Until now, the younger Bratovž helped out at his father’s JB Restaurant in Ljubljana. He also honed his culinary skills with some of the best international masters, including the Basque legend Juan Mari Arzak. Now, he is determined to prove what he can do on his own.

With its idyllic nature and surrounding forests, the restaurant’s location in Ljubno is a source of both inspiration and fresh ingredients. Bratovž has already begun to create locally sourced dishes, and he will run the restaurant under his father’s watchful eye.
We had a brief conversation with Tomaž Bratovž.

Since the restaurant operates as part of a glamping resort, what impact does that have on what you do and how you prepare your menu? In other words, will you be able to express your creativity or will you have to stay within the norms of a typical hotel restaurant? Also, is it even the goal of the restaurant to attract a wider clientele or will you focus on the guests of resort?
The guests of the resort are naturally important to us. They’ve visited us for other reasons until now – nature, various activities, wellness, and so on. Now we wish to add to that story by becoming well-known for our food, and we hope that some guests will stay here for a night because of that. That’s why we decided to open our restaurant to a wider clientele. The goal of the restaurant is to attract many guests who will enjoy a culinary treat in a unique ambience. Our dishes will be prepared mainly from ingredients that we will get from local producers and famers. We will also use herbs and vegetables grown in the resort’s own herbal and vegetable garden. I’ll also take typical foods from this area and combine them with my and my father’s culinary inspirations – to create reinterpreted local and Slovenian dishes.

We know your father’s culinary style. What about yours?
My father’s style can certainly be seen in my cooking. After all, I’ve spent time in his kitchen since I was a little boy, and he taught me a lot – or rather everything. Now I have a goal and the necessary knowledge to develop this knowledge further and to create my dishes independently. This way, I can develop a style of my own.

Ljubno is relatively far removed from Slovenia’s main traffic arteries. How – and with what – do you plan to attract visitors?
Even the fresh air and the view of the surrounding plateaus make this a must-see stop. The Upper Savinja Valley has plenty of opportunity to become an important tourist destination. Everyone knows the Logar Valley – well, we are located on the way there. In the long run, we wish to create a restaurant where guests will know what they will get and will visit us for that reason. We also want to become well-known beyond Slovenia’s borders.