2020 the Slovenia Restaurant Awards 300+ Gastronomic Experiences
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THE SLOVENIATM GASTRONOMY 2020 The Slovenia Restaurant Awards 300+ Gastronomic Experiences APPLY. SAVOR. BELONG. Diners Club Card unlocks your world of exclusive dining experience the world around. JOIN THE CLUB AT DINERSCLUB.COM Erste Card Diners Club_oglas_Gastronomski vodnik_100x210mm_november2019_eng.indd 1 25.11.2019 9:22:56 Table of contents 7 Foreword - Niko Slavnić MsC 9 European Region of Gastronomy 12 The Slovenia Gourmet Calendar 17 The Slovenia Restaurant Awards 32 The Slovenia Map & Regions 35 Ljubljana & Central Slovenia Restaurants 47 Mediterranean & Karst Slovenia Restaurants 53 Alpine Slovenia Restaurants 63 Termal Pannonian Slovenia Restaurants 67 The Slovenia Street Food 73 Flavours of the World 81 The Slovenia Wine 87 The Slovenia Beer 93 Taste Slovenia 94 Top 10 Slovenian Dishes 95 How to taste Slovenia – Janez Bogataj PhD Publisher THE Institute, Miklošičeva cesta 38, 1000 Ljubljana, +386 30 706 000, [email protected], www.the-slovenia.com, FB/The Slove- nia, IG/the.slovenia Director Niko Slavnić MSc Printed Abografika d.o.o., 10.000 copies Editor Peter Škoda Kecman Production Jasmina Milano- vić Design Aleksandar Vukojević Sales Jadranka Popovič, Janža Pavlin Photos THE Institute, Unsplash, www.slovenia.info and our partners. Cop- yright notice Copywriters: Yuri Barron, Justine Dunn, Sara Todorovič. Maps copyright cartographer. All rights reserved. No part of this pub- lication may be reproduced in any form, except brief extracts for the purpose of review, without written permission from the publisher and copyright owner. 5 photo: Iztok Nikolić • Wine is a bridge among culture, passion, knowledge and experience. Stemware and decanter collections made by Rogaška Crystal combine tradition and excellence of our masters with the requirements and knowledge of oenological experts. ljubljana, mestni trg 22 · 01 24 12 701 koper, čevljarska ulica 15 · 05 62 78 423 rogaška slatina, ulica talcev 1 · 03 81 80 237 www.rogaska-crystal.com brandSTEKLARNA d.o.o. and Rogaška ROGAŠKA are part of the Fiskars portfolio of brands and trademarks. www.fiskarsgroup.com Foreword - Niko Slavnić Dear foodies, we wish you “dober tek”! Thank you for picking up this new The Slovenia guide - a great de- ci-sion to taste and feel Slovenia. Since 2008 we have published tons of guides and online content about Slovenia, however, this is the first time we can proudly write about Slovenia as a new European region of gastronomy. With the influx of English-speaking foreigners into Slo- venia, we decided to write this guide in English to help more people access Slovenia’s countless gastronomic experiences. There is no more unique a place in Europe than Slovenia, sitting at the cross- roads of great European cuisines from the Mediterranean and Karst, Panno- nia and the Alps. This is also the home of the best female chef in the world in 2017, Ana Roš, as well as several other of the top 100 chefs and restaurants in the world, and our unique evaluation The Slovenia Restaurant Awards. Before we began The Slovenia Restaurant Awards, and this subsequent The Slovenia Gastronomy guide, we, along with many others, struggled to find local information in English about good food and the best res- taurants. To do this, we spent a year comparing international systems and talking to chefs, restaurateurs and experts, eventually coming up with a three tiered system, consisting of an expert committee, the Gas- tronomic Academy, and the general public. After all of the voting, the result of our efforts was national and regional winners, finalists and a handful of recommended restaurants. This project could not have been completed without the great support of food experts, enthusiasts and sponsors – Diners Club International, Römerquelle, Winterhalter, Un- derberg, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, Gostilna Slovenija and Deloitte – and also the media. Another huge thank you must go out to the chefs, our expert committee and, of course, the foodies. We be- lieve that you can use this guide on your culinary adventure of Slovenia. Niko Slavnić MSc 7 European Region of Gastronomy So different. So accessible! Green, active and healthy, Slovenia is the only European country that con- nects the Alps, the Mediterranean, the Karst and the Pannonian Plain. Its exceptionally diverse landscape and nature are tied to a colourful culture and gastronomy. At the very heart of Europe, at the meeting point of the Germanic world to the north, the Romance lands to the west, the Slavic Balkans to the south and Hungary to the east, is where Slovenian gastron- omy evolved through history. Slovenian dishes are made with local ingredi- ents: from produce grown in fields and gardens, to ingredients foraged in meadows and forests, salt harvested from the northernmost Adriatic salt pans, honey made by native bees, and wine that was a common drink around these parts even back in Antiquity, to healthy mineral waters that became the focal point of world-renowned spas centuries ago. Slovenia is a green, healthy and active country. Diverse gastronomy is therefore part of its culture. Slovenians preserve and cultivate it with the utmost respect for the environment and principles of sustainable development. In Slovenia, the grain fields are entwined with wine-growing hills, forests converge with Alpine meadows, where bovine and small cattle graze, luxuriant gardens alongside people’s houses flow into meadow orchards, and ol- ive groves offer vistas of the sea. Slovenian cuisine draws its originality from nature, and its cosmopolitan spirit from the influences of the four corners of Europe. If you wanted to get to know the most distinct dishes and drinks of as many as 24 gastronomic regions of Slovenia, you could sample a new dish or drink every day for 365 days. Culinary diversity is an increasingly decisive reason for paying a tourist visit to Slovenia. Source: Taste Slovenia Brochure, Published by Slovenian tourist Board in cooperation with the Ministry of economic Development and Technol- ogy, Text by: Prof, Janez Bogataj PhD, Slovenia to be awarded prestig- ious title of the 2021 European Region of Gastronomy, Press releases, 2018, www.slovenia.info Photo: Jošt Gantar, www.slovenia.info 9 TASTE SLOVENIA. MY WAY OF SPOILING THE TASTEBUDS. With a wide variety of local flavours, traditions and fresh ingredients from chefs’ own gardens Dolenjska is a region of hidden gourmet surprises. Discover foodie EDEN of Slovenia full of awarded traditional family-run »gostilna« inns. #ifeelsLOVEnia #myway #visitdolenjska www.slovenia.info TASTE SLOVENIA. MY WAY OF SPOILING THE TASTEBUDS. With a wide variety of local flavours, traditions and fresh ingredients from chefs’ own gardens Dolenjska is a region of hidden gourmet surprises. Discover foodie EDEN of Slovenia full of awarded traditional family-run »gostilna« inns. #ifeelsLOVEnia #myway #visitdolenjska www.slovenia.info The Slovenia Gourmet Calendar Calendar of the most important culinary and gastronomic events in Slovenia JANUARY The Slovenia Young chef dinner, Ljubljana GAST EXPO 2020, Ljubljana FEBRUARY Prešeren Fair, Kranj Culinary items at Shrovetide events, across Slovenia MARCH European Food Summit, Ljubljana Sevnica Salami Festival, Sevnica Restaurant Week, across Slovenia Open Kitchen, Ljubljana (every Friday until the end of October) Open Kitchen (photo: Jošt Gantar) 12 Top Slovenia Restaurant Awards (photo: slikaj.se; mediaspeed) APRIL Chocolate Festival, Radovljica Easter Potica Festival, Otočec Potica Festival, Prebold Salon Sauvignon, Ptuj Rebula and Olive Oil Festival, Višnjevik MAY The Slovenia Restaurant Awards, Ljubljana Evaluation of Upper Savinja Stomachs, Rečica ob Savinji Delicacies of Slovenian Farms, Ptuj Wine Spring, Metlika Vrhnika Coffee Festival, Vrhnika PortoRose - Rose & Rosé Festival, Portorož Carniolan sausage festival, Ljubljana In the heart of Teran land, Tomaj JUNE Cherry Festival, Dobrovo in Brda Lent Festival, Sladolent, Maribor Festival of Wine, Fish and Olive Oil, Izola Day of Open Cellars, Brda Cviček in Šentrupert, Šentrupert Ljubljana Wine Route, Ljubljana Strawberry Sundays, Janče pri Ljubljani Refošk Festival, Marezige 13 The Slovenia Gourmet Calendar Cows Ball Cheese and Wine Fest (photo: Andrej Tarfila) JULY Beer and Flowers Festival, Laško Polenta Festival, Ozeljan Numerous mushroom picking festivals and exhibitions, from July to October Čatež Cviček Festival, Čatež Peach Festival, Prvačina AUGUST Days of Honey, Polhov Gradec Days of Poetry and Wine, Ptuj Days of Poetry and Wine, Medana Fishermen’s Festival, Izola Salt Makers’ Festival, Piran Teran and Prosciutto Festival, Dutovlje Shepherd’s Ball, Jezersko Onion Festival, Dornava Bean Day, Hrovača Idrijski Žlikrofi Festival, Idrija SEPTEMBER Cows Ball Cheese and Wine Fest, Bohinj Sweet Istria, Koper Jam Festival, Land of Hayracks, Šentrupert (August or September) Tržič Bržola Festival, Tržič Day of Honey in Cuisinet, Radovljica and Lesce Plum Days, Slivje Cabbage Festival, Ljubljana Pumpkin Festival, Bodonci Dödöli Festival, Puconci Old Vine Festival, Maribor (from late September to 11 November) World Roasted Potato Festival, Postojna 14 OCTOBER Restaurant Week, across Slovenia Original Bled Cream Cake Festival, Bled Taste Radol’ca, Radovljica (also in November) Chestnut Sunday, Janče pri Ljubljani Kozjansko Apple Festival, Podsreda Traditional Chestnut Festival, Lig above Kanal NOVEMBER Numerous St Martin’s Day, celebrations across Slovenia November Gourmet Ljubljana, Ljubljana Ljubljana Wine Route, Ljubljana Wine Cellars of the Vipava