New Kredens relative promises little sibling rivalry
By : Will Sartori
The diplomatic corps met one evening on a quiet stretch of ulica Wspolna, across from the Agriculture Ministry. The warm lights of Stop Klatka seemed to be the only life on that street. Ferret Woman and Dog Boy were waiting when I arrived. Soon Naomi arrived, following a difficult day of visa application refusals and parking problems. Lucky arrived last and was forced to sit by the door.
We had a full table to sample the fixins' at this new spot, which Ferret Woman had ferreted out. The acquiescent Andrzej, a particularly flamboyant and helpful waiter from Cafe Kredens, told her about this new restaurant and encouraged her to visit.
After an unexpected late-afternoon torrent, I was rain drenched and wanted to warm myself with a little warm krupnik, but they didn't have any. Since wino grzane would be out of question in these balmy summer months, I put myself at Andrzej's mercy to find me a warm drink and had to be satisfied with tea (zl. 5). They had dozens of varieties from which the Dilmah passion fruit/Ceylon jumped out. Andrzej even suggested a shot of rum (zl. 12 for Malibu, zl. 13 for Bacardi) to warm it up.
Stop Klatka ("Freeze Frame" in English), is the latest venture by the owners of the Kredens restaurants. The restaurant is small and has just seven tables. It has a cozy, clean interior, decorated with old cameras, movie projectors, and, of course, movie pictures. Antique furniture, mirrored bar shelves and cinnamon walls add to the old-fashioned feeling.
The English/Polish menu includes apperitifs for zl. 17 to zl. 22, cold and hot starters for zl. 19 to zl. 26 and soups for zl. 10 to zl. 14. Mains run zl. 32 to zl. 55, salads zl. 18 to zl. 26, pasta zl. 16 to zl. 26, and pizza for zl. 23 to zl. 30. Dessert costs zl. 15 to zl. 20.
The wine list is short and simple. Whites range from zl. 35 for Fedoniere to zl. 175 for Los Vascos. Reds also run zl. 35 for Fedoniere and topped out at zl. 175 for Los Vascos. We made a simple selection, called simply Chianti (zl. 70), but received Vernaiolo, Rocco delle Macie, '98.
And with so many taste testers, we had a good sampling of the menu. For starters, Ferret Woman ordered the smoked salmon on toast (zl. 22) and was sadly informed that they had run out of salmon at breakfast. (But for those who want to know, I went back a few days later for breakfast and found the smoked salmon very tasty.)
In lieu of her first choice, Ferret woman quickly ordered the forest mushroom soup (zl. 14) as did Lucky. They were both delighted with it. "This soup is like Fantasia," Lucky said.
Dog Boy went for the steak tartar. A thick patty of ground sirloin topped with raw egg and surrounded by capers, garlic, onions, pickles and a mustard-mayonnaise mix.
Naomi had the caprese salad (zl. 22), a slight variation on the usual, with avocado added to the combination of tomato, mozzarella cheese and basil. The avocado was ripe and soft, but she was more pleased with the mozzarella, which was moist and fresh. "It's so hard to find good mozzarella in Poland," she said, to which I remarked that she should try Metro Venezia, whose mozzarella is wonderful.
And I started with one of my perennial favorites, beef carpaccio (zl. 26). The meat was good and the Parmesan cheese and capers evenly distributed, but the olive oil was missing.
The foul weather had me in a Thanksgiving mood and I couldn't resist ordering the turkey breast with cranberry sauce (zl. 36). The four small filets that arrived under the red sauce looked and tasted an awful lot like chicken. This turkey was, however, very nicely prepared chicken, with a delicate balance between being cooked enough and still moist. It was seasoned well and the cranberry sauce was savory, thick and tangy.
Lucky had the cooked trout (zl. 32), which arrived in its entirety. Dog Boy, a self-proclaimed fish expert, gave him instructions on skinning and decapitating the poor beast in such a way as to remove most of the bones in one piece. After the surgery was complete, Lucky looked down and said, "How will I get rid of this thing?"
Before we knew it, our waiter Andrzej came running up with an empty plate saying, "I will help you."
Naomi dined on tender and moist veal chops in forest mushroom sauce (zl. 40). Ferret Woman ordered the grilled beef loin (zl. 40), cooked medium rare and served with a generous medallion of garlic butter on the top. "This is incredibly tender," she said. "It's melting in my mouth."
It is here that Stop Klatka, like Kredens, displayed its specialty: grilled meats. All of them arrived on a bed of toasted pine nuts, sunflower seeds and fried garlic shavings, with a generous pile of steamed vegetables and steak fries. The fries sent Naomi into shivers of ecstasy. Nobody finished his or her steamed vegetables a mix of carrots, string beans, cauliflower, and broccoli which were just mediocre.
Dog Boy varied from the norm going for the pasta verde (zl. 22), with spinach, ham, cream, garlic and Parmesan. He described it as similar to light carbonara, and indeed it seemed to be much lighter and dominated by spinach. It is the same dish Kredens serves at its other locations.
Stuffed and woozy after a long meal, all of us wanted coffee and dessert. The coffee was not ready and would take a half hour, so we were told. There was no cappuccino, but why we could not figure out. There was, however, espresso (zl. 7). Unfortunately it arrived after the dessert. We had the "Italian dessert" (zl. 20), again a familiar item to those who eat at Kredens. It is a puff pastry stuffed with peach and served on a bed of berry sauce, chocolate sauce and whipped cream.
Dinner for five, in two courses with wine, coffee and dessert came to zl. 539 ($125), including a 10% service charge. It has a cozy feeling similar to the modest Cafe Kredens, but not the oversized feeling of Grand Kredens. While it does fall into the upscale category with quality food, service and few unfortunate surprises, Stop Klatka does not quite hit the gourmet level.
