“Polish restauarants here are all about pierogis and stuffed cabbage,” says Agnes Janowska, who owns Qulinarnia Modern Polish Cuisine (1730 W. Golf Rd., Mount Prospect, 847-981-0480 ) with her husband, Darek Zychowski. “But Polish cuisine is totally different.”

For example, cod on a potato pancake with shiitake sauce ($18.99) or pork tenderloin with horseradish, mashed potatoes, asparagus, baby beets, and a porcini mushroom sauce ($16.99) comes closer to the way people eat now in Poland. They also offer traditional Polish cheesecake—not made with cream cheese.

Janowska says she and her husband, who is a plumber by trade, did a lot of the construction themselves. Opening a restaurant was her dream, and she left her job co-owning an insurance brokerage to commit to it. Qulinarnia opened just this past spring, but Janowska says you need reservations to get in on the weekend already.