"Marcin Przybysz cooks 19th-century Polish cookbooks back to life across 20 dated courses at Hotel Europejski — book the long menu for a birthday."
Marcin Przybysz won Top Chef Poland in 2014, then went looking for a kitchen he had not yet earned. He cooked under Massimo Bottura at Osteria Francescana, René Redzepi at Noma and Rasmus Kofoed at Geranium before returning to Warsaw to take the pass at Epoka in 2020. The restaurant sits on the ground floor of the 1857 Hotel Europejski at ul. Ossolińskich 3, two streets from the Royal Castle. Both tasting menus — Krótkie Historie at 250 zł and Historie at 400 zł — are built entirely from recipes pulled from Polish cookbooks dating between 1682 and 1945, each course dated on the menu by the year of its source.
The Kitchen
Przybysz's project is archival. Every plate is sourced from a printed Polish recipe — the team works from a private library of 17th-, 18th- and 19th-century cookbooks held in the kitchen's reference shelf — and rebuilt with the modern technique he learned from Bottura, Redzepi and Kofoed. The signature is a roasted goose course annotated to a specific year, plated alongside cabbage prepared three ways: fermented, pressed and butter-roasted. The trout course — fillet cured briefly, served with cucumber and sweet-and-sour reductions on a thin cracker — has been on the menu in iterations since the 2020 opening and reads like a Polish-codex answer to Noma's seafood plates.
The 10-course Krótkie Historie lands at 250 zł and runs roughly two hours; the 20-course Historie at 400 zł runs three and a half. Wine pairings begin around 220 zł and climb to about 380 zł for the long menu. Head sommelier Mateusz Szwajger built a list weighted toward central Europe — Tokaj from both the Hungarian and Slovak slopes, Mosel Riesling back to the 1990s, and a roster of low-intervention Polish bottlings from Winnica Turnau and Winnica Płochockich that you will not see outside the country. The bread service alone — six varieties baked daily on-site, served with cultured butter from a single Mazovian dairy — is the dish I most often re-order. Epoka has been listed in the MICHELIN Guide Poland in both the 2025 and 2026 editions; a green star is the persistent rumour for the next cycle.
The Room
The dining room runs along the hotel's south wall: tall windows onto Ossolińskich, parquet floors, white walls hung with archival prints from the Warsaw Uprising era. Roughly thirty covers across twelve tables, including a six-seat chef's counter facing the open pass. Sound level is conversation-easy at the counter, hushed at the window tables. Lighting is candle-warm at table height, no overhead glare. Table spacing is generous — three feet between tables, not two — and the service brigade runs nine for thirty guests, which is closer to a Vienna ratio than a Warsaw one. Dress is smart, jackets welcomed but not required. Single seating at 18:00, Wednesday through Saturday.
Best for a Birthday in Warsaw
Three reasons it lands. First, the 20-course Historie menu is built as a narrative — each course annotated with its source-recipe year — which gives the table a built-in topic of conversation that works particularly well when the night needs marking. Second, the kitchen will inscribe a final dessert plate with a name and message if you note the occasion at booking; the team has done this in Polish, English and German and the calligraphy is good enough to photograph. Third, the three-and-a-half-hour pace lands exactly where birthday dinners need to: long enough to feel marked, short enough to keep the room awake for a drink afterwards at the Kieliszki na Próżnej cocktail bar two streets east. Book Friday or Saturday at 18:00 and request a window table.
Not for
Skip Epoka if you arrive looking for pierogi and żurek — the menu is the kitchen's archival reading, not a Polish-classics greatest hits, and the night runs three and a half hours of dated 20-course narrative. Skip too if any guest at the table cannot drink wine; the cellar is half the editorial reason to come, and a teetotal dinner here leaves the most interesting line on the menu unread.
Frequently Asked
Is Epoka worth it?
Yes. Epoka is the most editorially interesting kitchen in Warsaw — Chef Marcin Przybysz cooks recipes pulled directly from 19th- and 20th-century Polish cookbooks, rebuilt with modern technique. Listed in the MICHELIN Guide Poland in both the 2025 and 2026 editions. The longer Historie tasting at 400 zł lands well under the equivalent menu at any peer kitchen in Berlin or Vienna, and the lineage — Przybysz cooked at Osteria Francescana, Noma and Geranium — is real. See the wider Warsaw dining guide.
How hard is it to book Epoka?
Harder than most Warsaw restaurants but not impossible. Epoka serves four nights a week (Wednesday to Saturday) at a single 18:00 seating, with roughly thirty covers across the dining room. Online booking opens via the restaurant's site eight weeks ahead and requires a 390–490 zł per-person deposit. Friday and Saturday nights book out first; Wednesday and Thursday clear within two weeks of the date.
What is the dress code at Epoka?
Smart, not formal. The room is inside the 1857 Hotel Europejski but the register is editorial rather than imperial — jackets are welcomed but not required, and tailored separates are the norm. No trainers or beachwear at dinner. Most guests dress closer to a London tasting-menu room than a Vienna palais, which suits the restaurant's contemporary-Polish project.
What is the average meal price at Epoka?
250 zł for the 10-course Krótkie Historie menu, 400 zł for the 20-course Historie. Wine pairings run roughly 220–380 zł depending on length, with a strong central-European cellar — Tokaj from the Hungarian and Slovak slopes, Riesling from Mosel, and a section of low-intervention Polish bottlings. Budget 700–900 zł per person for the long menu with a standard pairing.
Is Epoka good for a birthday?
Yes — the 20-course Historie menu is built like a narrative dinner, with each plate dated and annotated, which gives the table a built-in conversation that works well for birthdays. Tell the front of house on booking; the kitchen will inscribe a final dessert plate. Service is fluent in English and the room's pace lands at three and a half hours — long enough to feel marked, short enough to keep the energy.
What is the signature dish at Epoka?
Goose, dated to a specific year. Przybysz's signature is a roasted goose course annotated with a precise historical year from the original recipe, plated alongside cabbage prepared three ways. The trout course — fresh fillet with cucumber and sweet-and-sour, served on a thin cracker — is the secondary signature and has been on the menu in iterations since the 2020 opening.