Restavracija Sedem – a place to eat and learn!
Our culinary journey starts in a restaurant situated in the busy centre of Slovenia’s second largest city, a bustling metropolis with an atmosphere that is as international as the Drava river which runs through it. Much more than a restaurant, Restavracija Sedem also shares a modern, functional building with Maribor’s Vocational College for Hospitality and Tourism. Here, it hosts students from the college’s tourism and hospitality department, whom it trains to cook, serve food to guests and learn all about the catering sector.
Its menu teaches them the values required to create fine cuisine, focusing not only on the importance of a regionally inspired, sustainable approach but also on how to create exciting and surprising dishes that will delight the restaurant’s guests. By doing so, students learn directly from the chefs and their assistants (who are likely to take over the reins here in a few years’ time), absorbing useful skills in a world where culinary trends change quickly and in which there is always a need to look to the future.
Emphasis is always placed on the sensory appeal of the dishes on offer.
For example, in the coming weeks the menu will feature a carrot tartare made from multi-coloured carrots, egg and mustard seeds, as well as a pasta dish that focuses on light, healthy ingredients such as chickpeas, creme fraîche, and chives. Main courses include meat and fish options, such as mullet fillet with potatoes, chard, parsley and garlic, and a surprising roast quail dish with black cherry, which plays with contrasting light and sweet flavours and boasts a distinctly Central European influence.
Restavracija Sedem is one of the city’s best restaurants, offering space for 30 diners and two sittings at lunchtime and one in the evening. As we learn from restaurant manager Tadej Ljubec, this excellent restaurant benefits from the day-to-day presence of the catering school and its staff (two in the kitchen and two front of house) as well as its shared responsibility for the 160 students who take turns at working in the restaurant. The menu here is broad and embraces different cultures, including dishes flavoured with edible flowers (such as nasturtium), potato moussaka, liver pâté and classical Italian desserts such as Gorgonzola with pears.
Exquisite macaroons also feature on the dessert menu – it’s clear that this restaurant-cum-school is inspired by classic Parisian confectionery traditions, adding a creative touch to ensure that its desserts are both contemporary and even more delicious. Other delicacies such as croissants, pains au chocolat, tarts and other sweet treats also make an appearance.
The city of Maribor is directly linked to the Central European traditions that connect Slovenia directly with the heart of Europe, partly thanks to the proximity of Austria. The city is an important centre for apple and wine production – its historic old town is home to the oldest living (and still productive) vine in Europe.
City Terasa – where the main focus is on fish and seafood
Maribor is also not far from the Adriatic. As a result, fish and seafood take pride of place on the menu at the City Terasa restaurant: “Because of our proximity to Austria, it’s easy for Austrians to come here for a fish or seafood lunch or dinner and then head home, without having had to travel too far”, says Mitja Rombauer. This excellent sommelier perfectly understands the needs of his varied guests, who flock here from all over Europe and further afield, including a large number of Scandinavian visitors, many of whom break their journey en route to the coast from northern Europe. There’s something for every palate, with a wine list that boasts over 100 different labels, many of which are natural Slovenian wines. Coffee is also important (“only Illy”) as is water (“from the Kamnik region”) and the restaurant is planning on including more cocktail pairings in the future.
City Terasa’s dishes are colourful, beautifully presented and contemporary in feel, showcasing fish and seafood from the nearby Adriatic (one of Slovenia’s attractions is the proximity of its mountains to the sea). But its menu is also open to other influences, hence the Kobe beef carpaccio that features alongside salted octopus and a dish of Adriatic crayfish, clams and mussels that is reminiscent of a traditional Venetian “buzara” recipe.
The restaurant’s meticulous search for top-quality ingredients results in the presence of superb Istrian ham on the menu, served with wild capers and buckwheat, which contrasts with the fresh contemporary feel of lime and crayfish soup and “Surf & Turf” dishes such as Slovenian filet mignon with crayfish tartare, butter sauce, carrots, crispy ravioli and cauliflower.
Linked to the hotel next door yet run independently, City Terasa provides the setting for chef Davorin Verlič’s colourful and imaginative cuisine, including dishes such as lobster in a delicious sauce that clings perfectly to the thin spaghetti with which it is served.
Verlič’s story is fascinating. He started cooking at home for his younger brothers, then went to catering school, while at the same time washing dishes to earn money in a restaurant where he constantly (and unsuccessfully) pestered the chef to teach him how to cook. He ended up teaching himself, taking surreptitious peaks at the restaurant’s recipe book and learning as much as he could until the time came for him to show off his own culinary skills. The rest is contemporary history.
Verlič has created a strong, loyal team, in which only three chefs have changed over the past seven years – something of a triumph. So why not treat yourself to a seat on the terrace at this superb restaurant overlooking Maribor, where the views extend as far as the horizon? Enjoy the gentle breeze from the nearby mountains and imagine the sea breezes from the Adriatic that lies much further to the south, but which is very much part of the culinary fabric here.
Illustration image: Restavracija Sedem
