Gastronomic Offer of Advent 2023 in Zadar, Second Part

Gastronomic standards of Advent in Zadar – sausages, burgers, fritters, mulled wine and gin… - has long been set, those basic morsels are omnipresent icons at other bigger and more well known Advent fairs and will be sought for even this year at Petar  Zoranić Square and Five Wells Square. 

However, a closer look at the applications received by the 25 hospitality workers who got their places under the illuminated tarpaulin clearly shows that the food offer at the Advent of Zadar will be far more interesting and diverse than the basic standards, and that at least some of the hospitality workers are trying to introduce different refreshments and surprises. Along with the entertainment program, the gastro offer will be the most interesting part of the Zadar Advent, and the ambitious and imaginative hospitality workers also need a curious and hungry public that is ready to explore the sea of Advent houses.  In several continuations, we will present the best from the offer of each of this year's houses.

So, let us start in the order of the market stalls…

Grandfather's House

This is the third house in the joint team with Lion's House and Kod Rođe House, making the offer quite equal: homemade pork-lamb slightly smoked sausages as well as confectioned ones, plates of prosciutto and cheese, fritters, mulled wine and mulled gin are their main offers. And, of course, the bright smiles of the cook and waitress.

Christmas Colonna

One of the best Zadar cocktail masters of the younger generation, Moreno Samobilić, with his partner Dijana Kreber brought to the Advent from their nearby cocktail bar Colonna a selection of warm and cold mixtures.  Feliz Navidad acquired its name from the famous Christmas song and just one of its liquid gems ideal for the cold Advent evenings. It consists of tequila, agave, orange liqueur, compote of apples and chocolate.

And it is very hot. Diana and Moreno reduced the food offer to just a few dishes, of which we single out three burgers: El Classico with burger in excellent Kroštula brioche roll (and all other burgers are made with rolls from this excellent bakery), Schwartz & Negro in black roll and Alternativno, a vegan burger that would be desired even by orthodox meat eaters. The brilliant Slavonian – a smoked sausage made from the meat of the black Slavonian swine has rightfully been transferred from the last year Advent offer of this house.

Boogie X Picnic

Maestro of Zadar fast food, Vedran Božićev has already been celebrated for his food truck and house at Zagreb and Zadar Advent fairs, and here he joined with Boogie Lab from Zagreb, creating a fresh and top hospitality story. Their earlier connection was the artisan bakery Kroštula whose bread rolls are the second most important part of the street food on offer in the Advent houses. 

The first most important part is the meat content. This time, Božićev has multiplied the offer in such a way that everyone can choose their dish by choosing between čevapčići made of aged black agnus beef, black agnus sausages or homemade Biloglav sausages, paš and hot dogs, and combine them at will with four types of original side dishes: Asian, with truffles, beans or padan cheese. A total of 16 combinations! Culinary creativity is not lacking in the sweets and cocktails neither: Cronut is an excellent cream fusion between American donuts and French croissants with pistachio and chocolate cream or nutella with cranberry powder, and boiled panettone is a warm cocktail with vodka, chamomile and pieces of Kroštula cupcakes. Ginger and several other hot cocktails can be ordered if you do not feel like eating and drinking at the same time…

Tradition in a Glass

Šime Katuša, an entrepreneur and his wife run a serious family agricultural community and their house offers one part of their homemade products with their knowledge of the traditional Croatian cuisine. He mulled wine is prepared in a large cauldron and he offers slightly smoked sausages produced by himself according to his own secret recipe. Šime enriches his offer a couple of times a week with cooked dishes and he surprises us with an excellent venison goulash with gnocchi. He alternates that dish with beans and his sausages and cured meat. To have fast food fans enjoy themselves, Tradition offers its guests a grilled aged rump steak in a sandwich. This house is easy to recognize by the hanging decorations - pancetta, bacon, homemade sausages…

Lika House

As expected, Lika House offers Lika specialties starting from Lika potatoes from which halves (pole) with bacon are baked. The friendly head chef and waiter Danijel cook as many as five types of sausages in the kettle, and the local Lika sausage is also available in combination with sauerkraut and boiled buncek (pork meat). It is good that someone remembered to cook dry pork meat, a real winter delicacy, as well as the classic sarma that Danijel serves with buncek on the wooden board. Wood is a base for slices Lika dried sausage. Besides sarma, Danijel sometimes prepared venison and offers it on a Lika tray with sauerkraut, buncek and homemade sausages.  The beverage offer would be the usual Advent one if it were not for the real Lika šljivovica (plum brandy) that can be tasted only in this house.

Mediteranneo

Robert Pinto, the experienced Zadar chef and teacher at the Tourism and Hospitality School brought to his Advent house a part of the culinary philosophy of Trattoria Mediteranneo, that he has been running successfully for years. He changes two cooked dishes every day, such as lamb with peas and broad beans, cheek meat with gnocchi, venison... and on Fridays, cod is a must as well as a fried small fish and prawns.. an excellent minestrone made of cuttlefish and chickpeas awaited us one Wednesday and a Slavonian light homemade sausage or the Baranja spicy one needed tasting and they are always on offer. Pinto's mulled wine is according to his own recipe.

Teskerin Pinot is enriched with caramelized sugar and a combination of the chef’s spices. Mediteranneo offers its own white wine squeezed from Maraština from the vineyards of Tomislav Glavić in Nadin. Can a better recommendation be needed?!