#prestigewinedine | JULY 2019 PRESTIGE 177
GASTRONOMY MEETS HISTORY
With the boom in gastronomic culture, historic spaces in the
former Polish capital are now restaurants. With its original
leather and silver flake golden cordovans, coffered ceilings
and ornate ceilings, the venerated Restauracja Wierzynek
boasts an “attribute exceptional atmosphere”. Inspired by a
20-day feast thrown in 1364 by King Casimir the Great for
other monarchs, the seasonal menu includes dumplings with
hare and venison saddle.
Also in Rynek Glowny, the 13th-century heart of
Krakow’s Old Town and Europe’s largest medieval square,is Szara Ges (Grey Goose), where chef Michal Stezalski’s
signature dessert is a white chocolate goose egg with a
mango mousse yolk! Goose is a speciality in November
throughout Krakow.
Then there is Krakow’s oldest hotel, Pod Roza (which
means “under the rose”), which is now one part hotel and
one part restaurant. Its head chef Milosz Grabowski trained
under Arnaud Bignon, well known for being one of the
youngest chefs to attain two Michelin stars for his Mayfair
restaurant The Greenhouse.
Around the corner, along Grodzka street, which is part
of the “Royal Route”, a historical coronation path – for
500 years, Krakow was the seat of Polish kings – is Pod
Aniolami (Under the Angels), housed in a 13th-century
cellar and a former goldsmith’s workshop. Its menu tempts
you with items like wild boar steak in juniper marmalade.
On the same street, you’ll also find Fiorentina, the best steak
house in the city.
Indeed, Polish cuisine has come a long way from stale
bread soup, dry crackers, jellied pork knuckle, ussr-inspired
smalec (a 100 percent pork lard spread), huge slabs of black
rye chleb bread, watery broths, limp plastic sausages and
indigestible dumplings.WELCOME AND SMACZNEGO!
While traditional dishes such as golabki (cabbage rolls), bigos
(hunters’ stew), pierogi (small ravioli-like dumplings) and sernik
(Polish cheesecake) are still popular, they now come with
offers of prosecco.
Austerity has brought haute cuisine at relatively
affordable prices. Some of the bar mleczny – literally “milk
bars” in English, these Soviet-era egalitarian diners are in
fact small cafeterias – are still there and state-subsidised,
offering two courses for as low as S$7. The “Solem”
(“together”) mugs may be gone, but the canteens are
must-try locales for tourists on food tours.
All over Krakow, a new generation is Instagramming
their goose blood soup and Facebooking Charznice cabbage
heads. “The past is back, but it’s not bad,” says Karolina
Milczanowska of Haveabite.com, the city’s gastro portal.
“Hospitality is in our blood. We need to feed people. And
palates are getting more educated and more demanding.”
In 2012, the food scene in Krakow exploded, and there
are now top-class international restaurants catering for
cosmopolitan tastes. Euskadi is one such example. On the
Podgorze side of the Wisla River, it was opened by Damian
Suraweic, who believes food is a cultural force. “We’re
trying to build new eating behaviour: quality over quantity,”
he shares. Think prawns from Venice, Basque tapas and
Campari sorbets. He points out, though, that “Polish food is
still simple and uncomplicated”.
Meanwhile, Restauracja Pod Baranem offers homestyle
cooking. “Our Sirloin a la Barbican harks back to medieval
Poland. The bacon wrap defends the delicacy of the meat,”
says chef-owner Jan Baran. “We also have zurek (a sour rye
soup) with egg and sausage, as well as spare ribs wrapped in
braised cabbage with cep sauce.”Top: The city’s oldest
hotel, Pod Roza now
shares space with its
eponymous restaurant
Above: The historic
Jewish quarter of
Kazimierz exudes old
Polish charm with
cobblestone streets
and quaint cafes