The Gessler restaurant empire expands to London

in The Guardian today guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/mar/17/polish-delis-restaurants-british

hmmm.... pierogi z patelni... yummmm :)

proper zurek – the ethereal rich-sour soup made with fermented rye bread.
Thats what I hate about food reviews - wtf is ethereal soup !!
Its soup ffs !

I think its another way to say heavenly.

Gessler is known for such nonsense.

Yup,

I went yesterday, it was REALLY yummie!!!

They've got a site too: gesslerlondon.com

Please what nonsense would that be. The Gesslers have been around for a long and since Magda Gessler has taken over it has gone from strength to strength. She is a smart business woman and has a great nose for opportunity.

It is quite apparent you do not Jonni old boy.

Quite.

Have you been to any of the restaurants? Kitsch in the extreme and disappointing compared to almost all others in the same price range.

i just checked one of their menu... 99 przystawek and 60 dan glownych...!!! is it any good then...? quantity over quality?

Jonni- I have been to all of them as i have lived in Warsaw for nearly 18 years on and off. You should admire people who have succeeded not put them down. As the polish saying goes ' One day you will grow up to it'

Very 'specific' decor and variety over quality. If people really want to spend so much and show others that they've got the spending power then it's probably what they want, though there are better choices.

Consistency of quality and service are issues too. Plus some absolutely bizarre set menus.

There are certainly good restaurants in Warsaw but Gessler is an overstretched brand of chain restaurants with a big marketing budget.

I smell Gesslers self advertising around...

I can say the same and prefer other places.


I've done quite well myself in business by understanding quality and value. At the Gessler places, value and taste sadly lag behind others in the same price range. She established the brand when there was very little competition - now people's expectations are higher and Gessler places just leave people feeling disappointed.

MacDonald's have "succeeded" too but I wouldn't recommend eating there.

It does seem like someone has a vested interest...

You have been in Poland too long. You are becoming paranoid lol
On a serious note I really do respect what M G has done and the fact that they are now taking the business international. Hats off to them

Each to there own Jonni- I will not argue with you but I may not agree either. Take care and be good and if you can't be good be smart.

Having said that the external catering they do is expensive but always looks good and impresses.

business is business Winnetou... i don't understand what's so unusual about this case...

My sentiments exactly. Good luck to all who have the courage to take risk. Except when they are my competitors of course...

They do a lot of publicity and promotion therefore attracting interest and are noticeably aggressive in the way they deal with rivals. There are also ethical issues around some of the family's other interests which have attracted criticism in Warsaw, not least in the media. I'm not up-to-date on those issues, but go to their restaurants from time to time for work reasons.

healthy competition is actually pretty productive...

Guys,

Don't confuse matters. The Gesslers in London are the ones of the U Kucharzy fame. Magda Gessler takes her name from a long-gone marriage with one of the brothers and is a completely different ball game. I personally agree with the comments that most of her stuff is kitschy, triumph of form-over-substance and actually quite poor, whereas U Kucharzy is one of the best restaurants I've EVER been to. Purely about substance, period. That's why I am thrilled that those guys are now here and hope they'll do well with Daquise (though admittedly the place itself could do with a re-furb...). They do proper, great Polish food rather than self-important pretentious pile of cack known from places such as AleGloria or whatever that hellhole is called...

U Kucharzy is good.