Kraków
Alone

PRACTICAL SAMPLE

Eating Alone

What to Do With Your Hands and Eyes: Bring a book or notebook for the wait between courses, and ask for a table by a window or a wall, where the light is good enough to read by and the room is in view.

The Pace of Eating: Polish meals come in courses, so order the appetizer, then the main course, then dessert, one at a time, and a second drink if you want one.

Vodka and Wine Notes: Vodka comes neat, in a small glass, alongside the food. Sparkling water, herbal tea and juice are ordinary orders too.

Where to Do This: Four rooms carry the load. All four are treated in full in the food and evening chapters: Pod Baranem in the Old Town for the unfussy midday plate of żurek and pierogi; Alchemia in Kazimierz for the candlelit evening with music in the cellar; Café Mleczarnia for wine and cheese under the trees in the courtyard; and Miód Malina for a proper dinner without the theater of a tasting menu.

A free excerpt from Kraków Alone.