Atmospheric and flavorful, Corazzi proves a pleasant choice
A quiet street in centrum is an anomaly, and the Italian restaurant Corazzi is located on just such a street. The appropriately named ulica Corazziego runs from the future home of the Warsaw Uprising Museum into a dead-end, behind the Sony building.
I met Genie at 8 p.m. on a recent Monday night to find the restaurant pleasantly quiet, but not dead. The same friendly man, who took my phone reservation, greeted us at the door and asked if we wanted smoking or non-smoking, a rare distinction in Warsaw.
The restaurant is pleasantly appointed with pastel, mint walls and lots of wooden trim. The dark-stained tables of solid wood, and large windows provided a quiet ambiance. Non-descript music played at a volume low enough not to interfere with conversation. In fact, I learned quite a bit about the sugar industry by eavesdropping on the table next to us.
The wine list featured mostly Italian but some Chilean and French wines in the range of zl. 70-zl. 180. Chianti seemed to be the appropriate choice for Italian food, so Genie picked a bottle, actually a half-bottle of Cecchi, Vendemmia 1998 for zl. 45. Though young, the wine was still light enough to compliment what was too follow.
Our smiling waitress, also an anomaly in Warsaw, was more than willing to help us through the menu. Though she had some rough edges, she gave the impression she was interested in our well-being. When asked for recommendations, she gladly pointed out four main dishes, one of which Genie chose, a grilled pork sirloin (zl. 35). The grilled meats come with your choice of sauce and two side dishes. The nine sauces ranged from an herb tomato to garlic, with stops along the way at sour cream or lemon. Genie chose the mustard.
The menu, printed in Polish and English, was affordable, with main dishes ranging in price from zl. 29-zl. 39. Soups, from minestrone to zurek cost zl. 9. Hot and cold starters varied from zl. 15-zl. 29, with the exception of the black caviar at zl. 70.
To test an Italian restaurant, the pasta must be sampled. The starters, as well as the mains, offered a variety of pastas and sauces to choose from. Wanting to see the spicy end of the spectrum, I chose a starter portion of spaghetti putanesca (zl. 20). Putanesca is a spicy sauce made with all things pungent. It is not for the weak of stomach and would be a good test for the spicy limits of the kitchen. For starters, Genie chose the carpaccio (zl. 27). It was not for carpaccio purists, operating on an American instead of an Italian palate. It lacked the light finesse of Venezia's, but proved to be one of the more creative and tasty carpaccios in town. In addition to the requisite raw beef, capers, olive oil and shaved Parmesan, it featured olives, mushrooms, red bell pepper, asparagus, pickles and baby corn. The acidity of the pickled ingredients left a tang that slightly overpowered the meat.
I was delighted to see the waitress arrive with a pepper mill and sprinkle Genie's carpaccio with fresh ground pepper, then disappointed to see she did not do the same for my pasta. Checking first, before doing this for myself, I was glad she didn't. The sauce was hotter than a Cajun fish fry. The pepper exceeded the safety limit for the average Polish palate but was a refreshing relief for a spicy food freak like myself. There was, however, a little too much anchovy in sauce that should have been more dominated by the garlic and olives.
With the starters came two kinds of rolls, two kinds of sliced bread, two kinds of butter, sweet and herbed, and smalec. And with each course we not only received the obligatory change of cutlery, but a fresh, starched, linen napkin.
The waitress recommended potatoes to go with my main dish the duck with stewed apples, but I chose wild rice and a dinner salad. I envisioned the duck floating in a sea of sauce with apple slices but what I got was a slightly overcooked, fried duck alongside which was a baked apple filled with a tangy cranberry and apple mix. The sauce balanced the bird beautifully and left me only slightly disappointed with the dryness of the meat. Wild rice and a delicate green salad were presented aesthetically on the plate. The salad featured romaine lettuce, radish, bell pepper, tomatoes and endive in a delicate vinaigrette.
"The mustard sauce smells divine," a delighted Genie exclaimed, starting into her tenderloin. It was the perfect compliment to the slightly smoked taste of fresh moist pork. It made me glad she shared. Her sides of potatoes and vegetables were uneventful but beautifully presented with a yellow daisy for garnish. The presentation on all plates did not compete with the creativity of Restaurant 99, but was well above the Warsaw standard.
The dessert menu featured mainly light sweets of fruit and ice cream (zl. 9-zl. 16). It lacked in pastries and would leave the serious chocoholic wanting, but the selection was refreshing after a heavy meal. I enjoyed the winter lemon (zl. 9), a very tangy lemon sorbet floating in a cocktail glass of grapefruit juice, while Genie had the house specialty, Corazzi dessert (zl. 16). Hers featured rum-soaked sponge cake under whipped cream with a dollop of chocolate mousse. It was almost tiramisu.
We washed these down with cappuccino, heavy on the espresso, light on the foam. And the waitress brought shots of some form of cherry liqueur with the bill, a pleasant surprise at the end of a good dining experience. The total came to zl. 224 ($53) without tip.
Corazzi is geared to American taste and may not be the place to take your Italian friends. But the cheery service, creative presentations, tasteful decorations, cozy location, reasonable prices and lack of unpleasant surprises make it a good choice for both entertaining clients or a romantic dinner before the opera.
