Tag Archives: Hiša Linhart

An Extra Scrumptiously Sweet Weekend Ahead in Radovljica!

Posted in Adele in Slovenia, coeliac disease, gluten-free food in Slovenia, ifeelsLOVEnia, Radol'ca, Radovljica, Slovenia blog, Visit Radol'ca by

If you don’t have any plans yet for this weekend, then you’ll definitely want to head to Radovljica! Why? Well, because there’s not just ONE but TWO great ‘sweet’ festivals!

The first, on Saturday 23rd September, is the Festival of Honey at the Beekeeping Education Centre of Gorenjska in Lesce.

The festival , which opens at 10am, includes, among other things, a market selling honey and other beekeeping-related products, tastings, and workshops for children.

At 12.30pm, adults can learn about and try honey beer, while Jaka the Clown will visit the festival at 3.30pm to entertain children.

Then, on Sunday 24th September I’d like to invite you (all!) to a festival that I’ve been working on for over six months and which I’m organising in its entirety and voluntarily – Festival of Gluten-Free Flavours and Fun!

As regular readers of my blog will know, I have coeliac disease so eating gluten-free food is a necessity. It is estimated that one in 100 people worldwide have coeliac disease, but only around 30% have received a diagnosis. Getting a diagnosis can be difficult because there are so many symptoms that may, or may not, be a sign of coeliac disease.

The description of coeliac disease according to Coeliac UK is: Coeliac disease (pronounced see-liac) is a serious illness where the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues when you eat gluten. This causes damage to the lining of the gut and means the body can’t properly absorb nutrients from food. Coeliac disease is not an allergy or food intolerance.

Despite being a small country, Slovenia has a lot of providers of gluten-free food, but they are spread throughout the country. In addition to coeliacs, there are also a lot of people who don’t eat gluten for other reasons and who may not be aware of the great range of food available, hence I decided to arrange a festival at which the vast majority of the providers of gluten-free food are present all in one place.

But I didn’t just stop at that, oh no! I decided I wanted it to be a festival for EVERYONE! So, I’ve put together a packed entertainment programme that includes something for all the family, including a children’s programme, archery for children, live music by the Avsenik House Ensemble, Mitja Šinkovec, and Lombardo, free chocolate tasting at the Radolska čokolada chocolatier, free guided tours and more.

Hot and cold food will be available all day from 10am to 5pm, including burgers, kebabs, pizzas, cakes of all shapes and sizes, pies, tarts, biscuits, goulash, pancakes, waffles, burek, gluten-free beer, coffee and other hot drinks, cold soft drinks and more.

Take a look at the full programme below. Entrance is free!

The forecast for Sunday is giving me sleepless nights, as it keeps changing. The festival, however, will take place regardless of the weather. The festival will take place in Radovljica park or, in the event of rain, in Radovljica Manor and Linhart Square.

To end, here’s some other food-related news from Radovljica and elsewhere in Slovenia.

Yesterday, chef Ana Roš’s restaurant Hiša Franko became the first Slovenian establishment to be awarded three Michelin stars, the highest accolade conferred by the restaurant guide. Milka in Kranjska Gora was promoted from one to two stars and seven more restaurants won one star each, including Radovljica’s Hiša Linhart, which retained both it’s Michelin Star and Green Star, the latter is awarded to restaurants who are especially committed to sustainable gastronomy. Congratulations Uroš Štefelin, Marcela Klofutar and the entire team at Hiša Linhart!

So, come rain or shine, Radovljica will be the place to be this weekend!

© Adele in Slovenia

It’s Chocolate Time (Again and Always!) in Radovljica!

Posted in Adele in Slovenia, Festivals in Slovenia, ifeelsLOVEnia, Okusi Radol'ce, Radol'ca, Radovljica, Radovljica Chocolate Festival, Slovenia blog, Slovenian chocolate, Taste Radol'ca, Tourism Radol'ca by

It’s just 11 days until the 10th Radovljica Chocolate Festival – how time flies! I remember the first festival, which was just one day and which led to the start of something much bigger.

Over the years we’ve had three-day festivals, two years with virtual festivals due to COVID-19, sunny festivals, rainy festivals, mega festivals with all-things chocolate, and, in the last couple of years, a two-day festival with a focus on the finest chocolate(s) and an entertainment programme for the entire family.

Thanks to the Radolška čokolada chocolatier, you can now enjoy excellent handmade chocolates throughout the year in Radovljica, but, of course, the Radovljica Chocolate Festival, which this year takes place on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th April, is the event of the year for chocoholics far and wide.

Photo: Mankica Kranjec

Over the past few years, a competition has taken place prior to the festival to find the ‘Best Chocolate‘ among the entries from the chocolatiers taking part in the festival.  This year, 14 chocolates from seven Slovenian chocolatiers entered the competition.

The judges of the competition are the owners of the famous Austrian Zotter chocolate manufacturer.

This year, 1st place went to the Snickers chocolate made by the Hiša čokolade Molinet chocolatier from Kropa, 2nd place was taken by the Goat’s choice good choice chocolate, made by the Radolška čokolada chocolatier, and 3rd place was awarded to the Yuzu and pepper chocolate from the Aska chocolatier.

Visitors to the 10th Radovljica Chocolate Festival, will have a chance to try all three of the winning chocolates, which will occupy a special place in Radovljica Manor. An additional competition will take place to find the ‘Best Chocolate Chosen by Visitors‘ as well as a prize game.

In addition to the chocolate itself, among the highlights of this year’s entertainment programme are:

  • Lego sculptures
  • Chocolate treasure hunt
  • Face painting
  • Cookery workshops
  • Live music (Maraaya, WildArt, Suho cvetje…)
  • Circus workshops
  • Stilt walkers
  • Impro show and other live shows and entertainment

As in previous years, tasting of chocolates takes place via the purchase of tasting coupons.

Of course, there will be non-chocolate food and drink available too, courtesy of Taste Radol’ca restaurants, and, as has also become the tradition, the opening event of the festival will take place with a special gourmet dinner at the Michelin-starred restaurant Hiša Linhart.

Hiša Linhart

The 6-course dinner is produced by 3 young chefs and their mentors – Tomaz Bratovž, Restavracija JB (mentor: Janez Bratovž), Martin Zupan, Hisa Linhart (mentor: Uroš Štefelin) and Darko Krstev, Restavracija Strelec (mentor: Igor Jagodic).

11. Festival čokolade - Premierna večerja treh mladih chefov

The three mentors

Some of the dishes will be subtly flavoured with chocolate, while others will be unashamedly full of it.

Those that know me and regular readers of my blog will know I’m a huge chocoholic, and that I have coeliac disease. The good news is that a few of the stands at the festival will also feature gluten-free chocolate, and, even if you aren’t as big a chocoholic as me, there’ll be plenty of entertainment to keep you amused too!

© Adele in Slovenia

 

 

The Radovljica Chocolate Festival is Back!

Posted in Adele in Slovenia, ifeelsLOVEnia, Museum of Apiculture Radovljica, Okusi Radol'ce, Radovljica, Radovljica Chocolate Festival, Slovenia blog, Slovenian chocolate, Taste Radol'ca, Tourism Radol'ca, Visit Radol'ca by

After a 2-year COVID-enforced hiatus, next weekend Radovljica will again rightly live up to its destination slogan – Honestly Sweet – with the return of the hugely popular Radovjlica Chocolate Festival!

While Radovljica itself hasn’t changed much in the past couple of years – in a positive way, I mean – there are some changes to the forthcoming festival, so I went along to the press preview this Wednesday to find out all the juicy, or rather chocolatey, details!

The opening event of the festival – the gourmet Three Chefs’ Dinner – takes place on Friday 22nd April at Hiša Linhart in Linhart Square. This year the stars of the show will be three young chefs, mentored by three masterchefs.

The festival itself then kicks off on Saturday 23rd April from 9am to 8pm and continues on Sunday 24th April from 9am to 6pm.

The ‘chocolate’ part of the festival will take place this year in Radovljica’s town park, which is just minutes from the main bus station, so ideal if you plan to visit by public transport (unfortunately, maintenance work will be taking place on the railway line, so this year it won’t be possible to come by train).

Chocolatiers from Slovenia, Croatia and Italy will feature at the festival. Among the chocolates available to try (through the purchase of tasting coupons) and buy will be the winning chocolates from the annual festival ‘Best Praline’ competition, which this year was judged by the owners of the prestigious Zotter chocolate factory in Austria.

And Radovljica has even more reason to be proud, since first place was awarded to the chocolate and buckwheat praline made by the new Radol’ca Chocolate chocolatier!

The new Radovljica chocolate hearts made by the Molinet chocolatier in Kropa will also make their debut at the festival.

Meanwhile, in Linhart Square – the heart of the medieval old town – there will be a jam-packed entertainment programme with something for all the family.

The main highlights of this year’s entertainment programme include cookery workshops (chocolate, of course!), live music and dance performances, a chocolate roulette wheel, a 100kg ‘bar’ of Gorenjka chocolate to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Gorenjska chocolate, stand-up comedy, face-painting, discount entry to the Museum of Apiculture, non-chocolate food from Taste Radol’ca (Hiša Linhart and Gostišče Draga) and more.

Click here to find the full programme for both days.

Hope to see you here in ‘Honestly Sweet’ Radovljica!

© Adele in Slovenia

A Perfect Radol’ca Party!

Posted in Adele in Slovenia, gluten-free food in Slovenia, ifeelsLOVEnia, Okusi Radol'ce, Radol'ca, Radovljica, Restaurants, Slovenia blog, Slovenian chocolate, Taste Radol'ca, Tourism Radol'ca, Visit Radol'ca by

If you’re looking for the perfect place to hold a celebration or party, or just seeking some posh nosh and a unique experience, look no further than Radovljica!

I had spent quite some time trying to decide where to throw a surprise get-together for Aleš’s (the other half!) 50th birthday, when in the end the choice was staring me in the face – Radovljica!

Thanks to the new Radol’ca Chocolate chocolatier and the excellent Hiša Linhart restaurant and bistro, headed up by the Michelin star-recipient Uroš Štefelin, I managed to put together a perfect evening and everything went to plan, too! The restaurant, in Radovljica’s historic old town centre, is also part of Taste Radol’ca.

I started by sitting down and going through the menu to ensure that all the food would be gluten-free, which isn’t a problem when it comes to this level of food, where flour isn’t used as a thickener, everything is made from scratch and the chef(s) know(s) exactly what is, and isn’t, in the dishes they create.

I took a bit of a detour towards the old town – just a 10-min walk from home – to ensure that Aleš still didn’t have a clue what was in store! I’d arranged it all in advance with the team at Hiša Linhart and bought all the balloons and other decor. On arrival we were whisked upstairs where the others were waiting and then… SURPRISE!!! And I let out a sigh of relief that I’d pulled it off!

We raised a toast with tepka juice made from a traditional Gorenjska variety of pear, one of Hiša Linhart’s specialities. We then sat down to start our feast, which began with a cold starter of warm gluten-free bread with various flavours of butter, a mini salmon and caviar blini-cum-wrap, potato choux pastry, and the most amazing creation in an egg containing pork crackling.

The latter was ‘delivered’ to us by none other than the chef himself – Uroš Štefelin!

I had specifically requested parsnip soup as it’s my favourite, and also because I knew no one else would have ever tasted it, as parsnips are a bit of a novelty here!

We then had a hot starter followed by the main course…

…and then came the next part of the surprise. A visit to the new Radol’ca Chocolate chocolatier, where Iza – the daughter of the owners – took us through a guided tasting session, during which we learnt all about the history of chocolate, the different types of chocolate and how it is made.

First we had a chance to try different kinds of pure chocolate, as well as cocoa butter  – the latter, surprisingly, doesn’t resemble chocolate in any way.

After having learnt a lot about my favourite food, we were then given the chance to try some of the amazing and creatively flavoured chocolates…

….and got some to take home too!

But that wasn’t quite the end of the evening! We went back to Hiša Linhart (all of a 90 second walk away!) where we made sure we really were bursting full by indulging in a gluten-free birthday cake, which I had ordered from Lincer in Lesce, which offers all kinds of gluten-free (as well as egg-free, dairy-free, etc.) food.

So, as you can see, a great time was had by all, and with full stomachs, the birthday boy and I waddled our way home, both in agreement that Radovljica really is the perfect place for a party!

© Adele in Slovenia