The Zadar County Tourist Board is a partner at the Gault&Millau Croatia 2024 gala dinner

Mrs Mihaela Kadija, director of the Tourist Board of Zadar County, who is also a Gault&Millau partner this year, presented him with the Trophy at the gala dinner of the official promotion of the guide and the annual Awards ceremony for the best chefs and restaurants. Chef Sanjin has been devoted to Dalmatian culinary tradition for three decades and is known for its imaginative preparation of fish and seafood in his own modern approach.

Zadar County covers as much as a fifth of the Croatian coast, and every year it attracts more and more guests who want to enjoy top autochthonous delicacies and wines of that region. They are a rare destination where the scent of the sea, the strength of the mountains and the endless archipelago are united in a unique way. It is also the only Croatian region where grapes, olives, figs, cherries and salt are harvested.

 Vines have been planted in that area for more than 3.000 years, and even 30 percent of wine producers from the Zadar vineyard have an eco label, making them among the world's top. Red varieties dominate, about 60 percent, and the rest are white and rosé wines. Guests at the gala dinner at the Esplanade Hotel in Zagreb tasted Bora Pošip 2022, a refreshing white wine produced by a young family winery from Podgradina in Zadar County. Their vineyards are caressed by the warm currents of the Novigrad Sea on one side, as others are whipped by the Velebit storm. This wine went perfectly with the starter by cheffe Ana Grgić Tomić: roasted rapini with brown butter, broccoli cream, bearnaise with black garlic, panko and herbs crumble. Guests at the Gault&Millau ceremony had the opportunity to taste two more top products from Zadar County. Along with the new edition of the guide, they received a gifts: a flower of salt from Solana Pag, which carries a protected mark of authenticity, and little bottle of the famous Maraschino liqueur, which is made from the autochthonous cherry variety according to the recipe of the pharmacist from the Dominican monastery, from the 16th century.

Many tourists already enjoy the rich choice of local ingredients of the Zadar region, and the chefs of top restaurants in the hinterland, on the coast and on the islands know how to use all the natural treasures of their region. In the new edition of the Gault&Millau Croatia guide, the best rated restaurant is Boškinac from Novalja on the island of Pag, with 16.5 out of 20 possible points and the restaurant team earned 3 toques. Foša from Zadar and chef Milan Grbac with 16 points and Griblja from Sukošan with 15 points also have 3 toques. Restaurant Niko from Zadar with cheffe Anita Klarić has 2 toques and 14.5 points. They are followed by Kornat from Zadar - chef Damir Stoiljković Pierino, Restaurant Lazaret from the island of Ošljak - chef Vladimir Bardžić, Starac i more from Novalja - cheffe Sanja Belac, as well as Villa Nai 3.3 restaurant Grotta from Žman on Dugi otok - by chef Steven Pieters, who won 14 points and 2 Gault&Millau toques. Together with all other restaurants, they are the best ambassadors of the gastronomy of the Zadar region.