Academia

Tomislav Kožić, chef at the restaurant Academia of the hotel Kaj in Marija Bistrica, has learned his trade at the prestigious hotel Ritz in Paris, where he was cooking for the world famous people. He has also worked in many luxurious hotels along the Adriatic coast. Despite this, he has demystified food preparation and stripped it down to one word only – local.

 

“When I come to some new place, I always ask the waiters to bring me what they eat, that’s the whole philosophy. I must offer calamari and fish, but nobody is happier than me when someone orders a chicken, hen, piglet or our local štrukle (special pastry typical of Zagorje)”, explains the chef, Tomislav. He doesn’t like when food becomes a matter of too much theorizing.