[An Nahar] After years of communist-era shortages, then a craze for Western fast food, Polish cuisine is undergoing a revival thanks to quality local ingredients and a modern twist on traditional fare.Leading the renaissance is Atelier Amaro, a Warsaw eatery that won Poland's first Michelin star in March for using "local produce to create innovative cuisine and original combinations".
Tucked away in a wooded area by the capital's modern art center, the 32-seater began serving up modern takes on Polish specialties in September 2011.
With no fixed menu, the dishes change with the season and feature such inspired ingredients as bison grass, burnt oak oil, wild rose petals, and nettle -- a stinging plant common to Poland.
Sample recipes include "pearmain in nettle syrup, cotton candy with ginger and cinnamon, nettle sorbet" and "chilled mirabelle plum soup with vanilla, hazelnut emulsion, lemon verbena leaves".
The emphasis according to owner-chef Wojciech Modest Amaro is on natural ingredients, preferably Polish.
The 41-year-old electronics expert and political scientist learnt to cook while living in England.
He then honed his skills at elBulli, Spain's now shuttered Michelin three-star restaurant, before opening up his own place.
"We want to put Poland on the culinary map of the world ... serving Polish cuisine updated and improved by my husband," his wife Agnieszka Amaro said.