27-08-2020
Valter Kramar and Ana Roš, since 2002 at the helm of Hiša Franko in Staro Zelo, a hamlet of Kobarid, in Slovenia, a few minutes’ drive from the border and Cividale del Friuli
With the lockdown over, there’s a thesis that is becoming widespread among colleagues: restaurant food has never been so good. There’s a strong suspicion that these three months of closure, on top of the worries, has also given some extra time to authors to think of details that slipped away before. It seems like the inner goodness of the dishes has increased. And more than before, tasting menus appear for what they should always be: journeys, not series of unconnected delicacies. The distance between the before and after at restaurant Hiša Franko, seems even stunning. First of all, it’s our fault, as we hadn’t been to Staro Zelo – a short drive from the border between Italy and Slovenia – for three seasons now. An eternity in today’s restaurant scene, let alone in the perception of an inn that each year invests almost all its profits to improve. The reception serving the rooms is now separated by the one for the restaurant. There’s a shop selling wines and good and intelligent products conceived during the lockdown (we wrote about it here). Next to it there are 3 tables where you can have a lovely open-air aperitif. And the dark dépendance where ten years ago you would warm yourself up with a wool blanket, has become a light dehors-area, overlooking the green valleys, in the shadows of Mount Krn. Most of all, there’s cook Ana Roš and patron Valter Kramar, two people with the same energy they have when kayaking or going downhill on their bikes. She pulls out so many ideas on the micro and macro that you wonder where she finds the time. He’s a living encyclopaedia of natural wines from Slovenia, and for sure he’s also responsible of one of the nosiest growing movements in the European viticulture of the last twenty years. The secret? «If a product is good», Kramar explains, at ease while uncorking all sorts of wines, «it is so regardless of its name». Taste with no preconceptions, the hardest of all tasks.
All around, the calmness of the Soča Valley
Since the 16th of June, Hiša Franko has two Michelin stars, the only in the country. It’s the first edition of the Red Guide in Slovenia. Worth celebrating with a tattoo (in the photo, the cook’s fingers)
Hiša Franko’s records include the 38th place in the World's 50Best and the title of Best Female Chef given to Ana Roš in 2017
Yvonne Simon and Ilias Ntoykai
Buckwheat puff pastry, fermented ricotta and porcini
Courgette with black garlic, goat’s milk cheese from the Oresnik farm and tuna belly
Sorbet of fallopia japonica
A knock-out quintet
The breakfast mise-en-place
The wine deserves a separate mention, a series of unknown labels and big stars, like you would only find at Mugaritz: we start with Keltis, Atelier Kramar (a rebula as drinkable as water), and then we move to the table with Bjana and Malvasia Reia and finish, with a Coravin, with a quintet that sums up the greatness of the district, on both sides of Collio. In order of appearance: Radikon Fuori dal Tempo 2006, Gravner Ribolla 2008, Sutor Merlot 2004, Organic Anarchy Pinot Grigio 2016, Damijan Podversic Prelit 2009. Help. And don’t think breakfast, the next day, will be any different: there’s poetry even in the way the scrambled eggs are plated.
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso
Gabriele Zanatta’s opinion: on establishments, chefs and trends in Italy and the world
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born in Milan, 1973, freelance journalist, coordinator of Identità Golose World restaurant guidebook since 2007, he is a contributor for several magazines and teaches History of gastronomy and Culinary global trends into universities and institutes. twitter @gabrielezanatt instagram @gabrielezanatt
A great period for chef Ana Roš. She has just earned three stars for her flagship restaurant, Hiša Franko in Kobarid, Slovenia. But now, she also announces her new restaurant, and more...