Soul of the street

Okay, so I hoped to have a table inside. But this place is seriously booked up for a reason. So… ‘street food’ it is. Soul Kitchen comes with a good reputation. Let’s see how it holds up to a slight breeze on a mild evening in Warsaw.

A Polish red wine would be first up for the test. This Pinot Noir comes with a ‘minor‘ in the name (the blurred effect is to preface my later condition):

On first taste I can’t wait to try the major. Influenced by Burgundy so I’m told. It’s good to know France is useful for something in the world of wine, not just denigrating others!

This one comes with so many ‘legs’ it could double for a consortium of octopuses (or is that octopi… no, apparently not).

Anyway, onto the kitchen stuff. The Beef Tenderloin Tartare was an obvious choice of starter, though albeit from a very strong field of competition.

It’s the additional lovage in the recipe apparently. Though it comes with a guy at your table putting the finishing touches (even out on the street). That’s got to add a few plus points to the experience.

As for a main, the short but perfect menu of options presented another First World dilemma. As ‘Daisy‘ had been so good to me already, I couldn’t let any of her go to waste. So, Beef Cheek it is.

Not to be put off by the ‘oil slick chic‘, and veggies with a distinct ‘nuts and bolts bite‘, I strapped in for an industrial experience of the most sumptuous kind.

Yes, for my dessert conscious readers, there was another short but perfectly formed (why are the best menus in my image 🤔😂) list. But, I had only one serious option to compliment a machiatto… yet another glass of the ‘Dobre Minor‘ (to fulfill the earlier blurred image effect).

Until we speak again, I’m not into licking plates, but damn, this was close!

And all of this just around the corner from a quintessential Warsaw vista.

Street food served from a Soul Kitchen. It deserves a thank you from the soul ❤️

History reborn

Current day Stag & Hen do’s have nothing on the Nazi’s when it comes to leaving a place wrecked after a visit…

On a recent visit to Warsaw, I was so happy to have visited both the Museum of Warsaw and the Warsaw Museum of Uprising. Combined, they provide a chilling reflection on the scale of shear destruction inflicted on this city.

However, they also provide the beacon of hope when we see what can be achieved in reconstruction using remaining photographs and plans the evil occupiers failed to destroy.

The Old Town in Warsaw may look a little shinier than say that in Krakow, but there is a renewed sense that history shouldn’t be obliterated and then simply left forgotten.

Sensitive reconstruction can be so much better than bland modernism (though wider Warsaw can claim both). It may well be more tourist orientated today, but that shouldn’t detract from the economic value that brings to the World Heritage site. Planners and architects the world over could learn a lot of positive messages from the instruction provided by Warsaw.

Until we speak again, I recommend you come support and enjoy the thriving reconstruction of a devastated city. But, be wary… the spectre of Russian surveillance may never be far away!

Stalin’s gift to Poland

Go to Warsaw… yes, it’s definitely recommended. Go to Warsaw. But remember that its most striking building on a fast rising skyline remains…

This apparently was Stalin’s gift to Poland after WWII… The Palace of Culture and Science (Palac Kultury) built in the early 1950’s. On reflection, I suspect it was very much a box for bureaucrats, and locally, it’s understandably more likely to be thought of as a Monument to Soviet Oppression.

Whatever your political view on the history and meaning of this building, its vision of granduer and solidity are unmistakable and still manage to draw attention from the more recent steel and glass offerings to the sky. It also happens to have a great viewing platform for views around the city…

Until we speak again, Stalin’s statement of occupation to Poland serves as a reminder that we can successfully repurpose gifts we hate and see them from a different perspective… eventually.