Taste the Mediterranean once again raises the bar on the gastronomic scene, for the first time the World’s Best Female Chef for 2022, chef Leonor Espinosa cooked in Croatia

The festival gathered more than 30 top foreign and Croatian chefs in Split, who cooked for the visitors in 13 restaurants and held 10 master classes for young chefs.

Last week, for 4 days, from October 4 to 8, Split turned into a paradise for lovers of Mediterranean cuisine. The Festival Taste the Mediterranean in its 11th edition, attracted many foreign and domestic visitors. During the day they participated in workshops for professionals, panels and master classes by top chefs (from restaurants awarded with Michelin stars and Gault&Millau toques). In the evening they could choose from different exclusive dinners in Split, discovering the richness of the flavours of the Mediterranean cuisine. A special experience was the unique dinner prepared on the island of Solta by the World’s Best Female Chef for 2022, the Colombian Leonor Espinosa.

“It was a great experience. Professionally, it was very challenging, but my team and I received all the necessary support from the local team of Heritage Hotel Martinis Marchi and the excellent chef Marko Đurašević. This place is wonderful and I’m honest when I say that I enjoyed every moment we spent here” – said Leonor Espinosa. The chef also presented her foundation FUNLEO, whose mission is to preserve the traditional Colombian agriculture and improve the quality of life in the poor local communities that grow them. The presentation opened the panel “Witches from the Kitchen” held in front of a large audience in the HGK, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, Split Dalmatia County.

This year’s edition of the festival was opened in a special setting, the Split Fish Market, which was transformed into a top restaurant that evening. The famous Split chef Zlatko Marinović Noštromo and his grandson Stipe Marinović prepared the traditional Dalmatian specialties that received compliments by chef Espinosa as well as by all the 140 guests. The flavours of Dalmatia were perfectly paired with the wines of other Croatian regions, such as the wines from the wineries Belje in Slavonia and Festigia from Istria. A selection cheeses by President was served at the end of the dinner with fine homemade jam. The brilliant performance of the Colombian singer Mar Botero added to the atmosphere.

In cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce Split and its president Joze Tomaš, the festival hosted three panel discussions that brought together professionals from the fields of gastronomy, tourism, and hospitality from Croatia and abroad. H.E. Laura Gil Savastano, the ambassador of Colombia to Austria and non-resident ambassador to Croatia, participated in the panel on the impact of sustainable development on tourism and gastronomy. As part of the presentation of Colombia – the guest country at the Festival – she highlighted the Colombian government’s commitment to sustainable tourism. “240 types of fruit grow in Colombia. Protecting nature, culture and the local population is our mission. We chose top quality instead of mass tourism because it would destroy our biological diversity,” said Ambassador Gil Savastano. Tonči Glavina, State Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Croatia, spoke about the final phase of the reform of the Croatian tourism strategy, while Renata Vincek revealed how the Tourist Board of the region of Kvarner attracts film and TV productions through its gastronomy and the promotional film “Make Your Own Movie”.

Ten international and Croatian top chefs held master classes in the hospitality school Oliva Allegra. Among them chef Paul Ivić – a virtuoso of vegetarian cuisine from the Viennese restaurant TIAN, the Italian maestro pizzaiolo Massimo Quaglia and the pastry chef Talia Richard-Carvajal from Hart Bageri Bakery from Copenhagen. The school student Viktorija Bašić and Marino Simunić, a young cook from restaurant Artičok won the competition for the young chefs. The company Tommy, the premium partner of the festival, has awarded all the competitors. Barolo & Barbaresco Academy World Edition 2023 presented an exclusive wine master class on the famous Barolo and Barbaresco varieties for sommeliers and wine experts. The master class was led by the famous Italian sommelier Sandro Minella with the assistance of Croatian sommeliers Monika Prović and Daniel Čečavac. The rich evening programme was hosted by the best Split restaurants. Chefs from France, Italy, Colombia, Japan, Greece, Serbia and Croatia prepared together with the local hosting chefs exclusive four hands dinners for all the festival visitors. Chef Matej Pačar and the French chef Michel Basaldella cooked together in restaurant Kadena, chef Branimir Prnjak hosted the Italian chef Richard Abou Zaki in Zrno Soli, and chef Marijo Curić – Gault&Millau Chef of the Year 2023, from the Dubrovnik restaurant 360, cooked in the heart of Diocletian’s Palace, in restaurant ZOI, together with their new chef Roko Nikolić. The legendary Split chef Hrvoje Zirojević, chef at restaurant Dvor, hosted the legendary chef from Kvarner region, chef Nenad Kukurin, from Kukuriku restaurant in Kastav. They paired their dishes with top wines from Dalmatia and Kvarner. Restaurant Zora bila brought together chefs from three countries: chef Christos Amantos from Greece, chef Jasmina Vukašinović and pastry chef Nataša Marković from Serbia – the private chef of the famous tennis player Novak Đoković – and the hosts, chefs Sandra and Dane Tahirović from Croatia. The dinner was attended by the Ambassador of Greece in Croatia, H.E. Antonia Katzourou and the Ambassador of Serbia, H.E. Jelena Milić who greeted the guests. Chef Vesna Miletić brought the traditional Sunday’s lunch from Tač, her Zagreb’s restaurant, to restaurant Zrno Soli in Split. The foreign guests were especially delighted by the guided tour of Split’s Varoš, the fishermen neighbourhood in Split, with a visit to the most beautiful churches, wine tasting in the desacralised St. Mikula church, from the 11th century, and a traditional Dalmatian lunch at the tavern Dujkin dvor prepared by chef Ivica Madunić.

The French Michelin starred chef Lionel Levy (president of the Gourméditerranée association) and chef Frédéric Charlet have prepared an unforgettable “Taste of Provence” dinner in the restaurant Mediterranée in the Hotel Ambasador. All the dishes were paired with the best French wines. A special gourmet experience on the last night of the Festival was the feast in the luxurious salon of the Baroque Cindro Palace built in the 17th century. The rich menu of chef Marko Đurašević and guest Japanese-French chef Ippei Uemura was accompanied by sparkling wines from wineries Tomac, Šember, Jagunić, Kolarić, Braje and Kurtalj, all from the Plešivica vineyards in Zagreb County. Six other restaurants from Split were also included in the Festival’s programme, offering a special Mediterranean menu: Artičok, Corto Maltese, Dujkin dvor, Noštromo, Pandora Greenbox and Pinku Fish&Wine. The most enduring guests of the Festival enjoyed a Colombian rum cocktail served at the closing party in the famous Split Boiler Club.

The four Festival’s days offered an intensive programme, rich in content, which presented in the best way the culture of Mediterranean food and lifestyle.

The Festival Taste the Mediterranean was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Croatia and the Croatian Tourist Board, the Split-Dalmatia County, the Tourist Board of the Split-Dalmatia County, the City of Split and the Tourist Board of the City of Split.

Foto TTM press – Jadran Babić, Teo Begović i Damira Kalajžić