Some people come home from Asia with fridge magnets. Greg came home with a restaurant.

Well, eventually.

Before Gotuyam became part of Poznań’s Śródka food scene, Greg was travelling through Asia as a tour guide. Then the pandemic hit, his travel agency stopped operating, and Greg and his partner Natalia suddenly had to rethink everything.

“We decided to cook what I’d learned during my trips, here in Poznań.”

And that’s basically Gotuyam: Greg’s travels served on a plate.

“Our menu is a reminiscence of my trips,” he says. Opening an Asian street-food concept wasn’t some carefully calculated business move either. “We couldn’t imagine another concept. It was the natural choice.”

His years travelling also mean Greg has opinions about what passes for Asian food back home.

One thing guaranteed to make him roll his eyes?

Pad Thai. Everywhere.

“Even in Polish restaurants! It’s overrated.”

And then there’s the habit of throwing wildly different Asian cuisines into one convenient box.

“Here in Poland, people put every Asian restaurant together and call it Chińczyk — Chinese.”

Gotuyam deliberately does things differently — sometimes confusing people in the process.

One Google reviewer famously took issue with the toilet rolls sitting on the tables.

Greg finds the whole thing hilarious.

“It’s a normal way of serving tissues in street-food places we visit during my trips. We wanted the same concept. It’s practical and funny.”

For him, authenticity isn’t about making something look exotic. It’s about bringing home the small details he actually experiences while travelling.

And when it comes to food, there’s one rule: “Don’t take shortcuts. Always use the right ingredients.”

Ask Greg about the craziest thing he’s eaten and there’s no hesitation.

Live octopus. Seoul, South Korea.

And that’s nowhere near the end of the list.

“Worms, spiders, rats, snake…”

Apparently it takes quite a lot to scare this guy away from dinner.

But travelling hasn’t made him cynical about food. He still loves discovering something capable of completely destroying his expectations.

“I love that feeling! I have special places in Asia that I keep going back to, but I still love discovering things I’ve never tried.”

One dish Poland hasn’t seen from him yet is Asam Laksa, the intensely sour and spicy Malaysian noodle soup.

“Someday I will make it!”

For now, his heart belongs to Tom Yum, his current favourite on the Gotuyam menu.

Śródka itself was no accident either. Greg says they chose the neighbourhood for its distinctive atmosphere, while Gotuyam has gradually created its own little world within it.

And despite running a restaurant, awards aren’t what keeps him moving.

“I chase the dream of a happy vibe and a natural smile on the faces of our guests.”

That philosophy extends beyond food. Asia’s spiritual side clearly left its mark too.

“If I were born again, I’d want to follow the Buddhist path.”

Travel remains a family obsession, and Greg intends to keep exploring whenever possible — presumably collecting a few more dishes along the way.

His advice for someone walking into Gotuyam who has never travelled?

“Let passion be your guide.”

And if Gotuyam suddenly disappeared tomorrow, what would he want Poznań to remember about it?

Greg needs just three words.

“One & Only.”