Here is the April 18. 2012 article in the New York Times: Flavor of Nostalgia Grows More Appealing to Poles Brimming With Pride
By JOANNA BERENDT
WARSAW — The bartenders in white shirts and black bow ties served endless shots of vodka followed by platefuls of herring in oil, and the occasional kielbasa, on small white plates as the crowds eagerly downed their drinks with an enthusiastic toast: “Na zdrowie!” Polish for “Cheers.”
If not for the designer handbags and ubiquitous iPhones, this could have been a time capsule from when Poland was behind the Iron Curtain and small bars like this one were common. Back then, Poles jealously guarded their culture, their heritage, their gastronomic delights against the smothering grip of Communism. But when Communism fell in 1989 the novelty of the West overran the capital, with rum cocktails, fast food and Asian fusion restaurants.
Today, Poles have come full circle and are feeling a lot more confident, embracing their traditions rather than rushing to welcome the latest foreign trends.
This standing-room-only bar, Pijalnia Wodki i Piwa (which translates as Drinking Room for Vodka and Beer) opened in January and is just one of a new breed of watering holes sprouting all over Warsaw that speak to this resurgent pride. Known as zakaskas bars, these new establishments try to recreate the Soviet-era ambience, with intentionally shabby décor, little or no furniture and cheap offerings.
“Everything associated with Polish tradition was identified as being trashy and crude, an indicator of Poles’ alleged low socioeconomic background,” said Tomasz Szlendak, a sociologist. “So people tried to recreate the world from ‘Dynasty,’ ” the former prime-time American soap opera, he said. Poles began consuming sushi at the highest rate outside of Japan, he added, thinking that was a sign they had arrived and were no longer a Communist-era backwater, a punch line for jokes.
“They would still eat their tacky herring at home, but once they were out they would pretend to enjoy only more refined food,” said Izabela Skiba, 23, as she dug into her own herring in oil and washed it down with a shot of vodka at the Miedzy Wodka a Zakaska bistro, another of the new bars.
Poles have lots of reasons to be feeling a bit cocky. Since the end of Communism, their wages have doubled and their standard of living has significantly increased. According to a recent survey by a Polish public opinion research center, TNS OBOP, 75 percent of Poles are satisfied with their lives, which places Poland in the European elite. The survey measured Poles’ contentment with their financial situation, workplace, family life and health status.
As they began to feel better about themselves, Poles began to explore their past in a variety of ways, from historical documentaries to retro crime novels. Zakaskas bistros fit right into that trend. More than a dozen opened up in the capital alone, and the rest of Poland followed suit.
“I didn’t want a fussy place,” said Iwona Sumka, 44, who owns three zakaskas bistros in Warsaw. “I wanted something even a bit ugly, where one wouldn’t feel the need to show off.”
Miedzy Wodka a Zakaska (Between Vodka and Appetizer), which she opened in October, is furnished modestly, with simple plastic chairs, candlesticks on the smudged gray walls and plywood tables. Mrs. Sumka fondly recalled the Communist-era cafeterias, where older women came to eat ice cream, far from the judgmental stares of strangers or prying neighbors.
“I wanted to create a place where elegant ladies could come and not feel embarrassed about having a couple of shots of vodka,” she said with determination.
These simple gathering spots try to build a sense of community by combining several Polish traditions. “Zakaska” is Polish for any of several appetizers that accompany a drink, usually vodka. The most popular zakaskas besides herring in oil are steak tartare, kielbasa or pâté.
But of course the zakaska is an accompaniment to the main course — vodka, which has been an irreducible part of Polish tradition since the 19th century. The original zakaskas bistros first became popular in Poland before World War II, but their heyday came in the 1950s and 1960s.
After the fall of the Iron Curtain, capitalism brought Poles their fairy-tale visions of life in the West, particularly fast-food restaurants and cocktail bars. But as the years passed, so did their appetite for the things they were denied under Communism, and a bit of nostalgia for the old ways began to creep in.
This sentiment has been at least partly caused by the sizable emigration from Poland that followed Polish accession to the European Union in 2004. In a search for jobs, at least two million Poles left for Great Britain, Ireland and elsewhere.
“People get sentimental,” admitted Roman Modzelewski, 59, a bartender and local legend from Przekaski Zakaski who goes by the name “Mr. Roman.”
“In the 1980s, I worked in a Mediterranean restaurant in Switzerland. After three months, all I could think about were traditional Polish dishes, like beetroot soup with croquette and bigos, which is cabbage beef stew.”
The new wave started slowly, in 2006, when a local restaurateur, Adam Gessler, 57, opened Przekaski Zakaski. In his bistro, there are only two prices: 4 zloty (about $1.25) for all beverages and 8 zloty (about $2.50) for simple appetizers. At those moderate prices the bartenders serve just one brand of beer, Tyskie, and one brand of vodka, Zoladkowa Gorzka, also evoking the lack of choices of the Communist era.
“I wanted to create a space where people would not be judged by what they order and, hence, how much money they have,” said Mr. Gessler, who also owns several high-end restaurants around town. “I needed a place where people would be welcome unconditionally, regardless of whether they were professors or students, priests or prostitutes, politicians or taxi drivers.”
The ambience, or perhaps it is the vodka, seems to work — on everyone. Mr. Gessler recalled a night when three former Polish prime ministers from three different parties — Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, Tadeusz Mazowiecki and Leszek Miller — visited Przekaski Zakaski at the same time.
“They kicked off the evening separately,” Mr. Gessler said, “but they sure ended up toasting each other.”
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