The awards ceremony was held yesterday for the second annual The Slovenia Restaurant Awards. A who's-who of the national high-end food world was present at Fuzine Castle to learn who was voted the best restaurant in each of Slovenia's five regions (for voting purposes, the restaurants are divided into north, south, east, west and Ljubljana and its environs). I serve as a committee member and it's been great fun to see this fledgling award from behind-the-scenes. There's a complex voting process run by Deloitte, a combination of public votes and expert votes (a bit like Eurovision's voting system), and the winners were announced at a gala event.
Here are the winners:
Regional winners:
Northern Slovenia - Gostilna Krištof
Southern Slovenia - Ošterija Debeluh
Eastern Slovenia: - Hiša Denk, Kungota
Western Slovenia: - Hiša Franko
Ljubljana and Central Slovenia - Restavracija Strelec
And the top three restaurants in Slovenia:
Gostilna pri Lojzetu
Hiša Franko
Ošterija Debeluh
Ana Ros, the world's best female chef 2017, runs Hisa Franko and is the grande dame of Slovenian food, so it was no surprise to see her back atop the list. But the entire list of over 100 restaurants is worth exploring, taking your pick when visiting Slovenia. You can get the rundown on all of them in The Slovenia Restaurants guidebook, and believe me, you can't go wrong. This country has become a foodie destination, and rightly so. (A dish from my personal favorite, JB in Ljubljana, is below...)
