DOMINIK GOBEC (VRT BELI VOLK)

Your profession is less well known in the world of haute cuisine than that of chef, sommelier, waiter, bartender and others, but it includes elements of all of these professions. What would you yourself call your professions? Can you give us a little glimpse of what your job is like?

In Slovenia, we have come to be known as mixologists, which I think is too international of a term, but on the other hand, master mixologist might sound a bit pretentious. What I find to be more important than the title itself is the awareness of what it means to be a mixologist - an understanding of basic spirits, natural ingredients, the balance in beverages and preparation techniques, knowledge of different formats such as "long drink", "stir drink", "shaken drink", and textures such as foam, bubbles, viscosity, etc. We bring all of this knowledge to bear to create new drinks, each with their own logic.
It's a broader view of the world of drinks and service - you only become a mixologist when you transcend your desire to prove your skills and knowledge and come to truly understand the guest and recognise their expectations, which are very different in our cocktail garden or in a two-Michelin-starred restaurant.

Creating drinks to pair with food is a particular challenge - to create a drink that, on the one hand, complements the plate and, on the other, is its own entity that makes an impression.

True, in this role, the drink must stand alongside the plate and have its say, but must at the same time respect the fact that the plate comes first. There is a reason for saying that the drink is an accompaniment to the food and not the other way around, it must not overshadow or dominate the plate.

It is for this reason that mixologists must first reach an in-depth understanding of the plate through dialogue with the chef and tasting and only then develop their own idea, which is not identical to the idea of food, but which is complementary nonetheless.

This then leads to, for example, the creation of a genuine and high-end restaurant-worthy "juice", which is the lingo for the soft drinks we create. These present us with an additional challenge: how to stop the guest who has chosen a non-alcoholic pairing from drinking? We are used to down soft drinks in one go, but in this case we want the guest to respect the drink, to stop, swirl the glass and notice the texture, the colour and all the other sensory qualities of the drink.

Wine used to be the only beverage that had a “seat” at the table of fine dining restaurants. How has the concept and perception of pairing with different beverages changed since you have been active on the scene? How much interest is there in cocktail pairing nowadays compared to wine, and how much in non-alcoholic pairing?

In my experience, guests coming to a quality fine dining restaurant are quite open to novelty - they have experienced and tasted wine pairings many times and are interested in a new experience such as a non-alcoholic or combined pairings. Another important aspect is that guests avoid wine pairings because they find there is simply too much alcohol for them with long tasting menus. This is why more and more of them welcome non-alcoholic beverages with tasting menus. During my time at the Restaurant Milka, the percentage went up to 75% in a given week.

Even restaurants themselves, especially those on the verge of receiving Michelin stars or those that already have Michelin stars, are investing more and more in this aspect as they strive to serve the guest holistically – it is no longer just about the plate, the ambiance, the level of cooking and service, and the wine cellar. And if we pay attention to all these details, then we cannot simply bring commercial drinks bought in a supermarket to the table as a non-alcoholic option.

How did you start your journey into the world of drinks? Where and how did you receive your training? Who were your mentors and from whom did you learn the most?

I brewed my first coffee when I was 16 years old working in my father's bar and – since it was a family business – hospitality has been with me my entire life. During my student years, a colleague got me a job at Holiday's Pub. I was completely consumed by the nightlife of the pub - you're free during the day, you can study, and then go to work in the evening, which is also a party. We had about 100 bottles of alcohol there, which I got to know and analyse as I worked, and as time went on I started mixing cocktails. During that time, I read a lot of books, surfed the Internet, listened to countless podcasts and accumulated knowledge, and after about five years of working nights I started longing for a change.

I took a job at the Kavarna Moderna café where I quickly advanced from merely making coffee to mixing a thousand and one gin and tonic combos, and soon after that also diversified into aperitif and coffee cocktails. During this period, I met Luka Nagode from Vera Spirits. We quickly hit it off and worked together for five years. Luka was willing to invest a lot in my knowledge, which helped me immensely with all the challenges that followed, and he later introduced me to David and the team at the Restaurant Milka where I started as a consultant and then joined the team.

I had never worked with food until then, but the team and I trained intensively and managed to bring the level of service to an enviable level. There, I created a wine-inspired non-alcoholic pairing which was grounded in the wines I had talked a lot about with Lenart, the sommelier at the time, and then added my own creative twist. An example of such a drink was the non-alcoholic 'orange wine': clarified pepper juice with verjus, which is the juice of unripe grape berries, to which we added carrot cordial with rooibos, tonka bean and black tea, and added a koji tincture as the bitter element. We mixed vast amounts of complex drinks like this at the time, and guests who had previously eaten at the great restaurants such as Noma or Geranium claimed that they had never had such a pairing anywhere else.
Another important source of knowledge came from meeting the right people like Gal (NB: Pilko) and Jan (NB: Križaj) as we fired up and encouraged one another, grew together, created an incredible community and simply lived our calling.
So, through a combination of intensive study of a wide variety of sources, work experience and the amazing people I have had the opportunity to work with and learn from, I have mastered everything I know today.
Then it was time to come back to myself, because working at this level requires the whole person. It seems to me that the whole community is now going back to its roots - after a period of demonstrating knowledge and understanding complexity, it is now time to take a few steps back and bring mixology to a broader audience. I now know that I will not bring this culture to people if I am starting from myself and my own desire for validation. I see a similar shift in chefs as we all feel the same way, and I think this is the way to go.

Even though your profession revolves around guests, i.e. people, the whole process of acquiring knowledge often seems to have been a lonely one.

I think the hardest part, at least for me personally, was to show people the value of my work in a newly emerging profession. It is hard to show the value of something that you cannot as yet sell to anyone. You spend ten years cultivating knowledge because it means so much to you, but in the process it is too abstract for anyone to be interested in it and to understand it. It is only today, after many years, that the value of everything I have invested in it is visible to everyone. Today, I like to tell this story, but during the learning process this was often not the case. To return to the question - yes, it has often been a lonely road, but, as cliché as it sounds, I would not change it for the world.

You have been involved in a lot of enviable projects in recent years, including co-creating the menu at Milka, which has already picked up two Michelin stars in its first two years of operation, co-organising the Brina cocktail and mixology festival, creating the non-alcoholic pairing for the Strelec restaurant... What's the one achievement you're personally most proud of?

Milka is still my proudest achievement because it was the biggest step forward for me and by far my most creative period. I know a lot of people say that creativity is not possible when we are under pressure, but I don't agree with that at all. It's harder when you're too free – you can have an idea or two, but as with any work, it is motivation, focus and dedication that bear the most fruit.
Overall, what makes me happiest is that the results today demonstrate that I was on the right track. Brina is a good example - both the festival and the stand at the Open Kitchen have garnered a massive positive response. The same goes for our Vrt Beli volk cocktail bar. These are the projects that make me realise the mission I have cherished all along, which is to bring mixology closer to the people.

What are your goals and wishes for the future? What would you like to see in Slovenian mixology, culinary scene and drinking culture?

In the long term, I would like to preserve and build on what we have at the Vrt Beli volk cocktail bar, and complement it with a few successful concepts, one of which, perhaps the most daring and progressive, I will keep to myself so that someone doesn't beat me to it. (laughs) The plan or wish that I can share is a small cocktail bar that will be the best in Slovenia and beyond.
And I also have a strong desire to work with young people who are interested in the field because that is the only way the scene will grow and develop further. I would like to see this profession gain greater visibility and not at the level of celebrity chefs, but rather in terms of creating a system that encourages new people to explore this field.

What advice would you give to young people interested in a career in the world of mixology or the pairing of food and drink?

Nowadays, knowledge is more accessible and I am glad that I don't need to advise them to follow my path. There are many potential mentors, established processes and more structured resources, so they don't have to learn from their own mistakes. What I advise them is to find a mentor that suits their style, but above all to keep an open mind because there is no right or wrong in mixology. Of course, there are certain rules or certain combinations that work, but there is plenty of room for creativity.

What are your favourite restaurants and bars in Ljubljana and the surrounding area? Where would you refer a first-time visitor to Ljubljana?

For a relaxed meal I like Zanoodle, I also really like Georgie Bistro and TaBar, and for brunch I often visit the central market, i.e. the My štruklji Slovenije roll dumpling shop – during the tourist off-season you will often find me there, sitting alone, reading and eating meat balls (čufti) with mashed potatoes or barley stew (ričet). I like to get a coffee at the Kavarna Moderna café or at Čokl, and grab brunch at the Le Petit Café because I'm impressed that they've kept up the quality and the atmosphere for so many years. When I’m in the mood for a cocktail, I go to Kolibri or Suzy Bar at the Vander Hotel.