These days in Zagreb it seems only one event is important: the opening of a new star on the gastro scene, Noel restaurant located in Dukljaninova 1. Here, in the hands down most elegant Zagreb restaurant ambience, dominated by unimposing colours and relaxed intimate atmosphere, envisioned by interior designer Robert Bajs and studio IO Dekor, all the true lovers of excellent food and drink will enjoy. The restaurant brings what the metropolis has been missing for a while: a true fine dining restaurant with an exciting concept of superior gastronomy adequately joined by a wine chart of a global level. Renowned chef Goran Kočiš and sommelier Ivan Jug, besides their many years of experience in top-notch and award-winning restaurants, have spent the summer travelling and visiting superior restaurants, vineyards and wineries around the world – all to offer the local audience an experience of a unique gastronomy and enology offer.
The gastro concept of chef Goran Kočiš is based on contemporary cuisine, guided by strictly selected seasonal groceries, with an especially high attention to modern and non-standard techniques to draw the fullness of taste from them and achieve layered, often unexpected tastes. Eating can be done at the bar, in a bistro variation, with a daily menu for lunch, as well as an a la carte option. In the lounge bar, an ideal place to enjoy any of the numerous drinks or a perfect overture to the gastronomy experience of Noel restaurant, in charge is the award-winning bartender Roman Rabik, master of many drinks and cocktails. He will, besides excellent cocktail classics, surprise bar visitors with his innovative authored creations which have made him famous on the international mixology scene. The offer of meals at lunch time is based on recognisable dishes in the modern authored interpretation by chef Goran with seasonal groceries.
For dinner, Noel visitors can choose between menus, tasting menus with four, six or nine courses or an exclusive chef’s table option that offers an unforgettable experience, numerous courses and combinations and a direct view of the open kitchen where Goran and his team prepare proven sophisticated meals. Part of the restaurant reserved for lunch and dinner has forty seating places so the staff of Noel led by Goran Kočiš and Ivan Jug can pay maximum attention to each guest. Along with the offer of meals and drinks, and service, great attention was given to the selection of tableware, many of which are handmade and unique pieces, imported from Japan, such as Arita dishware – through the cult store Sal and Pepper. The restaurant offers another novelty for Zagreb, the offer of carefully selected artisan teas Paper and Tea, by the Berlin niche company specialised in excellent and rare organic teas with a full leaf, some of which are extremely rare. For full enjoyment of the refined taste of R&T teas, available is a specially designed menu of meals that perfectly blend with the selection of white, green Oolong and other herbal teas. Coffee for Noel was exclusively selected by the award-winning world expert Cory Andreen, so you can find seasonal coffee types from around the world roasted with new techniques that release the optimal fullness of taste of every coffee. The offer of coffee will continually change such as the offer of other drinks, including among others around twenty types of water and fourteen craft beer types from Japan, Belgium, Germany, USA and other parts of the world.
The wine list is a special story. Lots of attention was given to it, knowledge, love and research, composed of over four hundred labels from around the world – Croatia to Italy, Slovenia to Austrian Burgenland, France to Spain. Here you will find diversity unseen on the Zagreb restaurant scene, including serious wine harvests from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Tuscany; so-called Super-Tuscans of various years – such as a ten-year vertical of a label such as the famous Sassicaia. The idea is that the restaurant cellar keeps wines in an archive with special wine workshops and dinners. If you are, for example, looking for a Burgundy label such as Romanée-Conti which is impossible to find in other Croatian restaurants, stop by Noel – you will find it here. But, you can order simpler wines, with character, with almost a third of the wine list dedicated to organic and biodynamic wines that fit perfectly with the gastronomy concept of Goran Kočiš and the philosophy created in synergy by Jug and Kočiš. Special attention is directed towards counselling guests in choosing the ideal wine as well as regular presentations of novelties from the superior local and world gastro and eno offer. Working hours of the restaurant and bar Noel is each day from 10 am to 2 am.
Photography: Noel
