Wzgórza Dylewskie Warmia i Mazury

This year, as the guide through the region, we welcomed Grzegorz Gręda, the chef of the Romantyczna slow-food restaurant at the Dr Irena Eris Wzgórza Dylewskie SPA Hotel. Grzegorz comes from the nearby Dobre Miasto and, like no one else, knows not only local traditions and excellent products, but also those who create them. The heroes and heroines of this edition were Krystyna Ziejewska, oat-fed geese breeder and co-founder of the Iława Goose Producers Association, Mariusz and Bożena Sekulscy from the Warmia Barefoot Farmers’ Association, farmers and eco-activists from Praslity village, as well as Jolanta Kolodziejczyk, owner of a local apiary.

The grand finale of the program is a dinner at Gospoda Sielanka, hosted by the chefs of two hotel restaurants—Grzegorz Gręda accompanied by Agnieszka Wilbrandt, the chef of the Oranżeria restaurant. They invited Ewelina Łapińska, the chef and owner of the Świętojańska 21 restaurant in Białystok and finalist of the Top Chef program, to work with them.

Among other things, the chefs prepared smoked trout (from Jarosław Parol’s fish farm) with cucumber and miso, as well as goose from Krystyna Ziejewska farm, served in various forms: dumplings with goose meat, apple and bison grass, or stomachs and hearts with beetroot, mushrooms and spelt (from the Barefoot Farmers’ farm). The guests were also served scorzonera with parsley and goat cheese and to top everything off—goose liver ice cream with honey and bread. Special selection of wines was provided by sommelier Krzysztof Królczyk representing Wineonline, whose recommendation for the evening was, among other great beverages, Lugana from Veneto, Spätburgunder from Palatinate and Porto for dessert. The feast was accompanied by a fair of local products, a screening of a Polish documentary “Honey Hunters” and a tasting event for honey-flavored beers from the Kormoran brewery. The main partner of this edition was the Ostróda Municipality. On both weekends with taste, the guests could also test drive new models by the Italian luxury cars manufacturer Maserati, the event’s partner.

Krynica–Zdrój Beskid Sądecki i Niski

This year’s Beskid edition of the project covered Krynica-Zdrój together with the Beskid area —Beskid Sądecki and Low Beskids. Janusz Myjak, chef at the Dr Irena Eris Krynica Zdrój SPA Hotel, introduced the people he works with every day. This way we get to know the stories of local passionate producers, for instance, Jadwiga Krok, who together with her family grows ecological guinea fowl and chapels, Grażyna Betlej-Furman, a Lemko and expert in the region, history and tradition, and owner of an agritourism business, Katarzyna Miernik-Pietruszewska, who left Kraków and moved to Wysowa, a small town where she runs a family restaurant Zdrojowa and organizes the red pine mushroom festival. We have also met Grażyna Dudek and Zbigniew Krzyżak from Chodorowa vineyard, former entrepreneurs, now passionate winemakers.

The official ending of the Beskid edition in Krynica-Zdrój was an outdoor dinner prepared by Janusz Myjak, together with
a team and chefs invited to join him: Patrycja Stefanów-Kot (Koncertowa restaurant in Krynica), Mariusz Siwak (Park Hotel in Szczecin) and Mariusz Jamroszczyk (Bałtowski Zapiecek). The guests were served, among other things, mushroom mousse with pickled red pine mushroom, soup made from sauerkraut juice with black garlic inspired by Lemko warianka soup, or guinea fowl with buckwheat and leek. Sommelier Łukasz Bogumił selected Hibernal wine from the Chodorowa Vineyard to match the dishes. The dinner was accompanied by regional music, wine tasting, a screening of the film “Wine in my blood” and a fair of local organic products.