RESTAURANT: WARSAW Zielnik Café INFO It’s been 10 years since Zielnik Café was launched. The place was founded by Magdalena Gessler and Mariusz Diakowski. One year later – a summer garden was created in the Dreszer Park, opposite the restaurant. The garden is open from the beginning of May until the end of September. It’s defi nitely one of the most beautiful summer gardens in Warsaw. It’s small, cosy and nicely arranged – in a simple and comfortable manner. Additionally, it has comfortable chairs and nice ornaments. The kitchen is situated in a small separate pavilion - it’s discreet and keeps the smells away. When the mosquitoes start attacking in the evening, the staff is well prepared – there are repellents, candles and blankets. It’s a kind of place you would be proud to show to your foreign guests, and you yourself would want to come here for a lunch with your family too. There is even a playground for children nearby. LOCATION Zielnik Café is situated in Odyniec street in the district of Mokotów, near Puławska - one of the capital’s main streets. And so there is a constant trouble with the inadequate number of parking spaces. THE INTERIOR To put it simply: it’s just pretty. With no unnecessary embellishments, but refined taste and class. The main restaurant consists of four rooms, each one is a bit idyllic in style. On the walls there are hand made pictures of herbs, paintings, ubiquitous fl owers and 32 | JULY / AUGUST 2010 bowls full of fruits – all this gives you a feeling of rural and domestic bliss, but at the same time, it’s well thought out, a little bit ascetic, and giving you solace after a hard day.� MENU In the menu you will fi nd no Magda Gessler’s fi nesse and imagination. Instead, there is a lot of Mariusz Diakowski’s good taste and solidity. Everything is fresh and made from high quality products. Among starters, you will fi nd short cupcakes with smoked salmon and horseradish mousse in a honey mustard sauce, hot spinach with Gorgonzola cheese and white pepper, crayfi sh in cognac sauce with cream and croutons, and an excellent salmon steak tartare with crashed sesame snaps, fennel, mustard, sour cream and beans. The soups in the Zielnik Café are seasonal, and it’s defi nitely to the benefi t of the customers as this season they can try dill-fl avoured broth with home-made pasta, sorrel soup with hard-boiled egg or a purred green pea soup with croutons. Salads come with a great variety of taste-enriching ingredients. Grilled prawns, rocket, slices of chicken breast, complemented by anchovies and parmesan sauce. The main courses in the restaurant are an interesting fusion of tastes from all over the world, but this only highlights the high quality of the local original cuisine. Veal dumplings, Siberian pielmieni with sour cream and butter or salmon in a caper sauce and chive puree are defi - nitely worth recommendation. Desserts are also fabulous. There is apple pie with vanilla ice cream or pancakes with apricots and cointreau. The wine choice is modest and the prices are average. Chablis, for 175 PLN a bottle, was delicious. THE PERSONNEL A good restaurant can be recognized by its competent and unassuming service. The one in Zielnik is perfect. Quick, nice and natural – a customer will get necessary information without having to listen to exaggerated admiration of the dishes presented in the menu – which is common in some restaurants. Not to mention the fact, that waitresses in Zielnik are very pretty. PRICES The cost of a dinner in Zielnik is average, if we take into account the fact that it’s a restaurant in Warsaw. Starters cost slightly more than 30 PLN, soups are about 20 PLN, salads – between 33 and 37 PLN, the prices of main courses range between 35 and 69 PLN, and desserts cost about 20 PLN. VERDICT A pleasant place, with high quality service – good for both a business meeting and a family lunch. ■ Zielnik Café, ul. Odyńca�15, 02-608 Warszawa tel.�22�844�35�00, zielnikcafe.pl Tomasz Koźmiński
W A K A C J E M A R Z E Ń LATO 2010 • najpiękniejsze plaże świata • nowe apartamenty i pokoje • bogata oferta „All inclusive” • dzieci do 4 lat bezpłatnie www.clubmed.pl JULY / AUGUST 2010 | 33
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