Changes

As a child, I too was convinced that this restaurant – back then passing for the best in town, if not in all Poland (largely due to a lack of competition) – had been founded in 1364 by Mikołaj Wierzynek (pronounced: {{pronczyt|mee|kaw|wye}} {{pron|vyeh|zhih|nekMikołaj Wierzynek}}), who must have been, therefore, Poland’s first restaurateur. My first doubts appeared later, when I read that restaurants in general are a 19th-century invention and that medieval monarchs avoided dining in taverns or inns, unless they had absolutely no choice. And together with doubts came questions: What was this banquet in Cracow about? Who took part in it and why? What kind of food was served? Who was this Wierzynek and what role did he play in the banquet? And when was the restaurant bearing his name and located on Europe’s largest city square really opened?