Polish cuisine is growing. The latest edition of the MICHELIN Guide awards two stars to the country for the first time. However, it also celebrates an Italian chef, Andrea Camastra of Warsaw's Nuta.
The news
It's been a few days since the presentation of the latest edition of the Polish MICHELIN Guide, covering the cities of Krakow, Warsaw, and Poznan (the latter for the first time), and it brought a pleasant surprise to the country's foodies, who can finally find a 2-MICHELIN-Starred restaurant. It is chef Przemyslaw Klima's Bottiglieria 1881 in Kraków. This restaurant has long been a magnet for food lovers thanks to its selection of local raw materials, contemporary processing, and competitive prices.
The restaurant opened in 2013 when the chef could boast an exemplary track record, culminating in the strategic experience at Noma. In 2020, the first star set a double record for the country: that of the youngest starred chef and the quickness with which he received it. But the second is a dream come true, which the Polish chef had been working on for some time; in 2020, he declared, "I'll be honest, it would be a shame to stop at just one star."
Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the Guide, proclaimed, "We are delighted to announce the first Polish restaurant with Two MICHELIN Stars. We constantly follow the development of the culinary scene in Warsaw and Krakow, and this year we are pleased to extend our reach to Poznan as well. The Michelin inspectors were impressed by the cities' vibrant and fast-growing restaurant market, where they found many unique establishments worth recommending."
From the tables overlooking the open kitchen, one can admire the preparation of minimalist dishes, such as fish with peas or country pork, which demonstrate mastery, originality, and reflection. "I want to show honesty on the plate, to present what is real, not invented," says the chef. "Honesty from us means three or four ingredients, without an ideology built around it. I don't need special effects.”
In all, the guide reviewed 49 addresses, giving out nine Bib Gourmands and two stars – Muga in Poznan, making its debut in the guide, which stands out for its more classic offerings and formal style, and Nuta in Warsaw, also newly opened, where chef patron Andrea Camastra, already starred in the city at Senses and well placed on The World's 50 Best Restaurants, mixes Italian reminiscences, Asian influences, specialties and local products. "Some people say Polish cuisine is unsophisticated. This is an excuse for chefs who cannot create something world-class based on famous Polish dishes. How many people can turn bread with lard into culinary art? My obsession is to combine seemingly separate worlds: fine dining on the one hand, comfort food on the other. The idea of comfort food should be constantly present in the kitchen; in my opinion, the cook only serves to give the dish the right refinement."
Source: sukces.rp.pl
