Kraków-born Tomasz Czyżycki cooked in Poland, on Jersey and as a personal cook before becoming co-owner and chef of Cyrano de Bergerac, the restaurant where his career began.
My name is Tomasz Czyżycki, I'm 33 years old, and I was born in Kraków, Poland. My adventure with real cooking began 14 years ago. After graduating from gastronomic school, I started working at one of the top restaurants in southern Poland, which served French cuisine. After three years there, I was promoted to First Deputy Chef.
In search of knowledge and new challenges, I moved to a restaurant in the very heart of Kraków, where I had the chance to learn European and genuine Polish cuisine. After a few years of working in Poland, it was time for a foreign adventure.
I spent two years on Jersey, in the Channel Islands. As deputy chef of a restaurant near the shore, I had the chance to work with splendid seafood and fell in love with British meats, outstanding in both quality and taste. After that I came back to Poland and decided to learn the secrets of Italian cuisine this time.
Three years passed, and then my craziest adventure in the world of cooking began: for the next four years I worked as a personal cook for the owner of one of Kraków's football teams and one of the biggest telecommunications companies in the world. The chance to use the best and most sophisticated products from all over the world was a great challenge for me, and an amazing pleasure too.
Life writes uncanny scripts. By a quirk of fate, I am now co-owner and chef of the very restaurant where I started my cooking journey, Cyrano de Bergerac in Kraków. Building on French cuisine, my favorite, I use all my experience to mix cooking techniques and flavors.
The free time I have, which I can't say is a lot, I devote to my family: my wonderful wife and our kids, Natalia and Patryk. They are my greatest success. As often as possible we take trips to the mountains, which I adore and which give me a great dose of calm.
I would like to present Lamb Chops with herbs and Foie Gras to you. It is one of my favorite dishes, combining classic taste with a modern manner.
