A SUPERCHARGED
From the idyllic Julian Alps in Slovenia, chef David Žefran tells Tina Nielsen about his meteoric rise at Milka Restaurant, the importance of working with local producers and showcasing his country on a plate
T 18
here is a parallel universe where David Žefran is an academic, perhaps a professor in his chosen subject sociology, or a
community worker. Te chef owner of Milka
Restaurant in the luxury boutique hotel of the same name in the beautiful area of
Kransjka Gora in Slovenia was not meant to be a chef, much less one with two Michelin stars. Still, this is what happened within six years of his cooking career, and in just two years at the helm of the fine dining restaurant. Growing up in eastern
Slovenia, Žefran did enjoy cooking and often took responsibility for preparing
meals in the family home when his mother was out. When it came to choosing a career path, however, culinary college was not encouraged. Te life of a chef was not considered attractive or stable, so he went to high school and then the University of Ljubljana where he joined the school of social sciences to study human society. It was a gradual process that
saw him turning back towards a life on the cookline. In the final years of his studies, during a postgraduate degree, he took a job to make ends meet, flipping burgers in a café. Te experience reignited
that spark for the kitchen; he went on to work in a brunch restaurant, then a bistro and before he knew it, he was staging in the fine dining three- Michelin starred Restaurant
Frantzen in Stockholm. For somebody who had
never been to culinary school and only cooked professionally for a few years, this must surely have been a slightly intimidating experience. “I was so terrified to go
there,” laughs Žefran, but adds that he soon saw his skills were not that far from the level of the other chefs staging there. “I had already worked as a sous chef in a Michelin starred restaurant, so I had good experience,” he explains. During his time in
Stockholm the call came to head up the restaurant at the boutique hotel, which was being redeveloped. Tough the young chef had envisaged taking a longer time learning his craft while travelling, he figured this was as good a chance as he’d
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
