The new project by three-Michelin-star Slovenian chef is a refined version of a cosy, everyday restaurant where you can have breakfast, lunch, or dinner, with plenty of exciting and varied dishes for every occasion
After months of pop-up events and warming up at Ljubljana’s Slon Hotel, the world’s best female chef Ana Roš opened the JAZ restaurant right next to the city’s central Prešeren Square. JAZ is part of the new AS Boutique Hotel, owned by Slovenia’s famous restaurateurs, the Raspopović family, who recently also opened the wonderful Chalet Sofija in the Alps, near Kranjska Gora.
Ana decided to name Leonardo Fonseca head chef, the most reliable choice considering the fact that he was head chef at Hiša Franko for years, a restaurant that received the most prestigious recognition in September – three Michelin stars. Leo’s brilliant career includes years of working at restaurants such as El Chato in Colombia, where he was born, or Noma by René Redzepi. Joining him in the kitchen is Inês Silva Azevedo, who also spent a number of years with Ana and Leo at Hiša Franko, after which she worked at Copenhagen’s Geranium, three-star Michelin restaurant named 2022 World’s Best Restaurant.
Lenart Černelič, who recently came back from London, where he worked at top fine dining restaurants, such as Sketch, is in charge of the service and restaurant management, which means that Chef Ana will be a mentor and coach to an impressive team.
Ana calls JAZ a ‘young dining’ concept, a refined version of a cosy, everyday restaurant where you can have breakfast, lunch, or dinner, with plenty of exciting and varied dishes for every occasion. The dishes are prepared to the highest standard, which comes as no surprise considering the cooking team’s reputation and experience.
The wine list primarily focuses on Slovenian, but also regional wines, from Italy, Austria, a couple from France, but also from Croatia, such as the Tomac Marany red or Vinas Mora Kaamen Babić.
JAZ is a spacious restaurant, very light and full of greenery. You can access it from Čop Street, passing through AS Hotel lobby, or Knafljev prehod, on the opposite end. We wanted to take a peek at AS Hotel, feel its atmosphere and check out the interior. The building was designed by OFIS Architects, while architect Janja Bulc designed the interior in close cooperation with owner Sebastijan Raspopović.
Thirty rooms, most with city views, and the most luxurious ones overlooking the castle, feature a modern design and have a generous amount of space, the smallest one being almost 24 square meters.
Ljubljana is only a 75-minute drive away from Zagreb, but we’re sure that many people, not only those from Zagreb, will want to visit JAZ at everyone’s favourite weekend destination.
We started lunch with a fantastic ceviche in a lacto-fermented tomato juice with leche de tigre and aromatic lettuce. This was followed by Ana’s excellent vitello tonnato with capers and pumpkin seeds, accompanied by crispy, briefly toasted focaccia from their Pekarna Ana bakery.
Even though we were tempted to try the kaki salad in Acacia honey with tomatillos, cheese emulsion and pine nuts, which is an ‘homage to Istria’, where Ana has a house and spends a lot of time, we opted for Ana’s version of Waldorf salad. The ingredients – apples with celery, semi-dried beetroot, walnuts and a walnut milk and Shiso leaves dressing – come from farmers who have been Ana’s food suppliers for years. Simply put, it’s an excellent dish that we could eat every time.
Pasta is Ana’s favourite dish, so we didn’t want to miss her signature dish, Pasta Ana in Istrian tomato sauce with mountain curd and Istrian olive oil. This delicious tomato sauce is prepared every year by Ana’s father Bojan. The main course was a perfectly grilled venison backstrap with celery root purée, black truffle and oyster hollandaise. Simply perfect. We ordered a couple desserts and our favourite was the kobariški štrukelj.
We agreed over lunch that it’s a pity that Zagreb doesn’t have this type of fun, conceptual restaurant with seriously good cooking. Local, seasonal produce will remain the backbone of the changing menu, so we look forward to trying new things in the future.
Text Hrvoje Petrić
Photos Klemen Mramor