“Cooking is telling stories without words.” Jolanta Piotrowska in a new role as Multi Property Executive Chef at Leonardo Hotels Polska

Jolanta Piotrowska is a respected chef with 36 years of experience in gastronomy, which she gained in renowned hotels in Poland. She started her career working at the Marriott hotel, and then developed her passion at the Radisson Blu hotel and the Accor chain. He has been working at Leonardo Hotels since 2020.

What inspires you most as a chef? What ingredients or cooking techniques are your favorites and what place do they have in your kitchen?

For me, cooking is telling stories without words. Cuisine is not only about taste, but above all emotions and memories. I am inspired by fresh ingredients, simplicity, seasonality and harmony of flavors. I believe that a good product will defend itself. If something can be prepared more simply, with full respect for the ingredient – that’s what I do. It’s not about flashy tricks – although the element of surprise is important – but about authenticity and real taste.

Volla Bar & Restaurant is characterized by accents of Levantine cuisine on the menu – will you keep this distinction? What elements will you keep or introduce as new?

Levantine cuisine, characteristic of the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, is a source of inspiration for me. I want its accent to remain the heart of this place, in harmony with the character of the Leonardo Royal Warsaw Hotel. Freshly baked bread, herbs straight from the garden, aromatic spices. It is a cuisine full of contrasts: sour and spicy, crunchy and creamy, simple yet expressive combinations.

The classics will remain on the menu, but I plan to introduce combinations that will surprise our guests. The accents of Polish cuisine are also important to me – the one I remember from home. My mother and grandmother cooked with heart – seasonally, with what was available. The house smelled of broth, fresh cake and pickled cucumbers – flavors that gave warmth and a sense of security. I would like to bring them to Volla in a lighter, contemporary version, so that guests can feel both the aroma of the Levant and familiar Polish notes.

What challenges do the different cuisines you create at Leonardo Hotels pose to you? How do you adapt your approach to the menu depending on the nature of the hotel – Leonardo Royal and NYX Hotel Warsaw?

Each hotel has a different story, different expectations and different challenges. At Leonardo Royal, the menu is more balanced – it combines modern techniques with tradition, offering subtle combinations of flavors and textures in complete harmony. NYX Hotel Warsaw is a completely different world: bold flavors, creative compositions and non-obvious combinations of cuisines from around the world. Here I can experiment, play with form and make the meal part of a unique experience that guests will remember for a long time.

Are there any cooking techniques or dishes that have always been your signature? What makes these flavors or cooking styles particularly important to you?

I don’t have one “standard” dish – my hallmark is the ability to extract the full flavor from simple ingredients, so that the dish is more than just a meal. I love techniques that require patience and respect for the product: stewing, smoking, caramelizing. They allow you to bring out the true soul of the dish. I treat cooking as a journey in which each dish can surprise – like a woman in a new, intriguing style.

As the person responsible for the culinary vision of Leonardo hotels, what changes in hotel catering do you see in the near future? What new trends do you think will dominate the market? And what will be new on the menu of both hotels?

It is increasingly clear that gastronomy is becoming a conscious choice of the guest. Guests no longer want a casual meal after their trip – they expect taste, history and aesthetics that also look good on social media. I see an increasing importance of plant-based cuisine – but one in which vegetables play the main role and not only decorate the plate. Menu menus will be shorter – because guests prefer specifics rather than reading culinary “novels”. The most important thing is a cuisine full of emotions, offering something more than just good taste.

In our hotels, the menu changes every six months – I won’t reveal the details, but I can say that it will be seasonal, fresh and with character. One of my priorities is also a zero waste approach – a difficult but necessary mission. I want guests to have a choice, but at the same time be aware of how much food is wasted just because “the eyes were bigger than the appetite.” That’s why I focus on education with humor – without moralizing, but with the message that good food deserves respect.

How do you see the influence of women in professional kitchens on changes in the approach to cooking and management? What qualities do you think a female chef brings to her job that are different from male role models?

When I started, the atmosphere in kitchens was “only for tough guys”. A woman as a boss brings a different energy – instead of a hierarchy, I build a team, I run the kitchen like an orchestra in which everyone has their own important place. For me, the kitchen is a collaborative space, not a military unit. Women in gastronomy still have to prove that they can, but thanks to this they bring conscious taste, good energy and sustainable leadership to it.

Do you feel that as a woman you have a mission to promote the role of women in the kitchen? What steps are you taking to support other women in their career development in this industry?

Definitely yes – and I pursue this mission every day, not with words, but with action. The greatest satisfaction for me comes from watching the development of people who once took their first steps in my kitchen, unsure whether they were suitable. Today I see them winning awards, becoming chefs, and developing their own teams. Some of them still work with me – together we create a kitchen full of emotions, meaning and mutual inspiration. This is not just a workplace – it is an environment where people can grow without fear, but with ambition.

Under Jolanta’s management, new menus are being created in both restaurants, combining creative compositions of international cuisine with modern, seasonal gastronomy and local products. We invite you to taste the effects of the work of the new Multi Property Executive Chef in autumn.