T+L Reports: New World Order

Warsaw's heart-of-downtown thoroughfare, Nowy Swiat ("New World" in Polish), is finally embracing its name. After years of decline, its dilapidated storefronts are giving way to upscale bars and restaurants and cutting-edge boutiques. Inside Lord Norman Foster's recently opened spaceship-like Metropolitan Building, the moody purple glow of the futuristic nightclub the Cinnamon (1 Plac Pilsudskiego; 48-22/323-7600) gives even high-wattage fashionistas a low profile. • Belgian co-owner and chef Raphael Delstanche serves up mussels imported from his homeland at the Living Room (18 Ulica Foksal; 48-22/826-3928; dinner for two $25). • Choose among 650 bottles of wine from around the worldin the intimate cellar bar Bodegas de Varsovia (21 Ulica Foksal; 48-22/829-5050). • With runway-ready waitresses and a crowd to match, Cava (30 Ulica Nowy Swiat; 48-22/826-6427) is the most fashionable (and probably only) spot to find Jamaica Blue Mountain espresso in Warsaw.• DW Gallery (35 Ulica Nowy Swiat; 48-22/826-2512) stocks Artefe modern tableware, created from black oak salvaged from the bottom of the Vistula River, and other functional art from young Polish designers. • Jet-setters with zlotys to spend mingle over Polish mojitos and Pan-Asian cuisine at Sense Fusion Café (19 Ulica Nowy Swiat; 48-22/826-6570; dinner for two $35). • Oriental rugs layer the walls of Nuevo Latino Republica Latina (16 Plac Trzech Krzyzy; 48-22/323-7870; dinner for two $35), where rusty orange hues lend a sultry vibe to Warsaw's sexy post-EU makeover.
—Kevin Raub