Eight restaurants receive Gault&Millau Ljubljana/Ljubljana Quality 2021 plaques

On 3 February 2021 Ljubljana Tourism awarded plaques to the best restaurants included in the Ljubljana Quality project, which is taking place this year for the second time in collaboration with the prestigious international gastronomic guide Gault&Milllau. The highest rating – four toques – went to the Strelec restaurant at Ljubljana Castle, while three toques were awarded to Atelje, JB Restaurant, Maxim, Cubo, As, Harfa and Grič.

Despite the difficult conditions this year, Ljubljana Tourism and its partners decided to carry out the rating process as usual, following carefully prepared criteria and using anonymous reviewers who visit the establishments unannounced, and to go ahead with the presentation of awards, in a bid to help the economy start up again more quickly in the new year.

Owing to the current conditions, the awards ceremony, previously an unmissable part of the closing event of the November Gourmet Ljubljana Festival, known as the November Gourmet Finale, took place later than usual and in a hybrid form: the winners of the awards were announced online and the plaques themselves were delivered by a “courier service” to the doors of the restaurants, which are currently only operating a home delivery service. The courier was Jure Robežnik, a well-known figure who in past years has presented Ljubljana Quality awards in his own inimitable style. Aboard an electric Kavalir vehicle, he visited each award winner with a plaque and a tablet, left the plaque at the restaurant door and used the tablet to play pre-recorded personal congratulations from Ljubljana mayor Zoran Janković and Ljubljana Tourism director Petra Stušek.

Coinciding with the presentation of the awards was the publication of the brand-new Gault&Millau Ljubljana/Ljubljana Quality 2021 guide, which in addition to top restaurants covers specialist shops, select hotels, farm tourism establishments, the finest local producers (including producers of vegan food), craft brewers, popular gastronomic gathering places and culinary events in Ljubljana. The top-ranked shops in Ljubljana are: Dobrote Dolenjske, Le Potica, Pivoljub, Juha Studio Keramika, Rifuzl, Fox Boutique, Ika, Grajska Vinoteka & Hram/Castle Wine Bar & Bistro, Catbriyur Porcelain, Piranske Soline, Zakladi Slovenije/Treaures of Slovenia and Kraševka.

The guide is on sale at the Tourist Information Centre. Its content is proof that Ljubljana gastronomy is at a high level, that our food is safe and healthy, and that Slovenia – the European Region of Gastronomy 2021 – is a country that successfully combines gastronomy with the principles of sustainable tourism.