The appointment is in a historic collegiate house. Here, on a full street of light and autumnal trees, the latest novelty of the fine dying porteño is located, Marten. And within the framework of his door, posing with a clear look and fresh attitude, the homeowner, chef and creator, Marta Wajda. Little Spanish speaks, but he serves the photographer’s instructions.
Born and raised in Poland, since 2023 he found his home in Buenos Aires, and a few months ago also his new creative space. With a culinary imprint very influenced by his art studies and his years as a designer, his is a proposal that, although he presents high level dishes, does so with self -confidence. “Fine dying without rules,” she defines. The result is an intimate space, with place for 22 cutlery and permanent communion with works, from mosaics made with old tiles to photographs of Ushuaia. A proposal in which Marta and her husband, Max, invite you to feel at home.
News: Why did Argentina choose?
Marta Wajda: It’s my husband’s fault … I proposed it to me and I said yes. All my life I felt that I needed to move. I lived in Berlin in 2009 for a while, but I wanted to continue traveling and explore and the pandemic was a moment that showed us all that life can be short and we need to do something for our dreams. After this move, I can say that everything is possible, it’s just a matter of how you take it.
News: Had he come to the country before moving?
Wajda: Once. Max told me about Buenos Aires and told him that I wanted to come to know. We bought the tickets, but the pandemic arrived and we had to wait a year and a half. We finally arrived in January 2023. We were two weeks in Patagonia and two others in Buenos Aires, and at the end of the month I said ok, I can move. On November 2 we came to install.
News: He started studying art, did he ever exercise?
Wajda: Yes, I painted for several years and I had some exhibitions. Then I started design and focused on lighting, designed lamps and also participated in exhibitions. I worked as a graphic designer for several years. In Poland, when you study design you can choose in 2D or 3D, graph or product design. But I made graphic design, because I feel that the path between the project and the creation is very long, and it is never the same, which breaks my heart a bit. Instead, in the kitchen I get much faster from the idea to the plate. And feedback is also fast. I love that after two minutes of delivering the dish I am seeing the client’s face when proves.
News: He also had a catering, how did he apply the design there?
Wajda: It still works, we have a team in Poland that carries it forward. It is not a traditional company, my goal was to do something between art and food. So I always worked with customers who needed more than simply dishes, something more creative. The menu was special and different. For example, we have made a proposal all golden.
News: Is it considered a perfectionist?
Wajda: At some point yes. I love details and kill for them. I can spend hours in something very small that nobody is going to see, but it leaves me happy. But after 12 years in catering, I learned that not only the details are important, that you have to learn to look at the whole photo.
News: When they came to Argentina, did they think about opening a restaurant or did it arise from knowing the life here and the Gourmet scene?
Wajda: I always dreamed of opening my restaurant, like every chef. And when I arrived here, after the first year, Max asked me if I wanted to continue making catering or put a restaurant. And although we know the catering business well, it is not both food and customers. And without contacts it is very difficult. So I chose to put a restaurant, although it was not the initial plan. At first we dreamed of putting a guest house in Patagonia, but it was madness. We understood when we went to Cholila and saw that once the season ends, there is nothing left. It is the most beautiful valley in the world and one day we will retire there, but now we are too young to be so isolated. So we returned and defined where to live in Buenos Aires.
News: Did they never consider putting Marta in Palermo, where much of the city’s gastronomic happens?
Wajda: No, it is a different vibrate. If I wanted a large place, with a lot of rotation and with tourist visit, it would have gone there. I don’t want my team to run, I want to concentrate on each meal, on each client. It is not about feeding people, but about giving them an experience. We have 22 chairs and we don’t try to put 22 people together. In fact, sometimes, when we see that it is almost full, we close the reserves before it happens, so that it is more intimate and warm. We want people to feel that we listen to her and that she is at home. In that sense, I knew that Palermo was not the place for that. I love schoolboys, because it has a bit of everything, but in the calmer sense possible. It is still a neighborhood where you can walk, find small businesses, buy flowers on the street … and it is being filled with good gastronomic proposals.
News: How would you define the concept of your kitchen?
Wajda: Fine Dining without rules. It is more decontracted. Because in one sense I am Fine Dining, or at least others say so, but I do not like to be super serious about it. All my life told me “do not play with food”, and today we serve a dessert called “magical forest” in which the invitation is to play, to make it a pleasure. Of course, there are serious flavors and ingredients, but the point is to have a good time. I love people to smile when they eat, when they try to guess what they are testing, what ingredient it is. I try to show that even more serious food can be pleasant or funny. And I hate when everything has to be perfect in restaurants, when you barely support your napkin on the table comes to accommodate it. I like good service and put energy in having the best, but I also like to give space to guests. That they can walk in the house, make a tour, sit on the terrace.
News: How much has Argentina influenced your kitchen?
Wajda: What surprised me the most were some ingredients. Some because they were here, others because they are not available. We are very lucky in Europe to have so many ingredients and knowledge, and we forget it. We are in the middle of the world, very close to other countries. In three hours you are in Athens, in five, in Spain. In less than six hours you can eat a bit of everything. I had forgotten that, and I came here and thought “let’s cook”, and I found myself very missing. For example, they have different flour, cream and butter, it is difficult to buy yogurt that is not sweetened, there are not so many grains available or fresh fish. Yes, I go to the Chinese neighborhood and it is my El Dorado, but there is no simple access. So I changed my kitchen quite a lot, but I was more creative. I thought about different techniques, I explored, I looked for other ways to achieve my dishes.
News: Did you discover new flavors?
Wajda: Yes, many. A moment of revelation was when I went to Liniers to the Peruvian market and found all the chili peppers. Now we have a dish based on the different species. And there are many flavors of Patagonia, such as Rosa Mosqueta -from which I never understand why they don’t also use the petals. They have good olive oil, puddle and cheese. But you have to look for, with patience and time. Although my favorite dish is the Milanese …
News: And is there a dish or flavor that you miss?
Wajda: I miss the fermented, the southern cucumbers, the variety of grains. I try to teach my team how to eat grains, in our menu we have Sarracene wheat and make a popcorn for a tartar. The truth is that we eat very different in Poland. From the schedules in which we do it to what we cook or even the habit of sharing, which is not common for us. Here everything revolves around the food, and does not cook when you invite someone. But food is just a great way of understanding the world.
News: How do you see the Buenos Aires gastronomic scene?
Wajda: I love it. It is impossible to know all the restaurants and be aware of all, but we have some favorites that we visit followed. I like that you can see the fashions, last year it was the Omakase, now we returned to the still lifes. We really like to go to Mishiguene and Franca, for example. Also to the grills. The first year we were here almost no longer ate at home, and it was a way of meeting society as well. Thus I started to meet the chefs.
News: How did colleagues receive it?
Wajda: There is more cooperation than in Poland, knowledge is exchanged here, supplier data. But I’m still a woman, and that is a problem around the world. If you look at the 50best photos or the Michelin guide, they are mostly men. And sometimes, even if the right hand is women, they do not appear in the photos.
News: What do you dream for Marta?
Wajda: I don’t want to talk about stabilization, because I don’t want something boring. But I would like time to enjoy what we are doing. Hopefully we have many calm nights ahead. I would like a little more time to concentrate and continue creating.
