February 3, 2024 – Novi Zagreb was on fire this Tuesday, and in the most positive sense. A steak show, fire-dancing and fire cannons were part of the party program for the opening of the Marble Steakhouse, located in Središće. About three hundred guests, friends and partners, celebrated the opening of this spectacular restaurant with the Marble team.
As Ribafish writes, the relevance of this project is indicated by the fact that some of the most important names of the Croatian gastronomic scene gathered in one place — chefs, winemakers and restaurateurs who came to support their colleagues.
A team of people you might have met at Chevo’s restaurant in Zapruđ stands behind the Marble project. It all started in 2015 with the idea of providing Zapruđ residents with the best barbecue in the neighbourhood. Love for meat and barbecue, investment in knowledge and constant research took them much further. Chevo’s began its meat aging journey in 2017 with the first dry-ageing chamber of a modest 100 kg, and today at the entrance to Marble there is a chamber for 1500 kg of meat that they built themselves. The main characters of this story are Ante and Nikola Kovačević and chef Tomislav Trboglav. Back in 2018, they started dreaming of a steakhouse. This big step marks a new direction in their gastronomic story and the beginning of the restaurant group called WE KNOW MEAT.
The owners explain that the name Marble spontaneously imposed itself because, in addition to its meaning in English, marbling is a term that refers to the degree of intermuscular fat in cattle, and this is especially significant for the most valued Japanese wagyu steaks, the quality of which is evaluated by how marbled they are.
To show the unique beef terroir of each piece of meat, the central point of the Marble restaurant is the dry-ageing chamber, where the meat of over 10 different breeds of cattle is aged on-site with a capacity of over 1500 kg. Next to it are 2 private rooms that can be combined into one space for celebrations or business gatherings according to guests’ wishes. At the bottom of the spacious restaurant that accommodates over 120 guests is the liveliest part of this project, the kitchen — where the imposing grill was made in Spain exclusively for Marble. The best view of it is from the Marble room, which is located right next to it. Architect Vedran Oštarić and his project bureau Arhitektura Treće Dimenzije with collaborator Filip Fiolić are the ones responsible for the design and interior of the space.
Chef Tomislav Trboglav, who is also the co-owner of the Marble restaurant, says: “I have always been fascinated by fire and meat and I spent years learning, visiting restaurants and working in many kitchens — until life brought me to the Kovačević brothers, who recognized my passion and we embarked on gastronomic adventures that determined my further professional path. Marble is the flagship of my career and I hope that in our future work, we will be able to convey our vision of a modern steakhouse. When we were thinking about which direction to go, the desire to have a custom-made grill arose, which is why we traveled to Madrid, where together with the manufacturers of Vulcano Gres, we created our very own grill, currently the only one of its kind in Croatia.”
Marble has been open to guests since February 1 and offers the opportunity to choose the desired breed of cattle, cut of steak and ageing time — from 7 to 100+ days. In addition to steaks, Marble also has a wide selection of creative fish dishes and seasonal vegetables presented in unusual combinations, as well as international classics in their interpretation, such as beef tartare and Caesar salad, which are prepared in front of the guests, at the table.
A selection of desserts is prepared by pastry chef Marina Andrijanić, who combines seemingly unusual flavours into unique sweet creations. For pure enjoyment, there is an impressive wine list with over 220 labels from Croatia and the world, curated by sommelier Goran Petrić, who is also the bar manager, and a fantastic selection of spirits and signature cocktails.
The opening of the Marble Steakhouse puts the Novi Zagreb neighbourhood Središće on the Croatian gastronomic map, and the Marble team has promised many interesting things in the coming months.
