LIFE + STYLE

Mercedes 190 SL

Would a regular driver of a modern car be surprised if they sat behind a wheel of a vintage model? What is the most surprising thing?

Most definitely. Classic and vintage cars are not just beautiful, they also exemplify the technology of the time when they were produced. Operating them requires skills that you don’t need to drive modern cars, because a lot of these processes have been automated. And that’s a tremendous challenge. Firing up the engine with a manual choke, no power steering, crude suspension systems, unexpected malfunctions while driving… we don’t even think of all of that when driving a modern car. And that is what forged characters; learning to drive and dealing with extreme situations. Driving a classic is extremely satisfying; it takes us back to when our adventure with cars started. Anyone who wants to begin or continue their journey into classic cars is welcome to attend our pre-auction exhibit, where we will show many interesting vehicles, as well as to the auction where extraordinary classic and vintage cars will be sold.

Driving a classic is extremely satisfying; it takes us back to when our adventure with cars started

The pre-auction exhibition will continue throughout September and end with an auction on September 28, at 5 p.m. in the old FSO factory in Warsaw, ul. Jagiellońska 88b. Please register to take part in the auction. Details and registration form are available at ardorauctions.pl

MASTER OF THE ARTS

WBJ catches up with Andrea Camastra, the Italian mastermind behind the award-winning Senses restaurant

Despite being relatively new on the scene, Warsaw’s Senses restaurant has become arguably the most highly decorated restaurant in Polish history. Michelin starred since 2016, the last two years have seen the restaurant’s credentials further boosted after the city center venue achieved the highest recorded score in the annual Gault & Millau guidebook (18.5 points and four caps).

Incredibly, these honors represent just the tip of the iceberg. Senses was recognized as one the World’s 50 Best Restaurants and included in the prestigious The Diners Club® 50 Best Discovery Series. Further glory came earlier in the year when Andrea Camastra was inducted in the Top 100 list of best chefs in the world by Le Chef magazine. Still, even grander ambitions remain to be conquered.

“The ultimate mission isn’t about obtaining three stars,” says Camastra, “because that’s inevitable. Instead, the wider target is to establish Poland on the international stage, which is why you find us reinterpreting Polish dishes a little like Noma reimagined Danish cuisine. We want people to recognize Poland, and I think that’s definitely possible – I’m ranked as one of the top 100 chefs in the world, so believe me, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think that was possible. At the end of the day, I believe in the mission here, and I expect those who work with me to do so as well.”

Certainly, if there’s a man to achieve that then it is Andrea Camastra. Known for his visionary approach to cooking, the Italian chef has been singled out by Hervé This (one of the founding fathers of molecular gastronomy) as the natural successor to Ferran Adrià. Eating in the Michelinstarred Senses, one understands why.

Working with lab technician Wiktor Faliszewski, Camastra’s tasting menu follows the “note by note” philosophy, a complex artistic process that sees flavor molecules extracted from one food and added to another. A complete reimagination of how ingredients are structured, the culinary experience is a complex odyssey that engages all the senses. With world-class dining in luxury surrounds, this restaurant – and the chef at its helm – is at the forefront of pioneering techniques. Here, the impossible happens.

Even so, Camastra is quick to remind people that the novelty factor isn’t some kind of gimmick. “People expect to ride a Star Trek shuttle when they come into Senses,” he says, “but this is a misconception. Yes, we do place an emphasis on note by note, molecular cooking, but a lot of dishes have a classic application. Sure, we do things to add the wow factor and lend a sense of artistry but these tend to act as a wider frame. Honestly, I’m happy to serve conventional food, so long as it’s the best. But to achieve that standard you need to know how food ‘works’ and that’s when the chemistry comes in.”

Regardless of all the hype, Camastra happily cedes that his job is, in many ways, to act as a dream weaver; a caster of spells: “We provide a oneof-a-kind experience, the kind of meal you won’t find anywhere else in the world. There are many places you can find really good food, but I want to dig deeper and give something of emotional value.” In this, he succeeds.

Senses Bielańska 12, sensesrestaurant.pl

The crunch culture

WE’VE ALL EXPERIENCED IT in one form or another. When there’s a deadline, there’s crunch. Long hours, working weekends, seeing your family for only an hour a day, before everyone rushes off to the daily grind. No other industry knows the crunch culture better than tech, and the gaming business in particular. So much so, that game designers and programmers have started to unionize in the US, even ending up in mass walk-outs. Many tech firms, including giants like Google, have experienced it first-hand. Some say it hasn’t been this “bad” since the 1970s.

There’s an answer to why the gaming industry is seeing their employees protest. In the gaming industry, workers are passionate about their jobs, probably more so than in most other professions. And when you love what you do, you’re willing to endure more than if you don’t really care about your job.

That’s true for all industries: the people who care are in fact those who leave the company before those who are just there to collect a steady paycheck. They are invested in their organization and in their job; they work harder and longer, they care more about failures and push harder to avoid missed deadlines. That is, until they reach breaking point, where they can no longer abide the inefficiencies, office politics and difficult conditions, including but not limited to the crunch culture.

Are companies so short-sighted that they will allow the crunch culture to push away entire teams of talented people? Perhaps they think there is an endless supply of driven, smart workers to take their place? Or maybe they know that if they leave one company, they will probably end up hired by another, hoping that the new employer will offer them better treatment? And since there is a limited number of companies in the gaming industry, the circle will close. After all, if you’re just as bad as your competitors, you will most likely stay in the game – pun intended. – BKS

Firma z historią, która tworzy przyszłość.

By tworzyć historię, należy odważnie spoglądać w przyszłość. Grupa FM Logistic nieustannie wprowadza pionierskie, przyszłościowe rozwiązania, optymalizujące łańcuchy dostaw. Jest autorem koncepcji, takich jak pooling (wspólne zarządzanie zasobami transportowymi i logistycznymi) i Collaborative Routing Centre (łączenie przepływu towarów wielu klientów i dostawców) oraz innowacyjnych rozwiązań wykorzystywanych w „magazynach jutra”, takich jak: AGV, drony, roboty, Big Data. To właśnie wizja ciągłego rozwoju sprawiła, że rodzinna firma założona we Francji w 1967 roku jest obecnie jednym z międzynarodowych liderów w dziedzinie magazynowania, transportu i pakowania, ekspertem w obsłudze logistycznej klientów z sektora dóbr konsumpcyjnych, środków czystości i kosmetyków, artykułów przemysłowych oraz produktów ochrony zdrowia.