Where the kitchen
speaks
with the bar
Eliksir is a restaurant and cocktail bar in Gdańsk, created from the very beginning where these two worlds meet. We have never treated them as two separate experiences. It is one shared story, in which dishes and cocktails are created together and complete one another.
Each seasonal menu is the joint work of Head Chef Artur Ponisz and Head Bartender Damian Ziółkowski. It is the result of countless trials, conversations and tastings, through which every dish finds its cocktail counterpart — in both an alcoholic and a non-alcoholic version.
It all begins
with the produce
Every seasonal tasting menu begins with the produce. It sets the direction, pace and character of the whole composition. That is why we work directly with local producers, choosing ingredients that best capture the rhythm of the place and the season.
We find locality beyond the kitchen, too. Our tables are set with ceramics made by local artisans, because we believe an experience is built not only of flavours, but also of the objects and atmosphere that accompany them.
Within walls with a soul
Eliksir is housed in the Commander’s Villa — a historic building dating back to 1882, in the heart of Gdańsk’s Garnizon, on the border of Wrzeszcz and Oliwa. Once the barracks of the Black Hussars, later military grounds, today it is a place that hums with life once again.
The story of this place does not end with its architecture. Every day we add new chapters to it — around a shared table, over long dinners and gatherings that stay with our guests long after.
Artur Ponisz
At the centre of Artur’s cooking there is always the produce. Every dish begins with it, and it sets the direction of the entire composition. Locality, seasonality and quality are not an addition to the way he cooks — they are its natural starting point.
Artur believes that modern cuisine is not about complicating flavours, but about refining them with intent. That is why there is room for simplicity in his dishes, yet no room for chance — every element has its purpose and its reason.
Paweł Wątor
In 2015, together with Mateusz Trzeciak, he created a place in Gdańsk where the idea of foodpairing has been nurtured from the very beginning.
He gained his experience in Poland and abroad — at London’s Caprice Holdings he honed his craft under Kevin Graton, Mark Hix and Tony Hughes. Back in Poland, he co-created the Amber Room restaurant with Wojciech Modest Amaro, followed a few years later by Mercato at the Gdańsk Hilton. The years since have brought his own projects and culinary books.
Today, as Chef Patron, he watches over Eliksir’s culinary philosophy, faithful to what it all began with — the quality of the produce and the belief that the finest experiences are born when the kitchen and the bar speak the same language.
The first and only restaurant
in Poland with a Michelin
Green Star
