Plavi podrum

The owner of Plavi podrum, Daniela Kramarić, is the queen of gastronomy in that area, and the role suits her well. The restaurant also refl ects the character – sophisticated, elegant, with manners ruled by old school and perfectionism, with restaurant guest as the central point of the whole story. Dining has never been just feeding here; dining here means
sensation, perfection, the joining of exquisite food with perfect wine and olive oil. Modern Kvarner cuisine is defi ned in this very restaurant’s offer. The local segment of the most interesting Croatian region, gastronomically speaking, reached all of its potentials here. – There is nothing more important than to respect the season, respect the ingredient. It is our wish to create a new dish over and over again, at least once, or even twice in a season. We have the utmost respect of tradition but we dare to move forward, to the new, new techniques, new orien-tal spices, unexpected combinations of flavours – says Daniela.

A dish that represents Plavi podrum the best is Hokkaido pumpkin and black truffle sea bass – sea bass fillet on rosemary and Hokkaido pumpkin cream with crud and Swiss chard gnocchi, quail eggs and black Istrian truffle. In spring 2012, they created a tasting menu “Clorofilia with a Scent of Truffle” – a cube salad, nudo shrimps, crab and asparagus risotto, Lošinj calamari… Each serving comes with special attention paid to combinations of ingredients and spices, and every now and then, with a little help of innovative technologies of molecular cuisine. They don’t have a chef in the traditional sense of the word; the kitchen is equally reined by Danijel Jardas, Lidija Karajković, Davor Rožić and Dario Koktec-Lovrek. – A perfect guest is in love with gastronomy; a perfect guest loves and enjoys all the flavours of the sea. A perfect guest loves wines and thinks of them as closures to the whole story – says Daniela. She’s been in the restaurant business since she was a wee girl. Her father is the legendary caterer from Kvarner, Josip Tariba, the owner of the Amfora restaurant, a prime jewel in Croatian gastronomy. Never has she doubted that catering is her choice of profession. When her parents took over Plavi podrum, the restaurant with over 100 years of legacy, she was given the opportunity to start her own career.

She has been running Plavi podrum for over 17 years now, and in 1994 she completed a sommelier program, only to become one of the most prominent Croatian experts in the field of food, wine and olive oil. In 2008, her restaurant proudly listed number 94, and in 2010 number 81 on the San Pellegrino best restaurants list. She starts her days at 7 in the morning, making first phone calls and sending her first texts to local fishermen. Over the years she has developed a perfectly functional network of fresh fish suppliers, making all the
good catches available to her.