About us
In Slovenia, the decision to stay (too) close to one’s roots is often frowned upon, but as far as we are concerned, our roots are firmly planted in the soil we love, and proudly so. It is the place we have called home our entire lives. Everything we hold dear is nearby, as are our favourite people. Our parents opened a cottage in this same place in 1993, offering a selection of fairly ordinary refreshments for hard-working local people.
To this day, these same locals join us for a beer at our bar, and we will always welcome them with open arms. Even the view has remained unspoilt. Those are the same luscious forests and meadows that Luka, Barbara and Lucija explored as youngsters and through which their children now wander.
Luka and his people
When Luka took over the reins in the kitchen in 2009, Mom and Dad reluctantly watched his experimental journeys through exciting culinary concepts of Scandinavian, Japanese and Basque traditions. While Luka still likes to consider ideas from abroad and incorporates them into his culinary philosophy, he wisely combines the acquired knowledge and open-mindedness with the familiar taste of the home environment. He now uses avant-garde approaches and refined techniques with the premium ingredients from the garden, where his sister Barbara reigns, seeing that it stays green even in the midst of winter.
He stays loyal to the ancient art of foraging and keeps developing new takes on traditional and modern techniques of storing, pickling, drying, salting, smoking and fermentation. His first certified organic duck farm in Slovenia, which he devised with famous Swedish breeder Peter Blombergsson and his father-in-law, presents examples of good duck breeding practices, where the animals’ general well-being is the main priority. Together with local breeders and growers, fish farmers, hunters, wild catch experts from the Adriatic coast and other supporters of natural farming approaches and bio-dynamic wine production, he created a community of like-minded suppliers dedicated to a greener future. The wonderful people working at Grič share this same love for nature and all that it offers. This lovely team of caring individuals helps create memorable combinations of tastes, paired perfectly with a selection of creative beverages, chosen by Nejc, Benjamin and Lucija.
Green is the key.
Grič will stay devoted to sustainability and choosing traceable ingredients for our dishes. We are humbled by the surrounding nature that allows us to follow our vision with its generosity. To ensure this will continue well into the future, we joined the community of like-minded people that adhere to the criteria set by the Foundation for Environmental Education and were awarded the Green Key award for excellence in the field of environmental responsibility and sustainable operations within the tourism industry. Only with a joint effort will we be able to protect nature.
To provide a greener future, we use local ingredients grown on our farm, picked in the surrounding forests, meadows and fields, or selected from our nearest growers and producers. With a carefully planned dish preparation process and various food-conservation techniques, we strive to avoid wastefulness. We use as many leftovers as possible for our animal fodder or compost for the garden, kept green with the help of our rainwater collectors. By reducing waste and through mindful recycling, we try our best to continue down the path towards a greener tomorrow.
This is our story.
And although the one told by our plates changes with each season and the weather, the narrative that transcends these elements will remain honest and unchanged, for it resides in the little things we do best.
