Trophies for the best chefs and restaurants and new edition of Gault&Millau Croatia 2020 gastronomic guide

Published on 04/03/2020 at 00:00

All the winners

Frano Matušić, Danijel Đekić and Ingrid Badurina Danielsson

Sandra & Dane Tahirović

Robert Benzia

Tvrtko Šakota and Silvija Horak

Floriana Ružić

Winners of the trophies for the best restaurants

Chosen by the gastronomic guide Gault&Millau Croatia 2020 as the Chef of the Year is Danijel Đekić, chef of Monte restaurant in Rovinj. Sandra and Dane Tahirović of Zora bila restaurant in Split and Robert Benzia from Ganeum restaurant in Lovran won the Trophy Big Chef of Tomorrow 2020. The Trophy Traditional Cuisine Chef 2020 was given to Silvija Horak of Terbotz restaurant in Štrigova and Tvrtko Šakota¸ chef of NAV restaurant in Zagreb. The Young Talent of the Year Trophy was given to Floriana Ružić of San Rocco restaurant in Brtonigla and Matija Jagić of Brokenships bistro in Zagreb. The Trophy of the best POP 2020 went to Kamenice restaurant in Dubrovnik. This year there was also a new Best Maître d’Hôtel Trophy for 2020 given to Dragutin Majsak of Vinodol restaurant in Zagreb. One of the best ambassadors of Croatian gastronomy and pastry, Dragica Lukin of Villa Soši pastry shop in Umag, received special recognition for her achievements in promoting Croatian gastronomy and pastry. The best restaurants were named 360 from Dubrovnik, Monte from Rovinj, Laganini from Palmižana and Pelegrini from Šibenik.

A gala dinner was held at the Esplanade Zagreb Hotel on March 3rd to present the third edition of the prestigious gastronomic guide Gault&Millau Croatia. This event brought together an impressive number of Croatian chefs, top professionals and gastronomy enthusiasts, and the highlight of the evening was the awarding of prestigious culinary trophies where Gault&Millau Croatia rewards the best chefs in whose work the motto of the guide is visible: “Luxury is in quality, not in price”.

The special thing about Gault&Millau guide is that it celebrates diversity; different restaurants and professionals of different ages and styles all find their place in the guide, and what is common to all of them is innovation, respect for the traditions of their regions, knowledge of contemporary culinary techniques and cooking with great passion. Gault&Millau Croatia 2020 is the most extensive gastronomic guide to date, featuring 202 restaurants, 82 POP restaurants, 101 wines and 20 hotels.

The Gault&Millau Croatia director, Ingrid Badurina Danielsson described this guide as powerful, enduring and made to provide reliable restaurant information to all the food lovers. She also emphasized its importance in Croatia and in the world:

“Gault&Millau is one of the two most prestigious gastronomic guides and represents the Croatian gastronomic scene on the world stage, and Croatia as a worthwhile food & wine destination”.

Culinary Oscars night was held at the Emerald Ballroom of the Esplanade Zagreb Hotel, and a four-course gala dinner was prepared by top chefs Ana Grgić, chef of Esplanade’s Zifandel’s restaurant and winner of the The Great Chef of Tomorrow Gault&Millau Croatia 2018, and Coline Faulquier, French chef and owner of Signature restaurant in Marseille, elected the Gault&Millau France Young Talent of the Year 2017. The award-winning chefs and restaurants were also welcomed by Marianne Lecerf, Chief International Coordinator for Gault&Millau. The project was also supported by the Croatian National Tourist Board, and the winners were also congratulated by Darija Tödtling, representative of the Croatian National Tourist Board.

The project was supported by the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Croatia. On behalf of the Ministry of Tourism the guests were addressed by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, Frano Matušić, who stressed the importance of gastronomy as one of the leading contents of the tourist experience on which the entire Croatian brand is built.

The Croatian National Tourist Board was the special partner of this project, along with many other Gault&Millau Croatia’s partners: Premium Visa, PBZ card, Debic, Kotány, Hrvatska pošta, Aurelia, Lexus, Kraš Bajadera, Romerquelle, Raise the Bar and Mutti. Partners of the event were also: Esplanade Zagreb Hotel, Centaurus, Karlić Truffles, MIVA Wine Gallery, DUKE group, Krauthaker, Tomić, Degrassi, Štampar and Feravino.

The 2020 edition of Gault&Millau Guide will be on sale at every Tisak and Hrvatska pošta office. It is intended for all quality food lovers and for restaurants that provide top quality service. The Gault&Millau gastronomy guide is also available on the free mobile application where you can find the ratings and detailed descriptions of all the restaurants listed in the Gault&Millau Croatia 2020 guide.