Sowa et Przyjaciele, ul.Gagarina 2, Warsaw, Poland

The time has come for another celebrity chef to open his signature restaurant.  Robert Sowa, a master chef from hotel Jan III Sobieski, author of many culinary books and a celebrity of sorts has decided to open his own place in an unusual spot.  The space was taken up for a couple of decades by Karczma Slupska, which, for me at least, had a clear association the communist-times cuisine, vodka and fist fights.  The location is a brave one, as the intersection of Czerniakowska and Gagarina streets is not your traditional or expected location for a restaurant of a top calibre.  What is a nice surprise is an informal private parking, in front of the restaurant, which comes in handy especially during the lunch time.  The restaurant looks decent from the outside, but without any fireworks.  As you enter it, on the right-hand side one is welcomed by a small delicatessen with all kinds of goodies relating to the old and newer Polish cuisine.  Going further in, the décor is rather basic, if not Scandinavian in its austerity. 

The restaurant itself is rather large, and includes a large main room, two private dining rooms big enough to fit about twenty people, and even a small cigar room.  The walls entice with a large selection of wines, selected by one of the better Warsaw sommeliers. 

While I am not a big fan of Robert Sowa’s personality, I am a big fan of his cooking.  Thus, I was really curious how well he will be able to transfer his talents onto my plate at his restaurant.  One thing that is striking right off the bat is service; in my humble opinion, one of the better ones in Warsaw.  The waiters are pleasant, knowledgeable and even have a sense of humor.  As usual, I don’t write a review unless I have been to a restaurant at least a few times, and I must say that at “Sowa & Przyjaciele” I have been always pleasantly surprised with the quality of service.  I was also not disappointed in the food department there.  The soups are excellent, with the crustacean bisque with the marinated Alaska crab meat and the urchin vinaigrette being my definite favourite.  The hot starters with such favorites as the beef tongue with the veal sweetbread (thymus gland) in a sweet onion sauce, or the veal cheeks on the celery puree with the Polish amber cheese, are simply awesome. 

The meat is truly delicate and tender; it simply melts in your mouth.  Now, a word of warning: the place is not cheap, and even the starters run around 50 zlotys a piece.  But… they are well worth it.

For the main course,  I went so far mainly with meat.  My personal favorites come from the “Friends” sub-menu, i.e. the calf leg confit with truffle sauce on the peeled barley  with the wild mushrooms; the leg of milk lamb served on the Polish gnocchi with Bursztyn cheese and glazed red beets; and from the regular menu, the classic with a twist – the duck breast sous-vide served on the cinnamon-apple puree with the Italian cabbage and ginger.

The wine selection is quite broad, yet moderately impressive.  On the other hand, the cigar selection beats any restaurant in town J  Overall, definite two thumbs up from me.

Zurawina, ul. Zurawia 32/34 (corner of Marszalkowska), Warszawa, Poland

One of the reasons I love living in Warsaw is the expectation that things will get better, and they actually do.  On the dead stretch of Zurawia street, a new place has appeared that invites inside with the big window panes, and a bright, clean, if a rather austere interior.

The service was brisk, as there were not too many people inside.  This time around, we decided not to order from the selection of today’s specials but from the menu. For starters, we went with the pumpkin risotto, and a vegetable tomato soup with croutons and parmesan.  Both were very good.  Buying a soup at any restaurant is always a rather risky proposition for me, as I have a sensitive stomach that detects any “enhancements” that the chef may add to it.  This one was very tasty (and safe), with a touch of parmesan making a difference.  The risotto was done perfectly well (it’s nice to see the chefs have learned to make a proper risotto; I am still waiting for a universal approval of the al dente pasta…).

My companion has stated that to test a new place one always has to order a steak, as it is a simple dish, but the one truly testing the quality of ingredients and skills of the chef.  The steak was rare.  The meat was perfectly prepared and perfectly tasty.  So was my leg of lamb with the parsley puree and vegetable ratatouille.

Overall, a great experience for lunch, but... then I went to dinner couple of times, and:
- the pasta was basically glued together;
- the fish swam in the water on the plate.
And I really wanted to recommend this place...  I guess I can recommend it for lunch, but the dinner time offer seems rather uneven
https://www.facebook.com/zurawino

L’Arc, ul. Pulawska 16, Warsaw, Poland

Since Michel Moran closed his bistro on Grzybowska, and retreated  to his restaurant in the opera building, I have been looking for a nice, good, and not too fancy French bistro.  A decent French treat; simple, yet very good; the one that you find on every other corner in Paris.  I was hoping that L’Arc will be like that.  Well, it is not.

It certainly looks like a French bistro.  It feels like a French bistro.  But the food that is served there did not taste like French food to me.  I mean there is an attempt to make the menu look French with the oysters, snails, foie gras, etc. However, it does not taste like anything I have eaten in France.  I certainly am not an expert on the various kinds or regional aspects of the French food, but what I ate at L’Arc did not resemble anything I have tasted to date.  For instance, the leek cream with the Cantal cheese was good, but it was just a regular leek soup that could use some seasoning actually. 

The same goes for the veal sweetbread.  It was OK, with the chanterelles nicely complementing it.  But, again, the overall effect was rather flat.

The pasta was too soft / overcooked, and the sauces that went with the meats uncharacteristic of any sauces I have tried in France (and the sauces are one of the essences of the French cuisine).

Thus, it is with a great disappointment that I cannot recommend this place…

http://www.larc.pl/

Bouchon Bistro, Yountville, CA, USA

In the land far far away called the Republic of California, in the heart of its Wine Country, there is a small town called Yountville that has been a magnet for the best chefs America and, indeed the World, has to offer.  As a matter of fact, Yountville boasts more Michelin stars per capita than any other place on Earth.  We have made my pilgrimage there to see the doings of the chef that made a true impression on me: Thomas Keller (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Keller).  His famous French Laundry restaurant is in the unassuming building on the edge of the center of this small town.  What draws your attention to it though is his own vegetable garden right across the street, smack in the middle of Yountville. 

While the restaurant is unassuming on the outside, when you enter you are transported to Manhattan in the middle of January.  Right off the bat, the hostesses are dressed in the black Mao suits.  The dark wood panelling and the atmosphere in general reminded me more of a legal office in the middle of NYC than a restaurant in the sunny and easy-going California’s Wine Country. True, the food is exceptional, but the ambiance truly bizarre considering the surroundings.  Thank God, Thomas Keller has decided to open a more friendly place just down the street called Bouchon Bistro.  The interior looks indeed like a Parisian bistro, yet one feels very much in California.

We started with the smoked octopus salad in the marinated stone fruit, with jingle bell peppers and arugula, sprinkled with preserved meyer lemon vinaigrette.  What can I say – excellent, and executed to the absolute perfection.

For the second course, we tried the chicken and the fish.  My companion is not a big fan of raw fish (with the exception of sushi ;).  Yet, she was truly impressed with the seared big eye tuna covered with the pole bean ragout, and served on the baby artichokes & mizuna leaves with parsley vinaigrette.  I chose a simple chicken, because the familiarity breeds contempt, and I really wanted to be blown away by a seemingly simple dish.  I was not disappointed.  The roasted chicken with sweet corn, served on ventrèche (kind of a French pancetta) with beech mushrooms and peppercress, with an amazingly good chicken jus (and I mean truly excellent) was great.  What can I say – the guy is THE master J

We have decided to skip the dessert, but enjoyed by far the best latte in California. 

To sum up, Yountville is a really nice and charming place, where one can enjoy a truly wonderful culinary and, indeed, olfactory experiences.  It is just a short drive north of Sonoma, and very much worth visiting not only for the Thomas Keller’s restaurants, but also for many others, including the Wine Train with a fine restaurant of its own.

http://www.bouchonbistro.com/

Atelier Amaro, Agrykola 1, Warszawa, Poland.

I have returned to Atelier Amaro after a long absence to see if anything has changed after my last not-so-favorable review.

I have been introduced to the molecular cuisine 6 years ago by great Marc Veyrat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Veyrat) at his restaurant at Veyrier du Lac in France.  Clearly, since then, this cuisine has evolved.  Wojciech Amaro’s restaurant is a good example of that.  I have encountered a number of people who told me they don’t like that molecular gastronomy, which to me is a bit like saying that you don’t like food in general.  It basically presents the ingredients we know in the new and interesting ways. Some combinations may be shocking at first, but the key is to approach it with an open mind.  Amaro’s restaurant is one of 2 or 3 molecular cuisine restaurants in Warsaw, and claims to be the best (it also claims to be the best restaurant in Warsaw, period; it’s definitely one of the most expensive).  Wojciech Amaro uses the local, Polish ingredients for his experiments in taste.  He really tries to be inventive, and actually sold a best-selling book.  This time around he started us off with two servings of l’amuse bouche (one of which was a rather tasteless combination of a walnut “baked for 7 nights and 7 days” with yoghurt).  Both rather unimpressive.  The starter was really good though – a combination of smelt with scallops on an interesting sweet sauce.

The main courses (a fish and a fowl) seem to focus less on the molecular cuisine, and more on making sure the food tastes good.  Both were truly excellent.

The dessert was OK, but I don’t understand his fascination with putting soil into everything that's chocolate dessert…

Overall, I continue to  find his work to be rather uneven.  Some of the things he does are truly inventive (the menu gives you only the list of ingredients, and the outcome is only to be guessed), while the others are mainly prepared to shock, with taste clearly taking a back seat.  It is an interesting and a bit snotty place, good for a formal dinner and a business lunch.

http://atelieramaro.pl/

R20, ul. Rozbrat 20, Warsaw, Poland

I have a special place in my heart for the Powisle district of Warsaw.  This is where I grew up and went to my kindergarten,  elementary and high schools.  This is also where I used to know every street, building and podwórko.   Unfortunately, aside from indestructible Tokio sushi  and a number of really cool places on the wrong side of Powisle, it is pretty devoid of decent restaurants.  Thus, it gives me a great pleasure to write about a “desert flower” called R20 at Rozbrat street 20.  In my humble opinion, it is one of the best restaurants in Warsaw, and considered to be THE best by many.  I have been there many times for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and never was disappointed.  The place seems a bit crowded, but this feeling together with the overall décor creates a great imitation of a small high-end Parisian restaurant.  The always fresh and abundant flowers and the windows/doors that open to the street only strengthen this feeling.  Yesterday, we were sitting there in the evening, inside the restaurant.  The air temperature was perfect for the windows / doors to be open.  The ambiance was perfect; even the street lamps gave the right light on the trees outside.  Of course, the company you are with helps a lot in the positive perception.  Nevertheless, I was there many times before (also in the wintertime), and my observations were always positive.

The food has been always exceptional.  Starting with the freshly baked bread; through truly amazing starters (here I highly recommend the tuna-in-chunks tartar and whatever they happen to serve the scallops with);  moving into the main courses.  And here, I have to complement the chefs with what they do with the fish.  I have never eaten such a good cod with a touch of tomato sauce.  The same can be said for perch with asparagus.  You can really taste the unique flavour of each fish, delicately enhanced by the sauces.  On the meat side, if you like poultry, the guinea fowl is always a great choice, and their steak served with black truffles makes for a unique and sensational palate experience.  I try to stay away from desserts, but I hear ;) their chocolate soufflé is to die for.  The only weak point is rather narrow selection of wines, yet a sufficient one to go well with the served food.  To sum up, I recommend the place not only because it is in Powisle, but because it has both the style and the taste.

http://www.rozbrat20.pl

Joseph's Wine & Food, Duchnicka 3, Warszawa, Poland

I am happy that Joseph Seeletso has moved closer to the center of Warsaw from Centrum Wina at Pulawska street.  Although, it was there, 5 years ago, that he served me a steak, which I considered one of the best steaks I have ever eaten (including the endless selection I have succumbed to all across the USA).  The key approach to going there though is to look at the name of the place, where wine is mentioned first and the food second.  The sommelier Rafal Kis really tunes into what you are telling him, and tries to find a wine that will suit your taste the best.  The Spanish and Italian wines rule, but the selection is really varied from all over the world.  I am partial to the grand cru French Chablis for starters, and later to the Spanish wines from Ribeiro del Duero region; so I am always content there.  The menu is pretty simple.  Every time I went there, the list of main courses consisted of choice of steak, duck, halibut and red snapper, posted on the board nest to the kitchen.  It’s worth noting that Joseph’s celery puree is truly amazing and world class, and recommendable any and every time.  The steaks are really good (as I have mentioned above), but the fish is what I always go for in the evening; it's a hit every time. 

Overall, the place is great for casual dining with the friends and acquaintances of all kinds.  It is a loft-like former production hall, which has a great atmosphere, and where staff is very friendly and understanding. I have been several times, and I am definitely going back.
http://www.josephwinebar.pl/