After leaving Predjama and its tales of medieval sieges and an unexpectedly strategic toilet placement, we continued north-west through Slovenia’s green and hilly Littoral region.

The drive itself was beautiful with villages scattered across the landscape, houses sitting surprisingly close to the roadside with daily life unfolding right at the door. Stepping out your front door must require a certain level of confidence.

Between villages were rolling green hills, vineyards, vegetables, gardens and breathtaking views.

But our minds were increasingly elsewhere.

Jeff had come across an article while planning the trip about a self-taught Slovenian chef who had recently been named the World’s Best Female Chef of 2017.

Her name was Ana Roš.

Her restaurant, Hiša Franko, operated from a family farmhouse just outside Kobarid and doubled as a small guesthouse. Her cooking was said to reflect the surrounding landscape and was shaped by local ingredients, memory, intuition and a strong sense of place. Entirely self-taught, she was helping put Slovenian gastronomy onto the world stage.

We had no idea what to expect.

But we knew we had to go. But first, lunch.

Šmartno

Lunch time found us in the hilltop village of Šmartno, just inside the Slovenian border, and what a beautiful surprise it turned out to be.

Perched high above the surrounding landscape with sweeping views in every direction, the village immediately felt special. The entire settlement has been declared a cultural heritage monument, and it didn’t take long to understand why.

Exquisitely preserved white stone buildings topped with red tiles, narrow cobbled laneways and colourful flowers spilling from windows created the perfect village atmosphere. At the heart of the village sits the Parish Church of St Martin, quietly watching over daily life as it has for centuries.

Sometimes places leave an impression without doing anything dramatic, and Šmartno was one of those places.

We quietly said to ourselves that if we were ever back in this part of Slovenia, we’d return.

As it turned out… we did. But that’s a story for another blog.

Lunch at last, according to Jeff, who had apparently been open for business for quite some time.

We found a table outside in one of Šmartno’s narrow cobbled laneways and settled in for what felt like the perfect long lunch. The weather was warm, the village quiet, and there was something about sitting among old stone buildings that made time slow down a little.

Jeff was immediately drawn to the steak tartare and ordered enthusiastically. Me… not so much. Raw beef has never really been my thing and I watched his enjoyment from a safe distance.

That said, sitting there in the sunshine with good food, mountain views and nowhere else we needed to be felt like one of those unexpectedly perfect travel moments.

You can never go wrong with a chicken salad, wherever you are.

Kobarid – Hiša Franko

We left Šmartno after lunch and continued on toward Kobarid and, more importantly, our much-anticipated final destination, the restaurant and bed & breakfast called Hiša Franko.

This was the part of the trip Jeff had been especially looking forward to.

The village of Kobarid sits in a valley surrounded by steep, dramatic mountains, only a few kilometres from the Italian border at the western edge of Slovenia.

After checking in, we couldn’t resist a small detour – a drive out to the nearby border crossing with Italy. Just for fun, we crossed over, turned around, and crossed straight back again. No real reason beyond curiosity and being kids at heart, the silliness of it all and just being able to.

Hiša Franko lies a short drive from the village, set in peaceful countryside and run from a traditional farmhouse surrounded by gardens of herbs, flowers and vegetables, much of which finds its way directly onto the plate.

It’s the kind of place that encourages wandering slowly, pausing often, and sitting quietly beside the creek while everything feels just a little more still than usual.

We began with pre-dinner drinks in the courtyard.  The excitement was building – a very happy Jeff indeed!

Our 11 + Course Menu for the night, all with paired wines.

The 11-course tasting menu with paired wines set the tone for the evening. It was a progression of dishes designed to be experienced slowly, with each plate accompanied by a detailed explanation from the waitress, to its own carefully selected wine.

We took photos as the courses arrived, though by some point in the evening the edges began to blur slightly. The lighting softened, the focus slipped, and the images became a little less precise with each passing course. Those paired wines… oh dear.

Jeff, always curious about food, cooking and the people behind it, quietly disappeared from the table toward the end of the meal. It took him quite some time to return, and I assumed he had possibly struck up a conversation with someone somewhere.

He had. He had been peering into the kitchen and been invited in by one of the chefs for a chat. The was Australian with Slovenian heritage. A small connection in an otherwise very Slovenian evening, and one that only added to the sense that Hiša Franko was as much about people as it was about food.

The morning after was slow and quiet, the kind that felt very much needed after a very full experience.

We enjoyed a leisurely, homely breakfast at the farmhouse. It was simple, fresh, and grounding in contrast to the elaborate evening before. There was no rush, no urgency, just the quiet rhythm of a new day in the Slovenian countryside.

The staff, food and service throughout our stay were impeccable, as was the accommodation itself.

It was, without doubt, a most memorable evening.

Well… what we can remember of it.

Catherine & Jeff