October the 5th, 2024 – The 29th printed and online Croatian and English edition of the Restaurant Croatica book, “100 leading Croatian restaurants and their specialities 2024/25”, published by Abisal library Gastronaut, has been officially promoted at Botel Marina in Rijeka.
The Restaurant Croatica and Gastronaut projects are otherwise the oldest quality promotion brands in the hospitality industry in all of the Republic of Croatia.
The project of 100 leading Croatian restaurants – Restaurant Croatica was initiated back in 1995 with the aim of promoting quality in the hospitality industry through the annual selection of leading restaurants and the creation of an accompanying publication.
The basic idea involved carrying out market research in order to find out which restaurants best meet the needs of their guests. The aim was also to highlight the leading ones among them to see if that would also motivate the others to improve the quality of their offer and service.
Back in 1995, the survey covered about 700 restaurants, while in 2023, that number rose to over 2,400. Part of the voting was conducted through the Gastronaut portal, and voters could additionally emphasise the quality of the offer, service and ambience.
In parallel, restaurateurs could vote with the recommendation of their colleagues who are their role models. For that, they filled out questionnaires with a detailed description of their offer and service. After reviewing all the materials, the Honorable Committee of the project gave the final word and announced the new list of 100 leading ones presented in the aforementioned Restaurant Croatica book.
Throughout the 29 years of this project, a total of 533 restaurants were included in Restaurant Croatica, and the title was defended by 6 restaurants for all 29 years. For more than 20 years, 18 restaurants have defended the title. The restaurants presented in the Restaurant Croatica book for the year 2024/25 are also holders of the title Restaurant Croatica 2023, and in addition to the plaques awarded to them, they received a Restaurant Croatica sticker with a QR code that leads to the online edition of the book in Croatian and English.
The project manager and editor of the publication is Professor Karin Mimica, who started it back in 1995 in cooperation with the then Croatian Economic Forum. The project is being carried out in cooperation with the Association of Croatian Restaurateurs, and the partners include the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) and numerous institutions professionally related to catering, gastronomy and tourism.
The technical side of the project and the design of the edition come with Vlatko Ignatoski’s signature, and the expert collaborator on the project is Marina Selak.
The restaurants which appear in the Restaurant Croatica book are presented using text, images and recipes of house specialities, as well as information on what’s worth seeing and experiencing in their immediate surroundings. In addition to the restaurants selected from among the 100 leading ones, the Restaurant Croatica book also presents top-quality products that can be found on their tables, as well as destinations with various gastronomic and oenological advantages.
This year, the Restaurant Croatica book has been enriched with texts about cheeses, written by Gastron’s own Marina Selak, a certified cheese taster. Marina introduces the reader to the history and evolution of cheeses, guides us through the most famous Croatian, French, Italian, English, Swiss and Greek cheeses and provides helpful tips on how to store them, cut them, serve them and what to combine them with.
Basic information on local specialities, the main varieties of wine and specific gastronomical events are provided in the introductory texts. The chapters then follow: Istria and Kvarner; Dalmatia; Lika, Karlovac and surroundings, Moslavina and Banovina; Zagreb and surroundings; Zagorje, Međimurje and Podravina and Slavonija and Baranja.
Certain restaurants have decided to share their culinary knowledge with readers. This allows them to learn how to make regional dishes from across the nation, from Omiš soup with sheep’s cheese to Štrukli and much, much more.
The printed Croatian and English editions can be purchased in Hoću knjiju, Školska knjiga and Menart bookstores, and they can also be ordered online from the publisher Abisal.
The awarding of the Restaurant Croatica plaques mentioned earlier on in this article, as well as the promotion of the new book, was organised with the support of the Croatian National Tourist Board, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, the Kvarner Tourist Board, the Rijeka Tourist Board, and the Association of Croatian Restaurateurs on October the 3rd, 2024 in Rijeka.
