FEATURE
LUBL IN
DECEMBER-JANUARY 2012/13
WIZZ MAGAZINE
47
from Israel. By the start of 2012, although
Wrocław had already been announced as
the winners of the Polish bid, Lublin was
already looking forward to a bumper year
of high-quality arts events centred around
the late US artist John Cage’s centenary.
Stroll around the compact Old Town,
and you’ll find most of the bars, cafés and
restaurants filled. One such restaurant is
Hades Szeroka (hades-lublin.pl) situated
beside the Grodzka Gate. Occupying the
expansive ground floor (and cellar) of
a building that also contains the offices
of the Grodzka Gate Theatre Company,
research centre and museum, Hades
Szeroka is run by Elzbieta Łazowska-
Cwalina and her husband Lech. The
couple, who also organise cultural events,
established Hades in the basement of the
Central Theatre several years ago, offering
Jewish, Polish and Eastern European cuisine
as well as live performance and cabaret.
When the theatre became one of many
buildings around the Old Town to require
major renovation, the couple relocated
Hades to Grodzka Gate. “It was a perfect
fit,” explains Elzbieta, beneath a large
painting donated by Lublin-New York artist
Tadeusz Mystowski. “I had been working
for years with the Grodzka Gate, and now
I could create a restaurant that
represented the work that they do.”
Grodzka Gate, set by the passageway
that once linked the Jewish part of
town to the Christian one, is a multi-
faceted cultural institution that stages
shows by NN Theatre, organises walking
tours of historic Jewish sites and other
educational activities. On its upper floors,
taped interviews with old locals, a model
and mural map of pre-war Lublin and
painstakingly documented records, each
house with its own separate folder, show
visitors how life was here before 1939.
According to local tour guide Robert
Kuwałek: “On Krawiecka there was a very
popular restaurant where actors and artists
from Lublin went for fine duck and herring.
The owner even allowed them to eat on
tick [settle your bill after you were paid
your wages] when necessary. Nearby,
at the Wajsblech pub, a free dish of salted
beans came with every beer.” Not only
did these establishments and their
traditions disappear in 1943, so did much
of their clientele. Even the streets of
Krawiecka and Szeroka vanished from
the map – much of Szeroka is a parking
zone under Lublin Castle.
RIGHT:
THE GRODZKA
GATE MUSEUM
Today, Hades Szeroka specialises in
beans with beer, Jewish-style herring with
beetroot and the regional delicacy of
onion bread. “For Sabbath,” says Elzbieta,
“
we lay on traditional synagogue music
by Piotr Mirski with nu-klezmer band The
Klezmaholics. Afterwards, there’s a special
dinner with roast goose, Jewish caviar and
gefilte fish. Once a month, downstairs we
host a performance of scenes from Isaac
Bashevis Singer’s
The Magician of Lublin
,
complemented by bagels and a type of
cherry vodka that was a favourite of Jasza
Mazur, a character in the novel.”
In the meantime, Mandragora
(‘
Mandrake’) has become Lublin’s
destination restaurant of choice. Its staff
trained in the ways of Jewish tradition, its
chef paired with an experienced Israeli
counterpart for weeks in the Middle East,
Mandragora is now part of the local fabric.
“
Every year in May, we co-operate with
the city council in putting on a great Jewish
wedding open to the public in a large
space beneath the castle,” says Izabela.
“
We provide the food and the music. To
see everyone eating and drinking together,
dancing, it’s quite moving. And somehow,
everyone seems to know all the steps.”
“
Detailed maps and
records at Grodzka
Gate show how life
was before 1939”
