WE KISS, WE EAT, WE TALK
PLACES

(Polski) USTA na Śląsku


In our guide we describe 17 places from Katowice, Gliwice, Bytom, Chorzów and Zabrze. We present our subjective selection of places. First of all, we concentrate on the quality of the cuisine, but we also pay attention to the architecture, the design, the personality of the chef and the service. We carefully select the spots on the city plan so that the reader of USTA can take the plan it in his or her hands and easily reach the most interesting places in the area. Below a couple of them, the full guide to Silesia is available in the printed version of USTA.
ARIA, SPOŁEM AND A TEAPOT
A spacious club-cafe in the building of the Katowice Cultural Centre. This space used to be an art gallery but two years ago a bar with small scene opened. The highlight of this place is an impressive collection of the Neon Gallery which gathers and renovates Silesia’s neons classified as historical monuments. Among them there are the shiny old signs from the Aria hotel and Millenium cinema from Sosnowiec, the neon sign “Katowice” from the railway platform and a reconstructed neon with a teapot blowing off steam from Randia teashop. Next to an old medical scale there are retro typewriters and computers and a stylish scale from a greengrocery, old teapots from Społem (the Union of Consumer Co-Operatives) and chairs from a hospital in Sosnowiec. Apparently, the attitude of the owners is as old-fashioned as the interior – they let you pay as much as you wish for the food served in the bar – cookies, salads, sandwiches and other lunch dishes. We admire and support this approach!

Strefa Centralna, Sejm Śląski Square 2 | Katowice
CZUBAK POWER
Docked safely in the city’s main promenade, a place not to be missed, even in our alternative guide. An excellent interior and an even better food – all thanks to amazing energy and passion of the chef and owner Marcin Czubak. When you meet this young, yet already experienced chef, you immediately feel that energy and passion. He was educated in the United Kingdom, then he cooked for the president of Gabon (sic!), until finally, despite many job offers on the way, he returned to his home city. His appearance in the TV programme “Top Chef” helped him in establishing his business as thanks to this appearance he became recognisable. Still, Czubak doesn’t brag about it, he hardly ever leaves the kitchen, he spends every moment there and this presence can be felt when one sits at a table in his restaurant. The kitchen reacts at once to the news from the “front”, the menu is impressive and it changes every day, the chef also pays attention that the local products appear on the menu.  The meal starts with three types of bread baked on the spot – with nigella seeds, with tomatoes and olives and with leak ash – all served with home-made butter. Then there is a pita with roasted beetroots, fresh carrot and delicate salmon damped in mushroom stock served on cabbage – both absolutely delicious! And the dessert! Ice cream from burnt butter covered with an oriental cupola of a delicately browned meringue served on a sour forest fruit mousse. And it is worth adding that all that is available at not-like-in-Warsaw prices. You have to come to this restaurant and then you will come back and come back again…
Staromiejska 13 Marcin Czubak, Staromiejska 13 | Katowice www.staromiejska13.com
ROE-DEER HOOF AND MORPHINE
Paweł Siemaszko, the owner of Kafo, opened the place after several years of working  at the heart of Poland’s third coffee wave – the Warsaw’s Filtry Café. Having brewed and drunk enough coffee in the capital, he decided to get back to his home turf in Gliwice and build up there the drip and flat white culture. And he did it well, as Kafo already holds a cult place status. Beautifully designed, almost always full of people. Apart from coffee, you can order shakes, hot chocolate and cocktails – proudly displayed on the menu on the wall. And of course those sweets from Good Cake! This confectionery workshop was established by Bella, a Scottish woman who married a Silesian guy and has been living in Gliwice for some years now. She bakes excellent cakes in the neighbourhood, such as tart with white chocolate and raspberries or blondie. It is also worth mentioning that Kafo is the favourite café of a famous writer Szczepan Twardoch who also lives in Gliwice. He is said to write half of his book “Morphine” in here. Oh, and the Wi-Fi password is “sarniekopytko” (eng. roe-deer hoof).
Kafo, Wieczorka 14 | Gliwice www.kafokawiarnia.pl
SOAP MADE OF SOOT, JEWELLERY MADE OF COAL
A multifunctional place: a shop with local products, a café and an independent information point for the region. Here you will find the best of the Silesian design. Jewellery made of coal from the Brokat atelier, prints with the highlights of Katowice architecture from Kwiatuchi,  soaps made of soot by Marta Frank, “mining” candies and clothes by Silesian fashion designers.
It all started with Kato, Dominik Tokarski recalls. Several years ago we made mugs and t-shirts with “I love Kato” print for the staff. We started to sell them and they became so popular that that the bartenders started to complain that there are too many gadgets cluttering the bar. We realised that we need a separate place to sell them. Together with my business partner Michał Kubieniec we were looking for the right location. We arrived in Koszutka (the district of the city north of Spodek), far off the beaten, typical tourist tracks. We saw the curtained windows of a closed drugstore, we sat in front of it and decided to drink cherry vodka for the good Qi of this place. And it did it good. Geszeft triggered revitalisation of this part of the city. Poszetka, with tailored suits, shirts and bowties opened just round the corner and so did Dwie Lewe Ręce Gallery and Local Bakery.
Geszeft, with its two spacious rooms with oil panelling and worn out walls, is a meeting place for debuting designers, a creative hub, an incubator where Silesian fashion, design and graphic scene is represented. Being in Silesia and not visiting Geszeft is a big mistake.
Geszeft, Morcinka 23/25 | Katowice geszeft.co
PANCKRAUT AND GRYFNIE
A lot has changed in Silesia lately. We were surprised with the number of recently completed municipal investments. Among the most prominent ones is the building of the Silesian Museum commissioned in June 2015 and built at Katowice’s old mine site from the turn of 19th and 20th century. Some of its constructions classified as monuments (e.g. Bartosz mineshaft) have been preserved. Modern, cubic, highlighted façades, visible already from the distance, look as if they were carved in frozen glass with patterns painted by the frost.
Located in the old shaft’s engine room is Moodro restaurant which serves the regional cuisine with a modern touch. In the menu you will find among others rib with panckraut (potatoes mixed with cabbage), dumplings with krupniok (Silesian blood sausage) and donuts with pumpkin, sweet potatoes and anise.
The restaurants younger sister Moodro bistro & cafe is in another building. You can pop in there for a coffee or lunch with your child, especially since they have quite a big kids’ corner. We also recommend a souvenir shop and bookstore Gryfnie (wicked, cool in Silesian language) located in the same building. All that make you realise that the Museum effectively fulfils its function  educating about the culture, the dialect and the local cuisine.
Muzeum Śląskie, Dobrowolskiego 1 | Katowice www.muzeumslaskie.pl
BANANA TREES AND LITTLE BEE
This is a cult place in Katowice. It was first located in Gliwicka street in the gate of an old manufacture.  – It was just as if we were in Berlin – mastermind and co-owner of the place Dominik Tokarski recalls. 300 square metres, banana trees, parties, concerts, slams. From the very beginning we had a plan to be a club where events connected with the city itself take place: discussions, debates, promotional meetings. And we have remained the same until now. I guess this is the most socially active place in Katowice, a little cultural centre, an institution. During the OFF Festival, in the windows of the club, we throw before concerts and there are hundreds of people gathering to listen. The bar offers a gigantic range of beers from local and regional breweries (such as Kraftwerk, Jurajski from Zawiercie, Reden from Chorzów). You also have to try the famous Pszczółka (Little Bee), a lemon vodka shot with ginger syrup. And if you’re hungry you can get zapiekanka (a typical Polish fast-food – an open-face sandwich with white mushrooms toasted cheese and ketchup). What is more, just round the corner in Mariacka Tylna street, the owners of Kato opened several years ago a little bar Pokrzep Się. The place has a characteristic neon and serves Berlin-style currywurst with french fries. Also within the Kato empire is the Geszeft store in the district of Koszutka, described separately above.
Kato, Mariacka 13 | Katowice

* Translated quote from a song „Reprezent” by rappers Miuosh (new generation) and Joka (known from a cult hip-hop band Kaliber 44) ‒ listen to them while reading our guide.

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