Karma Restaurant | A New & Brilliant Story On The Old & Concealed Zadar Walkway

Zadar, however, with the 27 km-long coastline of its urban part offers walkers much more space and experience. The entire coast is a unique promenade made up of several many and specific small units. Nevertheless, from almost every point on the coast of Zadar you can enjoy the marvelous view of the unique sunset that "sinks" into the sea, but also the unique scent of that same sea. That is why we love coastlines. 

A small walkway not one kilometer distant from the center itself has remained somewhat concealed and secretive, and thus ideal for walkers looking for peace, those who wish to avoid the city hustle and bustle. Karma is a coast belt in the southeastern part of the city next to the Arbanasi area. 

Karma is a long, sandy and gravel beach that extends onto the Kolovare city beach. The Karma walkway is situated on a surface somewhat higher than the beach and the sea and allows car traffic for the most part of the walkway. Although with its views and ambience, it does not fall behind some other parts of the Zadar promenade walkway, Karma did not have a serious restaurant offer.

At least that was the case until last year, when Josip Valčić, a well-known former Croatian handball player from Zadar, decided to build an apartment building with a dozen apartments, including two exclusive penthouses. A large swimming pool was placed at the top of the building with a fantastic view of Zadar and its entire canal with the many islands scattered in the Zadar waters. The ground floor of the building houses a restaurant that acquired its name from the walkway – Karma. For the restaurant business, Valčić found a partner - the famous Zadar restaurateur and skilled fisherman Marko Vukić.

The gastronomic idea was basically Mediterranean and Croatian and constantly develops and changes with the seasons, with seasonal ingredients. The owners engaged young chef Bruno Kalmeta, a student of the Zadar Cooking School, a 25-yaer-old young man who already had 10 years of experience in various good restaurants and the new shining star shines of Zadar gastronomy in Karma. Bruno carefully draws up the seasonal menus, and in agreement with the owners, they include both meat and fish, aged prime steaks, but dishes composed exclusively of seafood, primarily the freshest fish regularly brought by the co-owner and inveterate fisherman Marko. 

An interesting fact is that Bruno does not like the expression “modern cuisine” even though his knowledge of various even most contemporary techniques in culinary art inevitably associates with the trendy fine dining order of dishes. However, in Karma, neither the owners Marko and Josip nor chef Bruno want to standardize the offer in that way. Bruno's dishes, therefore, offer rich, serious, and complex meals full of flavors that are characterized by the unlimited creativity of the chef and, obviously, the great knowledge he acquired in a relatively short period of time.

- We wish to be a fine restaurant offering dishes that dive deep into tradition. Old Dalmatian and Zadar dishes, the ones my grandparents and their friends talked about, are my constant inspiration and that is where I constantly find something new. I am trying to retain the traditional tastes and present them in a different manner – says Bruno who adores the Italian cuisine and dishes.

And it thus started. Just then, while we were talking, a large dentex that had just been caught by Vukić arrived in the restaurant kitchen, and there was no doubt - we would try the chef's fish dishes. 

The first dish we were served was white-fleshed fish Tartar, and maybe the best we had ever eaten. Bruno, namely, retained the original freshness and taste of the just caught dentex and everything with which he enriched the dish emphasized that originality. Dots of mango and lime gel, a drizzle of olive oil with parsley, chives and refreshing drops of orange and lemon juice, edible flowers, dried olive and beetroot powder - all this beautified and enriched the plate, discreetly complementing the original taste of the completely fresh fish. 

White-fleshed fish fillet is the main ingredient of another Karma dish, even though the side dish may be more interesting than the fish itself.  The chef grilled the fish fillet and served it on freshly cooked polenta. The traditional Dalmatian polenta was a dish of the poor made of corn grits and it may be simple but not Bruno's dish. He created a real sensation from that simple dish by cooking the polenta in scampi stock seasoned with Dalmatian herbs and acquired a completely new and rich flavor for the simple polenta. The dish was finalized with orange and butter sauce. Simple and perfect!

Fish again! - we cried softly when the third course arrived. It turned out that there was no reason for anxiety – boredom does not reign in Karma nor in Bruno’s dishes.  The chef was very proud of the third course he had prepared for us: Brodetto Fine Del Mondo, actually a traditional Dalmatian brodetto of white-fleshed fish where the chef played with many various ingredients. He cooked salsa separately and drowned fillet, scampi and shrimp in it, enriched it all with (unusual and new) saffron and wine vinegar, and then served it all on cold polenta and embellished it with arugula. We were told that this brodetto was the most sought for dish in Karma.  Why not - not only did we get a rhapsody of flavors, but it was also the first brodetto in which we didn't have to fight frantically with fish bones.

This and other Bruno Kalmeta excellent dishes (we did not even peak into his meat assortment even though we will at the first opportunity of tasting lamb chops with pea cream) are only one part, but the main one, we were surprised by in Karma Restaurant, a new Zadar restaurant gem. A carefully arranged wine list with the best Croatian and foreign wines, a hidden booth for private dinners for 12 people, the possibility of intimate dinners by the pool on the roof with intoxicating views... all this is laid out in this new and interesting story on the old Karma walkway.