Paweł Oszczyk, chef at the Le Regina Hotel, talks to Przemysław Molik.

The La Rotisserie restaurant has had a new menu for several weeks now. What is special about it? What is worth trying?
This is a new fall menu adjusted to the products that are available at this time of year. The dishes are slightly heavier, but adapted to the lower temperatures. For starters, I would propose carpaccio of tuna fish coated with oriental dust on fennel and sunflower sprouts salad, passion fruit and kaffir lime leaf essence. Although this is a permanent item on the menu, to me it is almost the perfect starter with its extraordinary harmony of flavors. After that, I would suggest a completely new dish, namely warm salad of scallops with boletus and bacon, żurek and fresh marjoram. For the main course, this is the time to serve game, taking advantage of the peak of the hunting season. One interesting proposal is the roast prime of venison. I would also recommend the seared cumin-crusted Challans duck with plum sauce. The Challans duck is a classical product of French cuisine. The duck is killed by strangulation, and the blood is left in the meat, thanks to which it is extremely juicy. We serve it with a sauce made from plums, ginger and Gorzka Żołądkowa bitter vodka. This is a unique dish-different from anything you would usually have.

What are the desserts like?
I would especially recommend the saffron baba with vanilla sauce and cherry syrup. This is a cake made with yeast and saffron, served warm. Quite ordinary, you might think, but warm yeast cake and slightly sour cherries result in an incredible flavor. Another interesting item on the menu is our "rum tea", or almond parfait with rum and cornflower tea sorbet. An interesting combination of the taste of cornflowers and a very original sorbet.

Where do you get your culinary inspiration from? What is cuisine a la Paweł Oszczyk like?
The menu at this restaurant is the sum of my experience from various parts of the world. I try to remember certain ideas and then modify them in an interesting way. For example, I combine Challans duck with fruit sauce gastrique-prepared with caramel and fresh fruit. Three flavors are characteristic here: sweet caramel, sour vinegar and ginger, which gives a fresh taste and highlights the flavor of the duck itself. All of this balances out quite perfectly.

As for cuisine a la Oszczyk, I think I am significantly influenced by Italian cuisine in terms of my approach to the product and presentation of dishes. The main issue is to appreciate the flavors of the products themselves. I have taken my technique from French cuisine. To all this, I add Polish culinary traditions and roots. I have also been interested in oriental ideas for some time. To me the most important thing is the choice of flavor elements. I try not to combine more than three flavors in one dish. There should always be one dominating flavor and two supplementary, contrasting ones.

Hotel Le Regina, La Rotisserie, 12 Kościelna St., Warsaw
www.leregina.com

Paweł Oszczyk has been involved in cuisine for 16 years. He is a graduate of the Eugeniusz Pijanowski Catering School in Warsaw. He gained experience working in Italy, and has worked as chef at the Bristol Hotel in Warsaw and for the Polish Business Council at the Sobański Palace, becoming the Le Regina Hotel's chef in 2004.