Robert Witold Makłowicz (; born 12 August 1963) is a Polish

food critic A food critic, food writer, or restaurant critic is a writer who analyzes food or restaurants and then publishes the results of their findings to the public. Terminology "Food writer" is often used as a broad term that encompasses someone who w ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

, notable as a promoter of the

Polish cuisine Polish cuisine ( ) is a style of food preparation originating in and widely popular in Poland. Due to History of Poland, Poland's history, Polish cuisine has evolved over the centuries to be very eclectic, and shares many similarities with other ...

and slow food. He is best known for his series of culinary TV programs ''Makłowicz w podróży'' (Makłowicz on the Road).

Life and career

He was born in 1963 in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

to sailor father Włodzimierz and mother Beata (''née'' Preiss). On his father's side, he is mainly of Ukrainian origin, except for his great-grandmother, who was Armenian with Ukrainian self-identification.Говорить Підгір'я: розповідь Володимира Мокловича, колишнього бойового референта Окружної команди УВО в Станиславові
/ref> Initially, the surname was Mokłowicz (), including that of Robert's grandfather — Izydor,Robert Makłowicz: Café Museum
/ref> but upon Polonisation some members of the family changed it to Makłowicz. On his mother's side he also has Polish, Hungarian and Austrian ancestry. He became fascinated with

European cuisine European cuisine (also known as Continental cuisine) comprises the cuisines originating from the various countries of Europe. The cuisines of European countries are diverse, although some common characteristics distinguish them from those of oth ...

during his studies at the Faculty of History of the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

. After the end of communism in Poland, in 1993, as a joke, he had shown one of his friends a recipe for

wiener schnitzel Wiener schnitzel ( ; , 'Viennese cutlet'), sometimes spelled Wienerschnitzel, is a type of schnitzel made of a thin, Bread crumbs#Breading, breaded, pan-fried veal cutlet. It is one of the best known specialities of Viennese cuisine, and one of ...

he prepared himself. He was instantly offered the job of a culinary critic of the Kraków variation of the ''

Gazeta Wyborcza (; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish nationwide daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It was launched on 8 May 1989 on the basis of the Polish Round Table Agreement and as a press organ of the Solidarity (Polish trade union), t ...

'' daily. Soon afterwards his essays and descriptions of various restaurants in Kraków became so popular that he was moved to the all-national weekly magazine published by ''Gazeta Wyborcza''. He also started cooperation with various other newspapers, including ''

Przekrój ''Przekrój'' (; ''Cross-section'') was the oldest Polish weekly newsmagazine in operation, established in 1945 in Kraków. After temporary closure in 2013, it was bought by photographer Tomasz Niewiadomski and subsequently relaunched in December ...

'', ''

Wprost ''Wprost'' (, meaning "Directly") is a Polish weekly news magazine published in Poznań, Poland.Newsweek Polska ''Newsweek Polska'' is a Polish language weekly news magazine published in Poland as the Polish edition of ''Newsweek''. History ''Newsweek Polska'' was established in 2001. The founder of the weekly is Tomasz Wróblewski. The magazine is owned ...

'' (since 2005). In 1996 he was also offered a short programme in the morning block of the public TV. Although far from

prime time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

, the programme gained much popularity and, since August 1998, Makłowicz has been preparing a weekly show named ''Robert Makłowicz's Culinary Travels''. Each show is prepared in a different region of the world and presents the local cuisine as prepared by Makłowicz himself or by local people, not necessarily professional chefs. In 2016, he appeared on ''Bake-Off. Ale Ciacho!'' culinary show broadcast on

TVP2 TVP2 (TVP Dwa, ''Telewizja Polska 2'', ''Program Drugi Telewizji Polskiej'', ''"Dwójka"'') is a Polish public mainstream TV channel operated by TVP. Launched in October 1970, its varied line-up contains a variety of programming (documentary, h ...

channel. In 2017

TVP TVP may stand for: Arts and entertainment * Television Personalities, an English post-punk band * , an Argentine public broadcaster * , a Polish public broadcaster * , a former Malaysian educational channel * TV Patrol, a Philippine primetime news ...

ended cooperation with Makłowicz. His show ''Makłowicz on the Road'' is shown on the Polish

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

. In 2020 Makłowicz created his own channel on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. Between 2020–2021, he hosted a music programme entitled "From

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

to Bartók" on internet radio station Newonce.radio. In March 2024, he was appointed by then-mayor of Kraków

Jacek Majchrowski Jacek Maria Majchrowski (born 13 January 1947) is a Polish politician, lawyer, historian, and professor at the Jagiellonian University, who served as the Mayor of Kraków between 2002 and 2024. Biography Majchrowski was born on 13 January 194 ...

as a member of the Council of the

Historical Museum of Kraków The Historical Museum of the City of Kraków () in Kraków, Lesser Poland, was granted the status of an independent institution in 1945. Originally, it was a branch of the Old Records Office of Kraków, in operation from 1899. The museum holdings ...

Personal life

He has a younger sister named Dominika. In 1991, he married Agnieszka Pogoda with whom he has two sons: Mikołaj (born 1992) and Ferdynand (born 1996). Makłowicz is

Armenian Catholic Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

. His grandfather's brother was , a former combat officer of the Ukrainian nationalist UVO District Command in Stanisławów and a member of the OUN in Belgium. After the war Robert's father used to live with him until his departure to Poland.

In popular culture

His characteristic voice, quotes and videos posted on the internet have become the inspiration for numerous

internet meme An Internet meme, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...

s and parodies in Poland. Makłowicz has responded positively to the widespread attention he has received in Polish

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

. In 2022, a Kraków researcher discovered two new species of

tardigrade Tardigrades (), known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals. They were first described by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773, who called them . In 1776, th ...

and named one of them ''Mesobiotus maklowiczi'' in honour of the TV chef. In 2024, Kraków's Public Transport Authority informed that Makłowicz's voice would be used in the public transportation service in the city. His voice recordings will announce bus and tram stops as well as make other important announcements to the passengers. Makłowicz offered his voice services for free.

Recognition

Honours

*2004:

Silver Cross of Merit Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

(Poland) *2021: Hungarian Gold Cross of Merit (Hungary) *2024:

Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into 15 classes and is the highest award in the Austrian national honours system. History The Decoration of Hono ...

(Austria)

Awards

*2004: Wiktor Award *2004: Złoty Chmiel Award *2011: Silver Inkpot Literary Award for his book ''Cafe Museum''

Books

Makłowicz also published a number of books on culinary traditions of his homeland, Galicia. The first of the series, the ''C.K. Kuchnia'' (''

K.u.K. The phrase Imperial and Royal (, ) refers to the court/government of the Habsburgs in a broader historical perspective. Some modern authors restrict its use to the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. During that period, it ind ...

Cuisine'') became a nationwide best-seller. Other Robert Makłowicz's books: * ''Zjeść Kraków'' (''Eating Cracow'', 2001) with Stanisław Mancewicz * ''Dialogi języka z podniebieniem'' (''Dialogues of a Tongue with a Palate'', 2003) with Piotr Bikont * ''Czy wierzyć platynowym blondynkom?'' (''Do You Believe Platinum Blondes?'', 2004) * ''Kalendarz znaleziony w brytfannie'' (''A Calendar Found in a Baking Tin'', 2005) * ''Podróże kulinarne Roberta Makłowicza. Smak Węgier'' (''Robert Makłowicz's Culinary Travels. The Taste of Hungary'', 2006) * ''Stół z niepowyłamywanymi nogami (''A Table without Broken legs'', 2007) with Piotr Bikont * ''Fuzja Smaków. Podróże kulinarne Roberta Makłowicza'' (''The Fusion of Tastes. Robert Makłowicz's Culinary Travels'', 2007) * ''Cafe Museum'' (2010) * ''Dalmacja. Książka kucharska'' (''Dalmatia. The Cookery Book'', 2016)

Filmography

* 2023: '' Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom'' (voice role)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maklowicz, Robert Jagiellonian University alumni Journalists from Kraków Polish food writers Polish television chefs Polish gourmands Polish people of Armenian descent Polish people of Austrian descent Polish people of Hungarian descent Polish people of Ukrainian descent 1963 births Living people Polish YouTubers Recipients of the Silver Cross of Merit (Poland) Members of the Armenian Catholic Church Polish Eastern Catholics Polish male writers Polish television journalists Internet memes introduced from Poland