Cukiernia Sowa
It all begins with an idea.
UPDATE: My boss at work picked up the Torcik Joli (=51.9zł/kg) for the office because of whatever good mood he was in. Not complaining, simply mentioning it because I think this fact made the cake of rum cream and chocolate sponge cake that much more scrumptious. All of the ingredients are spiraled up into the middle and topped with a sowa-stamped chocolate coin in the middle. Where the whipped cream around the center moats there is a wash of advocat that is both tasty as well as a good dose of color contrasted. The outermost edge is then sprinkled with chocolate shavings. When you cut into it, all of the layers proudly sit atop one another and finally the blackcurrant at the very bottom is revealed. It is the perfect flavorful, heavy berry to pair with a traditional chocolate and cream cloud cake such as this one. Each forkful is surprisingly full of sour, sweet, and smooth. Why it is joli rather than szczęśliwego is beyond me seeing as all the component parts (well, aside from the rum—but I mean alcohol) undoubtedly demonstrate a version of Polish happiness.
Folgujemy
It all begins with an idea.
UPDATE (11.03.2018): I came back here. I was really aching to try one of their breakfast sets—Śniadanie na Trawie as they call it—which comes with either a cup of drip coffee or tea and one of their homemade cookies. I was particularly eyeing the vegan kiełbasa (two words I never thought I’d pair together unless they were some frozen Trade Joe’s product).
And—as they played “Great Balls of Fire” for the second time in a row—I went that way.
I got the lactose-free, vegan option of the vegan pepper kiełbasa with their focaccia bread, in-house pumpkin ketchup, hummus, and watercress salad with a light oil dressing and sprinkled with kala til. Everything had an unconventional flavor. The hummus—olive oil fattening it up—was savory, but fresh. The focaccia, nicely seared ensuring a toasty texture, was even herbed favorably. But, I know you’d like to know about the main event—that pseudo-sausage. And, the first thing you should know is that it is soft. As in, without any pressure at all, it will just break apart. It wouldn’t make a good burger patty, but fork and knife works just fine. I think it is mainly bean-based. As you break it apart, you see all the constituents. The fried onion, the bean skins, and of course the chopped red pepper. You may suspect that the texture would be a problem. On the contrary, with the bread and the many midribs of the watercress, their is more than enough structure. I don’t think I’d get it again although it is a unique dish that is not only meatless, but colorful. If you’re looking for something other than eggs and bacon or—in Poland—bułki z masłem i jajecznicę z kiełbasa, then you’ll enjoy this. It is also immensely satiating for what it is. Maybe it was the cookie.
Speaking of which, this semi-soft sugar cookie tastes oddly more like butter than butter tastes like butter. I feel like saying buttery doesn’t truly cover it. If you don’t like butter cookies, skip this. At first I tried to break a piece off and it wouldn’t budge. This made me nervous. However, I found that for this lightly browned biscuit, it was only a matter of biting into it. It doesn’t crumble apart. It just doesn’t lend itself to being ripped. But, if you need a soft cookie—like if that is essential in your cookie preferences, I would recommend not wasting your time on this.
But the coffee. Thank you Czarny Deszcz. It was full all the way through. When you get a black coffee and they make you an Americano, you frequently get a cup of coffee that tastes spotty or dulled. This cup boasted a flavor, soured by fruits that balanced with a well-rounded, caramel kind of sweet. Not only is it a cup that has a distinguishable initial bite, it is a cup of coffee that’s bite is the vigor of its base flavor for the life of the drink.
Cukiernia Krzycka Sikorscy
It all begins with an idea.
UPDATE 09/04/2018: I headed back here to snag the below higher quality photo. Unfortunately, all of the decorations from the holidays had been taken down by this time. Ergo, I couldn’t bring myself to replace the above featured photo. It’s just so much more festive and colorful. While I was here, I decided to snag one of the pączek they had. There is nothing like a bakery’s morning-baked pączki. And boy was I craving a donut. Traditional in all the ways that make them the staple of Polish people’s sweet tooth and delectable in all the ways that make a jelly donut more than another routine option – a little an extra teaspoon of rose jelly, a not-so-heavy body that still hits the spot, the perfect texture for your choice of biting or tearing. Immediately post-donut, I could only think how satisfied I was. Nothing else. I didn’t want another. The singular donut more than did its job 😊
Grycan (Arkady)
It all begins with an idea.
Prior to the above photo—updated on 01/31/2018—it used to look like the below.
Corten Cafe
It all begins with an idea.
I done goofed. I did not take a panorama image when I was here. I do not own the above image. Image courtesy of and borrowed from Restaurant Guru.
