Eating to the beat
One problem with reviewing new restaurants is that sometimes they haven't decided exactly what they want to be. The food service industry is a competitive one and it sometimes takes a bit of casting about to find the proper niche. That may be the case with Żuraw, officially up and running since late January. Bar, club or restaurant? Continental, Latin or just pure swank? There is certainly a solid core of potential at the "bistro klub." And early on it seems to be winning a popularity contest along a developing strip of ulica Żurawia. My wife and I visited on a recent Friday - after I made the huge mistake of not calling ahead for a reservation. We walked in a little after 9:30 p.m. and had to park at the bar for close to an hour while we waited for a table to open up. Time for some observations, then. Żuraw looks nice. It has a sort of monumental art deco feel with an easy bar, massive lighting fixtures and a crafty mirror dominating the main room. At 9:30 p.m. the music was still mellow and the staff fairly attentive.
One odd thing, Żuraw does not have a szatnia. It doesn't just lack a mandatory coat-check. It doesn't have one at all. Chalk one up for casting out a local tradition. Another odd thing, one of the house red wines - ordered to help wile away our wait at the bar - was simply awful. The "California" wine was a disservice to the state's name; the brothers Gallo make a sweetish mix appropriate for a jug or a box. A second red available by the glass, a Frenchie, was much better. Consider yourself warned. A cocktail lounge atmosphere prevails anyway. So order up that mixed drink. As we chatted away at the bar, the music slowly got louder and changed beats, from jazzy to Latin. The patter of language around us changed too, from all Polish to Polish and a pinch of Spanish.
The crowd waxed and waned ... finally a table opened up. It was late, I was hungry and getting cranky, and pre-disposed to assuming the food would be an afterthought at the club. It didn't appear that too many people were eating; rather, they were boozing and priming for some dancing. The menu offered some hope. It was brief but bilingual and offered some attractive choices and variety at a fair price. And once we commanded their attention, the staff was efficient, even though the kitchen was rather slow. As the music boomed louder and dancers filled the open space around the bar with some fairly talented salsa, we settled into our meals. I started with a mixed salad with pine nuts, tomato and a basil dressing. It was tasty and a good size, if not totally impressive - lots of fluffy lettuce, just the right amount of flavorful dressing but only two pine nuts. Liza went with the Caesar salad, also a nice if not exceptional start. Now, as we got our main courses, the music was really starting to move some bodies - some to the beat, some not. We eyeballed the food suspiciously - dance club and restaurant just don't seem to go together. But we were pleasantly surprised. It is a bistro too! I tried the coq au vin. Sitting here now writing this review just before lunchtime, my stomach is rumbling as I remember the fine taste of poultry stewed in wine, mushrooms and herbs. I'm not 100% sure that the kitchen used a rooster, they may have cheated with a regular old chicken, but the end result was quite right. A side of potatoes au gratin was a complement to the rich main dish. Liza opted for the penne with chicken. Here the chef did the poultry and the pasta proud. The dish had a rich flavor with hints of rosemary and a spare dousing of sauce - just enough to keep the pasta lubricated but not too much to drown it.
And all this came with pulsing hips following a warm beat that belied the freezing cold outside. We shuffled off into wintry Warsaw, leaving a fairly full bar still going strong. The Latin aspect is Friday night only and combined with tapas offerings and a happy hour from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. A DJ also spins on Saturday, though this time with "chill out" music (I don't know what that means and my Polish wasn't good enough to investigate further). Brunch is also on the menu Saturdays and Sundays. Dinner for two with two glasses of wine came to zł. 100 ($24).
On the menu:
Mixed salad with pine nuts, tomato and fresh basil dressing zł. 16 Caesar salad zł. 16 Coq au vin zł. 25 Penne with chicken zł. 18
