U Fukiera Restaurant

ADDRESS:
Rynek Starego Miasta 27, 00-272 Warszawa
www.ufukiera.pl

description:
Fukiera restaurant, where Tony Blair, Roman Polanski, the Princess of Denmark and Catherine Deneuve sampled Polish dishes, is celebrating its 15th anniversary.

U Fukiera in the Old Town’s market square features in most guidebooks all over the world. Magda Gessler, the restaurant manager, is one of the best known restaurateurs in Poland. She designs interiors and menus as well as ambiance. She has created more than 20 Polish restaurants, including Warsaw’s Słodki Słony and AleGloria and Poznań’s Bażanciarnia. As a child, Gessler lived in Bulgaria, Spain and many other places around the world. “But my favorite dishes come from Poland,” she admits. U Fukiera is her first and beloved “restaurant baby,” she says. “The fashion for Polishness and cherishing it was born with that restaurant,” says Gessler. “As well as the conviction that you can make money too.” She participates in the cooking and samples dishes. She brings back the oldest, most unusual and oft-forgotten Polish tastes.

The menu features the best dishes Gessler had passed down from her grandma and which she uses at home. She found some other recipes in old Polish cookbooks. The biggest hits at U Fukiera include the cream of white vegetables soup, much praised after Princess Anne’s visit, the juicy Lithuanian dumplings served with clarified butter and reportedly the best duck in town. The wild mushroom żurek soup, revived by Gessler, has been copied by restaurants all over Poland. Mention is also due to the delicate carp and succulent veal. As for the zupa nic (nothing soup) served with ice cream and sweets-it is pure poetry.

U Fukiera’s distinguished interior breathes tradition: many Polish paintings on the walls, flickering candles, crystal and silver glitter on the tables, complemented with antique furniture. From the windows-a classic view of the Old Town. “My greatest joy is the honesty of the food and drink, unchanged for years, and also the fact that U Fukiera’s fame has spread far beyond Poland,” says Gessler.