When the first star appears in the sky on Christmas Eve, Polish people sit down to an elaborate 12-dish dinner that contains no meat dishes, but somehow manages to include several types of herring. The fish, the cabbage, wild mushrooms, pierogi and beet roots – these are the foods and flavors very dear to the hearts of Matt and Heather Zimny, owners of Gromada in Carmel Valley.
Ethnically Polish on both sides of a family from the Detroit area, they are quietly conspiring to throw a 12-dish Wigilia (literally the vigil before Christmas) event on Dec. 24.
“There is a Polish community here and there’s interest,” says Chef Matt Zimny. “A lot of restaurants in this area come up with Christmas dinners. But this meal is prix fixe, and you don’t have to be open for Christmas. It’s perfect.”
Gromada – which translates as Gathering, the venue’s initial name – is not a Polish restaurant per se, even though guests can try pierogi (with truffles) and a placki, or potato pancake,selection. The seasonal chocolate cremeux being offered in November is a nod to Polish Wuzetka and Torcik Wedlowski at once. In this case it is a smoked chocolate cremeaux with huckleberry mousse.
The menu changes often, and experiment is the name of the game. How about a hokkaido scallop crudo with apple and yuzu tones and spring green fennel oil?
“I need to still roll out a nice fall salad coming up, and start to get more into heartier food for the winter out here,” Zimny says.
Zimny’s culinary influences come mostly from his paternal grandmother, but the other side of the family contributed, as well. They came via Ellis Island, returned to Poland and came back to the U.S. once again.
“My grandparents would make kielbasa twice a year and had a smoker made of leftover sheet metal from the plant my grandfather worked at in Detroit,” Zimny points out.
With time, Zimny started to appreciate this influence, adding his own personality to his cooking style. His wife is half-Japanese and her role is evident across the menu, as well. And the marriage between two cuisines – fat, cabbage, fish and noodles – can only be beautiful.
“Cabbage kind of bridges the gap and fills a spot very well in both cultures,” Zimny says. “During the holidays, we have dinners that involve Polish and Japanese influence. For example, the New Year’s Day dinner involves eating noodles because it’s good luck in Japanese culture to eat noodles on New Year’s.”
If you are looking for traditional pierogies with their hearty fillings, you might be disappointed – or not, because Gromada is decidedly upscale, combining simple peasant dishes (placki, pierogi) with sophisticated additions, such as caviar and truffles. Gromada will challenge your expectations.
Ask for the soup du jour and pray it will be wild mushroom soup – notably denser and bolder in taste than traditional versions, with the flavor decisively on the sour side.
If it’s still on the menu – Zimny doesn’t keep still for too long – try hispi cabbage. Seared and roasted for a caramelized bite, soft and creamy from a miso white butter and served with red-veined mustard greens from a local farm as garnish on top, it’s cabbage that stands out.
“When we get more rain and then it warms up, I have a few people that forage for local chanterelles out of Big Sur,” Zimny says of his mushroom dishes. Farm-to-table is definitely the idea that grounds Gromada.
The restaurant does not have a long wine list, but the menu often offers pairings, and there’s free corkage service on Mondays. Craft cocktails stand out.
One of them is Baba Yaga, a witch’s brew inspired by the Slavic legends of a crone who lives in a gingerbread house. This wine-based cocktail is made with elderberry, Lo-Fi gentian amaro and Mont Marcal Cava. Another is Yuzu Spice and Everything Nice with hakutsuru, juicy yuzu, ginger beer and seasonal spices.
“We are just flowing with it,” Zimny says about the menu. “Especially the fish. We ran out of one ingredient, and found something new to play with. I’m working on some more changes for the fall season, starting to get into winter.”