondřej helps to Riccardo open the Aromi restaurant in Vinohrady, and four years later, as co-owners, they opened the restaurant La Finestra in Cucina in the center of Prague.

Andrej Oravec

headchef

Andrej originally studied International Trade at the University of Economics in Prague, but even during his studies, he felt drawn to the kitchen. He gained his first experience working part-time in restaurants, and it quickly became clear to him that cooking was his true passion and future.
Over time, he gathered valuable experience in the kitchen of Mirek Kalina, at the restaurant Divinis, and during a six-month stay in Iceland, where he cooked at the renowned restaurant Slippurinn. Within La Collezione, he began as a sous chef at La Bottega Linka and, after two years, moved to Finestrina, where he now serves as head chef. In his dishes, he values simplicity, focuses on clean flavors, and insists on using only the highest quality ingredients. For Andrej, gastronomy is about freshness and the joy of cooking.