Travel
Reshaping its culinary identity with a blend of heritage recipes, classic flavours and fresh techniques, the Polish capital is ready to shed its reputation for dumplings and vodka.
BySummer Rylander
Published November 26, 2023
• 14 min read
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK)
Beyond Epoka’s grand, neo-Renaissance facade, a theatre-inspired interior welcomes diners. And the show begins swiftly. Within minutes of entering the landmark restaurant that overlooks Warsaw’s elegant Ogród Saski (Saxon Garden), I’m enjoying the pleasant bitterness of a cynar negroni and admiring plush velvet booths in shades of blue and green. Chef Marcin Przybysz approaches my cosy seating, accompanied by a giant bowl overflowing with fresh produce. He shows me some garden-fresh lettuce, a piece of wasabi root and honey so local it comes from beehives on the roof of the building.
The menu, he tells me, is more a list of recipes than dishes, the numbers alongside each offering representing the publication year of its corresponding cookbook. Nothing I’ll eat tonight is newer than 1877, and two dishes — a mushroom pâté and a dessert with lemons and honey — date back to the 1680s. I can’t help noticing that part of my meal predates both the park I walked through to get here, and the 1857 building in which I’m sitting.
“We’re in a historic building, so I decided to teach people how to eat classic Polish cuisine again,” Przybysz tells me. “Many Polish people don’t know our own traditions. We lost them after the war, during communist times.”
Epoka’s menu, he says, isn’t just inspired by old Polish cookery books, it’s created directly from their pages. I join Przybysz in front of his kitchen, where the shelves are lined with these precious books. He gestures at the collection as he explains why following the original recipes as closely as possible is so important.
“We want to show original Polish flavours from the past. Polish food culture was extremely rich, and we want to stay true to those flavours and ingredients. Of course, we try to show some new techniques as well,” Przybysz grins. This ethos is captured beautifully in his take on an 1835 recipe for Polish cucumber salad, mizeria, by pairing thin slices of the crisp vegetable with herring roe, wasabi ice and dill cream. My palate is at once surprised and refreshed by the clever combination of textures.
His concept for Epoka may be one-of-a-kind in Warsaw, but chefs across the city are increasingly looking to the past to shape their culinary futures. It’s an interesting time, because, as Agnieszka Kuś, Warsaw tour guide and historian, tells me the next day, “We’re still rewriting our history.” We talk as we stroll at length, and many of her words echo those of Przybysz.
“We’re rewriting our stories each day. The loss of life, resources, traditions and culture is evident all around us,” Kuś says as we pass through the UNESCO-designated Old Town. More than 85% of Warsaw was destroyed in 1944 and the Old Town has been meticulously restored using archival documents and — not unlike cooking from centuries-old books — materials and techniques as close to the originals as possible.
Kuś begins to quiz me as we move through the city. “Which do you think is original and which was rebuilt?” she asks, while pointing at two buildings; one a simple, three-level structure, the other twice its height with a facade that wouldn’t look out of place in Vienna or Paris. There’s a large Rolex sign on the roof. I guess that the fancier-looking building has been reconstructed.
“No,” she says. The glee in her voice suggests she’s asked this question before, and delights in receiving incorrect answers. “The Soviets never would have spent money rebuilding something so bourgeois.”
They wouldn’t have taken kindly to my dinner tonight, either, when I make my way to NUTA, Warsaw’s only Michelin-starred restaurant. I’m led to a chef’s table facing the kitchen, which, besides feeling as though everyone on staff is watching my every bite, is something of a VIP treat. Seeing a kitchen operating at such a high level is akin to watching a performance, and this crew is hitting their every mark.
Chef Andrea Camastra comes from Bari in Italy originally, but moved to Poland 12 years ago. Combining Italian, Asian and Polish cuisines, Camastra’s approach is, as he says, improvised. “I don’t plan anything. I don’t sit down and write things; I rarely plan ahead. It’s very spontaneous.”
Spontaneous isn’t a word I tend to associate with fine dining. Menus are precise and difficult to change on a whim, reservations must be made weeks — if not months — in advance. Service is deliberate and timely; I can barely set an empty glass back on the table before it’s whisked away. Yet, as the evening unfolds and NUTA’s tables fill, I can feel myself relaxing. This is in part due to the generously poured wine pairings, sure, but also because I can see my fellow diners enjoying themselves in the unstuffy atmosphere.
I ask Camastra how Warsaw’s dining scene has changed in the years he’s lived here. “It’s much more cosmopolitan than I remember,” he says as his own wine glass is topped up by the passing sommelier. “There are some extraordinary restaurants in Warsaw — we have all different kinds of cuisine here.”
Camastra embraces a diversity of dishes in his own kitchen. My meal this evening has been a journey, taking me through Polish flavours like Baltic sea trout with beetroot before nipping east for teriyaki crab and lobster. I especially savoured the Cantonese-style steamed bun filled with guanciale (Italian cured meat) and oscypek, a smoked sheep’s cheese, topped with a few shavings of fresh truffle.
Camastra continues his praise, telling me Warsaw is a great place to live and that it has an exciting, creative buzz. Again, I hear sentiments of loss through war and communism. “That’s probably why everybody cares so much about the city,” he says.
At the breakfast market in the Żoliborz neighbourhood the following morning, I meet with food writer and Warsaw local Olga Badowska. We grab coffees and stroll past stacks of croissants, kebabs grilling on skewers and a paneer tikka masala wrap so tempting it takes considerable willpower to keep walking.
“The market is a great space to come together over a variety of food,” says Badowska. The Żoliborz Breakfast Market has been going strong every Saturday for 11 years, and there’s another in the Mokotów district. Markets here are dawn to dusk. Badowska also insists I check out Nocny (night) market, which began in 2016 on a disused railway platform and is now a weekend hotspot for craft beer and street food.
My final meal is at U Wieniawy. It might have opened in 2020, but when you walk in it feels like you’ve stepped back in time. White tablecloths adorn the tables, lavish chandeliers hang from high ceilings and expansive rugs add warmth. It’s ornate but restrained — meant to capture the era between the First and Second World War.
“We want it to be like a time machine,” says head waiter Kamil Racinowski. I don’t speak Polish, so he’s kindly translating for chef Krzysztof Kowalski as they tell me about their tableside service of beef tartare and crêpes suzette — dishes you may find elsewhere in Warsaw, but not prepared at your table.
“We’re not trying to follow trends, we’re not here to serve modern cuisine,” says Racinowski. “Chef Kowalski is determined to produce a menu that sticks to our Polish roots.”
I’m reluctant to leave as I pack my things the next morning. The energy here is palpable — people are excited for Warsaw to shake off its vodka and pierogi stereotype, and they’re eager for travellers to rediscover the Polish capital. I remember what Camastra said of Warsaw, during our conversation at NUTA: “At the moment, it’s the best capital city in Europe.”
It’s a bold claim and I’d told him so. “But it’s true,” he’d said. And after my time here, I really can’t argue.
Where to eat in Warsaw
1. Epoka
Historic Polish cuisine meets modern technique in this restaurant by chef Marcin Przybysz. Expect classic flavours cleverly interpreted, such as salmon dumplings where the salmon is the dumpling wrapper; or mizeria, a cucumber salad with sour cream, reimagined with caviar and flower blossoms in a one-bite presentation. Tasting menus from 440 PLN (£81), excluding wine.
2. HUB.Praga
Chef Witek Iwański composes menus driven by seasonal ingredients and Polish flavours. Expect beautiful vegetables and modest portions that encourage you to try several dishes. A vegetarian tasting menu starts at 320 PLN (£60), while the others start at 360 PLN (£67), including wine.
3. Tuna
Argentinian chef Martin Gimenez Castro puts seafood front and centre at Tuna. The toro tataki and tuna tartare are sublime, as is the sturgeon fillet with buckwheat. Ordering a la carte is possible, but the tasting menu offers a great overview, from 390 PLN (£73), excluding wine.
4. Peaches Gastro Girls
Warsaw’s vegan dining scene is thriving. Monika Mazurek and Klaudia Górak’s restaurant within Klub SPATiF serves dishes such as tomato and nectarine salad with XO sauce, as well as cabbage with almond parmesan and chilli crunch. Dishes from 60 PLN (£11).
Five traditional food finds in Warsaw
1. Pierogia
Polish staple, some of the best dumplings are served at Syrena Irena, with fillings such as fermented wild garlic with quark cheese, and marjoram-spiced white sausage.
2. Flaki
Tripe soup is common in Poland, but the version at Pyzy Flaki Gorące includes meatballs and parmesan cheese.
3. Bajaderka
Warsaw’s favourite rum ball began as a way for bakeries to repurpose and sell day-old cakes. The finest version comes from Lukullus.
4. Honey
Beehives can be found all over Warsaw, and the honey produced is delicious thanks to the city’s ample green spaces. Find some at Pszczelarium.
5. Bread
Bakeries are plentiful, but make a special visit to the Stary Żoliborz district for artisanal sourdough at Cała w Mące.
How to do it:
Numerous airlines fly nonstop between the UK and Warsaw. Public transport is efficient and extensive, and a three-day network ticket costs 57 PLN (£11).The historic H15 Boutique Hotel has double rooms from 720 PLN (£134) B&B.
More info:
warsawtour.pl
This story was created with the Polish Tourism Organisation and the Warsaw Tourism Office.
Published in the December 2023 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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