Coffee and ice cream next to historic mosaics. An unusual place in Mokotow

The premises at 51 Puławska St. in Warsaw received their original design in the 1960s, when the State Enterprise “Uzdrowisko Konstancin” was established in Konstancin. The owners located their Warsaw branch of the saline water pump room in a ground-floor premises in Mokotow. When the pump room ceased to exist, the premises housed, among others, a vegetable shop and a bakery. For the past few years, the premises had been empty and waiting for a new tenant. Finally, the former pump room was given a new life. In April 2023, the building was entered in the register of historical monuments, and shortly afterwards the Pallone Uzdrowisko ice cream parlour and café opened here.

The decision to enter the building in the register of movable monuments was made by the then Mazovian Voivodeship Conservator of Monuments, Professor Jakub Lewicki, as a unique example of interior decoration, which is in vain to be found in contemporary drinking establishments.

The design is attributed to Krzysztof Henisz. The interior of the establishment located on the ground floor of the tenement house at 51 Puławska Street is decorated with an abstract composition composed of planes and shapes of granular (pebbles, washed terrazzo) and smooth texture (glazed ceramic tiles, white polychrome highlighting the contours of ceramic and structural forms), which depicts the beach and the sun. The interior of the premises is also decorated with a ceramic cladding of the structural column. The whole is a valuable example of Polish decorative art of the 1950s and 1960s. The mosaic is also valuable for its historical value.

Dagmar Czerniawski, the owner of the ice cream parlour located in the historic interior, took a liking to this place a long time ago. At the time, he could only admire it from behind the glass when it was in poor condition. After some time, he became the tenant of the former pump room and decided to give it a new life, and to refresh and conserve the historic mosaics (as recommended by the conservator).

The interior of the ice-cream parlour was furnished in a style closely resembling the aesthetics of the 1960s and 1970s, with cult furniture from that period, such as Chierowski’s armchair 366 or the legendary “Hałasy” chairs type 200-190 designed by Rajmund Hałas. The retro style of the Mokotow ice-cream parlour is also emphasised by the veneer of the bar, the wall menu and the tiles in a white and brown chequered pattern. The whole is complemented by mirrors, ubiquitous plants and a fountain with a lion.

Photos: Dagmar Czerniawski

Source: urzadzamy.pl, um.warszawa.pl

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Subject: 51 Pulawska Street: coffee and ice cream in the vicinity of historic mosaics