Borsch, Vodka and Tears: Andrzej Kaczmarski's Warsaw to St Kilda JourneyAndrzej Kaczmarski emigrated from Warsaw to St Kilda via Dortmund in the early 80s. He had no plans to open a restaurant when he arrived in Australia but soon found himself working as a barman at Melbourne's newest Polish restaurant. It was there that he saw an opportunity to bring traditional Polish cuisine to the masses by opening his own
establishment. After a few years of saving money, Borsch opened its doors in 1994 with one goal in mind - share his mother's borscht recipes with Melbourne.
The name Borsch originated from the Russian word for beetroot soup that is central to many Polish dishes and is often served up with slices of rye bread and vodka shots for afters.
Andrzej Kaczmarski was a Polish man who left Warsaw for St Kilda in the early 1980s. He had a simple dream - to open up his own bar in the suburbia where he lived. With this ambition, he took out a loan from his father-in-law to help him make his dream come true. Unfortunately when he opened up Borsch, Vodka and Tears on Chapel Street at the beginning of 1985, it wasn't the success he hoped it would be.
Andrzej left Warsaw in the early 80s to move to St.Kilda via Dortmund. When he arrived he spent some time working as a builder before starting his first business which was importing Polish food, including vodka. His first bar was just off Chapel Street and people came from all around the world to try his take-away cocktails. He opened up many more bars on Chapel Street and also a restaurant called 'Polish Food'.
Andrzej is still very hands-on with all his businesses but now spends less time at each location so he can focus on one thing at a time while still having an active role.
Click here:-
bars on chapel st 
