The Open Kitchen conquers Ljubljana

The first Slovenian open-air market with freshly prepared delicacies called Open Kitchen attracts culinary enthusiasts every Friday until October. The central event takes place at the Pogačar square in the heart of Ljubljana. The square hosts dozens of the best culinary service providers from all over Slovenia that prepare fresh food and offer innovative menus. That is why the organisers wish to present only the best culinary service providers every week and thus offer a unique culinary experience to visitors.

The Open Kitchen project was brought to Slovenia last year by an Israeli, Lior Kochavi. Once a week, the Pogačar square at the central Ljubljana market becomes the meeting point of international cuisine and of local and foreign visitors. You can choose between numerous traditional Slovenian dishes – from štruklji and Prekmurska gibanica to Kranjska klobasa which originates from the Gorenjska region and was already mentioned in written sources in the second half of the 19th century. The Kranjska klobasa also appeared on a stamp of the Slovenian Post Office and it has been to space. The astronaut Sunita Williams who is of Slovenian origin took it with her on the journey to a space station. In Cleveland in the USA, one of the important centres of Slovenian immigrants and their descendants, an event is held to select the best kranjska klobasa in the United States of America, whereas in Slovenia the 6th Kranjska klobasa Festival takes place between 20 and 23 August in Sora pri Medvodah.

Lior is very proud of this project and states that quality is the first criterion for culinary service providers to participate in the project. It is also important that the dishes are varied and unique. The new concept of street food unites the international and local cuisine and apart from Slovenian dishes, the stands offer African, Thai, Egyptian, Turkish, Russian and other specialities. Each stand offers a unique experience of taste and the cooks follow the principle of cooking without any competition.

The project that enables the caterers, restaurants, rural tourism providers and independent chefs to present their unique dishes and promote their culinary destinations is the first of the kind in Slovenia and is considered to be of a very high quality. For its excellence it received the International Jakob Award 2014 that is awarded for excellence and quality in tourism in the region of the Alps and the Adriatic. The theme of this year`s competition was to find innovative examples of positive urban street food in tourism and the Open Kitchen is definitely such an example. This is how the special jury substantiated its decision: "The Odprta kuhna project represents an extremely innovative and original way of offering street food. It exceeded all expectations, both regarding visitor turnout and the quality and variety of the food. Another important ingredient of Odprta kuhna is its openness and multicultural culinary offer. Apart from offering foods from the 24 gastronomic regions in Slovenia, other cultural surroundings offer and present their cuisine as well." It is not only the professional public that loves their offer, but also and especially, the visitors.

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