DAVID ŽEFRAN
RIDE TO THE STARS
ever get to start something new from scratch. He returned home and soon found himself poring over every detail, from picking the glass and crockery, deciding on every little detail and working with local artisanal producers, to specifying the equipment in the kitchen – an effort to keep costs down. He may not have pursued the path of sociology but his time at university has clearly informed his way of viewing the world of cooking and he sees the kitchen through a different lens. “Yes, just being with people
“By putting bear in one of our signature dishes we are telling the story of this place”
I see the world differently. It is not just about the food and cooking – we all fit into the bigger picture, the economy, agriculture and the wider culture in the world around us,” he says.
COMPLETING THE STORY
From the restaurant in the wondrous surroundings by Lake Jasna and the majestic mountains all around and high above, it very definitely feels like it has its place in the local ecosystem. Te produce comes from local farmers and Žefran has personal relationships with most of them. Te dairy farm is minutes
away and the milk comes in bottles that are returned for refilling; the old school way, which is very familiar to Žefran who grew up on a farm and has memories of crossing his
grandmother’s yard carrying a tin full of milk. It is important, he says,
that the produce served on the plate provides a time and place. “It makes the story complete when the food is local,” he says, adding that he doesn’t serve ingredients that are not accessible to him. “I don’t bring in lobsters from far away, it doesn’t make sense. If we did, we could just drop the restaurant anywhere in the world and it would feel the same.” Instead, he focuses on
the freshwater fish from local lakes and includes ingredients such as bear on the menu – an overpopulation in Slovenia means the state instigates a slaughter of bears each year and some ends up on the Milka menu. “By putting bear in one of our signature
dishes we are telling the story of this place where we are lucky enough to be,” he says. He prefers describing the restaurant as responsible rather than sustainable – there have been too many examples of greenwashing in the sector for him to use it credibly in the restaurant, he says. Putting Slovenia on the
global gastronomic map has largely been taken on by another self-taught chef, Ana Ros from the three-Michelin starred Hisa Franko. She remains the most – if not only – well-known chef from the country. Žefran seems frustrated that the country’s gastronomy is all resting on one person.
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David Žefran ensures that the surroundings of Milka Restaurant are reflected on the plate
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