Slovenia recently became one of Europe’s top culinary destinations. The best national cuisine, including that of Ana Roš, the world’s top-rated female chef, is increasingly following the principles of sustainable cuisine.
Slovenia is the 2021 European Region of Gastronomy and the host of this year’s European Food Summit. In only the last few years the young nation has become one of the top culinary destinations in Europe. Michelin’s 2021 guide awarded one of their stars to seven Slovenian restaurants. And Hiša Franko, led by chef Ana roš, received two. According to the Best Chef Awards, Ana Roš is also the world’s seventh-best chef – and the highest rated woman on the list. In the same competition, Roš’s colleague from Hiša Franko Maša Salopek won the title of the world’s best pastry chef. In 2017 Roš won the title of Best Woman Chef from the World’s 50 Best Restaurants academy.
The 49 year old Roš is self-taught: she holds a degree in international relations and diplomacy from the University of Trieste. After graduation she preferred to work as a waitress in the restaurant owned by her husband than start a career in international politics. Soon she took over the kitchen and began to creatively interpret local traditional recipes.
The secret formula of Ana Roš – and many of her Slovenian peers – lies in simplicity. Her restaurant is an unassuming place near Kobarid, a small town in the picturesque Alpine valley of the river Soča. Another example of this simplicity is Gostišče Grič, which won the Michelin star for the first time this year: it is a simple village inn – or “gostilna” – in the mountains close to Ljubljana. Roš and her colleagues use top-quality ingredients - yet many come from the small gardens of her neighbors. This simplicity and reliance on local, ecologically produced ingredients, are elements of sustainable cuisine – and at the same time key elements of the concept behind Slovenia’s top chefs.
