A real novelty on the Croatian gastronomy scene, R’n’B Weekend Festival is taking place this weekend, May 23rd until 26th in Zagreb, at a fantastic location of the HAZU Glyptotheque (Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences Glyptotheque), located at the address Medvedgraska 2 – in the heart of Zagreb Upper Town. Organised by the same people who have been in charge of the most prominent Croatian media festival, the Weekend Media Festival in Rovinj, Restaurants and Bars Weekend Festival have decided to organise a food and drinks festival in Zagreb which aims to be the best in every aspect. And to make the best festival in a tourist country, you need to have a team of the best people around helping with the organisation: Marin Nekić, one of the best bartenders and mixologists in the country, Mate Janković, a well-known Croatian chef, Matija Belković and Matija Hrkać from Cogito Caffe and Hrvoje Petrić, food writer and consultant will each help make the festival as good as it can be.
The schedule of the festival has been published on their website, so you can see for yourself that there will be numerous various events organised at the location, bringing forth many aspects that go into having a thriving restaurant and bar scene in a country. More than 20 panel-discussions with best Croatian chefs, bartenders, coffee masters and winemakers will be held each day of the festival. What is the new gin? What were the last 20 years like for some of the best Croatian winemakers? Is there such a thing as Croatian street-food? Can music make you stay in a restaurant longer and spend more money? Those are just a few questions that will get answered during the festival in Glyptotheque, and in the Kaptol Boutique Cinema theatre (which are really close to one another), where some of the discussions will be held.
The festival will also hold one of the biggest celebrations of Croatian restaurants, as Michelin stars and recommendation ceremony will be held as a part of the R’n’B Weekend Festival. There will be several masterclasses as well, where you will get to taste the combinations of chocolate and various drinks, learn new techniques, taste wines by Agris, Fakin, Feravino, Griffin, Kopjar, Meneghetti, Petrač, Roxanich, Vino Bora and others. Some of the chefs at the Festival will be Robert Hromalić, Tea Mamut, Tvrtko Šakota, Goran Kočiš, Pag’s Boškinac crew, Tedi Chiavalon and many others.
Within the R’n’B Weekend Festival, a special event for those who enjoy coffee is also organised, called Zagreb Coffee Weekend, where some of the biggest names in Croatia and the world will make the best speciality coffees. One name stands out: Scott Rao is one of the world’s leading coffee experts, who will hold a masterclass in roasting coffee in Zagreb!
On Thursday the festival will open with an opening party where Marin Nekić will make impressive welcome cocktails, and Brewery Lane, a section of the festival dedicated to craft breweries will also open. Food-wise, on Friday you will mostly be able to have sea-food dishes, on Saturday meat will be in the spotlight, and on Sunday you can have a Hangover brunch with a lot of “comfort food” to help you recover after all the parties taking place on Saturday evening. And who is in charge of all that partying: numerous DJs, local bands and a performance by Horse Meat Disco, which will take place in the Garden Brewery. They will finally show the audience in Zagreb why their performances in Tisno during the summer have become so popular, showing us all there is to know about the disco music.
You can get the tickets for all of those (and many more!) events of this festival at Entrio system – daily entrance is 75 kn, all three days of the festival cost 150 kn, and you need to purchase additional entry tickets for certain masterclasses.
