Koneser Grill – Fire as the Essence of the Dishes

I’ve wanted to visit Koneser Grill for a review for a very long time – if only because many top chefs, from Marcin Przybysz to Bartosz Szymczak, named it among their favourite restaurants for my “Where Chefs Eat” series.

The only thing holding me back was that I try not to write about restaurants owned by the same people too often, so my pieces on Butchery&Wine, Tygrys Warszawski, and Rozbrat 20 had to be spaced out a little. And now (finally!) it’s time for Koneser Grill.

In terms of atmosphere, Koneser Grill feels like the younger, more mischievous brother of Butchery&Wine. A similarly sized space, exactly the same (only black) tiles around the bar, light wooden tables, the same model of chairs, even identical Michelin Guide recommendation plaques: you get both a sense of continuity between the restaurants in the group and a whole collection of Easter eggs for anyone who likes spotting similarities.

At the same time, the restaurant’s rebellious spirit is on full display: graffiti above the kitchen, a disco ball hanging from the ceiling, and a huge, literally wall-sized panel depicting the chef surrounded by flames – these are exactly the kinds of details that underline the place’s individuality.

And Koneser Grill really is unique – at least in terms of chef Piotr Wójcik’s approach. The entire kitchen here is built around fire. Literally.

Pretty much everything is cooked over fire – from a genuinely excellent burrata with cherries, almond jam, more cherries and truffle, where the cheese becomes infused with the aroma of smoke, to a lightly smoked panna cotta that is then seared with a red-hot branding iron taken straight from the live fire. But we’ll come back to that dessert a little later – trust me, it’s worth it.

Instead of ordering a steak here (which you absolutely can and should do), I decided to order a whole bunch of dishes for the table – simply so I could get a sense of the full range of the chef’s imagination. And, damn, it was absolutely the right choice.

The ham, honey, béchamel and truffle croquette is a brilliant play of textures, and a very smart take on what is usually a fairly simple dish. It was the only dish in the order recommended by the waiter, and I completely understand the reasoning.

The classic Andalusian soup Ajo Blanco is an option for anyone who enjoys unusual flavour combinations and extremely precise execution: soaked ciabatta, potatoes roasted over the fire (of course!), and a generous amount of almonds – that’s the recipe for a perfect summer soup.

The beef tartare walks a fine line between heat, saltiness, and acidity. Pickled mushrooms and rings of fried onion provide contrasting textures, bottarga gives the dish the necessary depth and a very elegant salinity, while the dressing (strictly in my personal opinion) slightly overwhelms the flavour of the meat with its heat. Still, there will certainly be people who love this kind of approach – my job is simply to warn you about the detail.

The tuna pasta is simply bloody brilliant, and one of the best I’ve had in Warsaw, period. Rigattoni cooked to textbook perfection, tuna with a smoky aroma, burrata, lemon zest, red caviar – I honestly have no idea what could be done better here. Well, except ordering the same dish again on my next visit.

The panna cotta I mentioned earlier is all about flavours turned up to maximum and wired directly into our DNA. Strawberries, smoky notes, meringue, marshmallow roasted over the fire – childhood, summer holidays in the countryside, and carefree days, translated into the language of contemporary gastronomy.

And perhaps that is the perfect illustration of the tricks dishes cooked over live fire can play on our brains and our perception. Of course, when they are in the hands of a skilled chef and prepared in the right setting.

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