The most culinary month in Ljubljana is coming to an end

November Gourmet Ljubljana concludes today, November 30th. In the culinary studio Rashuska, there will be a sourdough bread baking course, while at the Meat Business butcher shop, an interactive workshop titled Fusion Pig Slaughter will take place, where chef Jorg Zupan and butcher Marko Butalič will combine traditional pig slaughter with modern cooking techniques.

Culinary Experiences

In its seventh edition, the festival offered a variety of culinary events, tastings, and experiences. Events included tours of the Ljubljana market Yummy Market Walk, Ljubljana Beer Experience, and guided tours of the Broken Bones distillery. Special experiences included whiskey tastings with one of the foremost experts and critics of this beverage, The Whiskey Bible author Jim Murray.

Numerous restaurants, merchants, and hotels prepared special festival offers. Restaurants like Aftr and Culinary Studio 2.0 offered brunch, Hotel Cubo and Hotel Mrak served breakfast, bistro Mala terasa provided urban dinners, Rashuska culinary studio hosted Thursday gatherings with snacks and drinks, and Švicarija organized Sunday Ljubljana lunches with Slovenian music. Drinx store arranged a wine and homemade ferment tasting by chef Luka Košir from the Grič restaurant, Meat Business offered a tasting of raw dishes from meat and fish by chef Tomaž Bratovž from the JB restaurant, and Jezeršek hospitality organized Cable Car Dinners at Krvavec. At the Center for Culinary and Tourism KULT316, the culinary lab at the Rog Center, and the Rashuska culinary studio, various cooking and pastry courses and workshops for children and adults took place, ranging from cookie baking to understanding different types of oils.

Several St. Martin's Day celebrations occurred, including the well-attended Ljubljana Wine Route. The 25th Slovenian Wine Festival took place at Cankarjev dom, and the Aftr restaurant hosted the autumn edition of the Brina mixology festival with workshops by renowned mixology masters.

The significance of the festival for Slovenian gastronomy was recognized by the Michelin Guide. In an article about new restaurants included in the Slovenian guide, November Gourmet Ljubljana was also presented.

Educational Aspect of the Festival

November Gourmet Ljubljana also honored young talents in gastronomy. Under the guidance of Gault&Millau Slovenia and in partnership with Tourism Ljubljana, a new season of the Znanje pod kapo (Knowledge Under the Cap) project began. It is an educational virtual classroom with recordings of workshops by the best Slovenian chefs, aimed at popularizing culinary professions. Particularly for those entering the hospitality industry, it provides essential practical experience. In the first episode of this school year, chef of the year 2023 Janez Bratovž cooked in the JB restaurant in front of cameras with students from the BIC Ljubljana educational center, and sommelier Nina Bratovž took care of flavor pairing with wines. The first recordings will be available in the online classroom next month.

Tourism Ljubljana Award for Successful Development of a Tourist Gastronomic Destination

As part of the recent JRE Academy in Nova Gorica, Tourism Ljubljana received an award from the international association of young restaurateurs and culinary masters JRE for the successful development of a tourist gastronomic destination. As emphasized by the award presenters, restaurateurs usually share recognition with organizations quite reservedly, so Ljubljana Tourism accepts the award with even greater responsibility. By collaborating with co-creators of quality culinary offerings in Ljubljana and communicating it, they will continue to strive for Ljubljana to be increasingly recognized as a top-notch gastronomic destination among both domestic and international visitors.