Zackary Furst Continues To Redefine Polish Australian Food With New Concept Bez

As head chef at Bar Liberty, Zachary Furst took the Fitzroy venue from a great place for a glass and some snacks to a bona fide food destination. People would travel from across town for Furst’s modern Polish dishes, which included house-cured kabanos (Polish sausage) and an elevated paszteciki (Polish pies).

In April, Furst left his post at Bar Liberty after nearly six years. He’s now back with pop-up Bez – polish for “lilac” – which he describes as hyper-seasonal contemporary Australian and Polish food. Bez was largely inspired by Young Poland – or Mloda Polska – a modernist movement that started in the late 1800s and reached a number of artforms including literature, music and visual arts.

Bez will launch with an event at Bar Liberty on Monday September 15 before moving to Arnold’s in Kensington for a residency from Wednesday September 17 to Sunday October 5. We caught up with Furst, who grew up in Australia with Polish parents, to learn more.

How will the food at Bez differ from what you were making at Bar Liberty?
Bar Liberty, to me, has always been about allowing customers to have the liberty to choose their own adventure. It’s a space where everyone is welcome to enjoy an array of experiences: a simple drink with friends, a small array of snacks or a full meal with multiple courses. I always wrote menus in a fashion to suit the multiple ways people enjoy Bar Liberty.

Bez is going to have a slightly more curated focus on food, with menus changing constantly to complement the short seasons of produce and to showcase the immense history of Polish food.

What’s on the menu?
I am most excited to share some of Poland’s famous soups. Poland has soups for all seasons that range from sour rye soups and cleansing broths to hearty beef tripe soups. I plan to showcase that a lot by always having a small seasonal soup, but also broaden people’s horizons when it comes to the Polish dumpling and show there is more than pierogi.

But, I think most importantly, Bez will show how light and fresh Polish cooking can be. It’s a country with an incredible history for growing food and eating with the seasons and I can't wait to represent that and contribute to the history of Australian Polish cooking in Melbourne.

How long has Bez been in the works?
Bez has been in slow progress since my first trip to Poland in 2023. By then, I was already cooking with a conscious vision of Polish food, but it was that trip that solidified the idea that I need to make it into something more permanent. I ate in so many places over that month from the traditional bar mleczny [milk bars] to New Age Polish restaurants, and visited multiple galleries as I travelled from top to bottom of Poland. That’s when I started to draw connections between my food and Mloda Polska.

Mloda Polska is an arts movement that ran through 1890-1918. It is a reactionary movement to preserve the history and culture of Poland as for a period of time (1795-1918) Poland was taken off the map of the world after its loss of independence. This movement used art as a means of preservation and it included the often overlooked art of craft, bringing the everyday items of the household into the light and using them as a subtle form of patriotism in order to preserve a culture that was at the time threatened to disappear forever.

More than anything I was inspired by how Mloda Polska was able to show the beauty of Polish culture through all aspects of art and craft, and that resonates to me a lot. The craft of cooking can be a powerful medium to express any message and how fitting to showcase what I do which is Australian Polish cooking.

How does it feel to return to Bar Liberty so soon?
Honestly, I can't wait. I loved every second of time at Bar Liberty and I’m excited to share with the team what I have been working on. I can't think of anywhere else to begin this, really – it’s where I was given the space and trust to explore and define my cooking.

@bez.melbourne