Restaurants on the Edge (2019–…): Season 2, Episode 1 - Restaurants on the Edge - full transcript
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[classical music playing]
[Nick] We've been invited by restaurants
on the edge
of the most beautiful views imaginable.
[Karin] Who really need some help
keeping their business from going under.
[Dennis] There is nothing more inspiring
than celebrating a community on the plate.
But far too often, the better the view,
the worse the food.
[Karin] This is about reviving
not only the restaurants...
Everything's at stake for us.
For us, this is life.
...but also the owners' belief
in themselves.
- [woman gasps]
- [man whoops]
This means the world to me.
Oh, my God! [chuckles]
It's like a part of us here.
[Dennis] So, together, we're traveling
the world in search of inspiration
to transform these restaurants
into authentic hot spots
that paint a picture
not just of that restaurant,
not just of that chef,
but of that community.
I'm telling you, my brother,
you all changed my life.
[Dennis] I've been really fortunate
to travel all over Europe,
but I've never been to Slovenia.
Now that I'm here,
I don't know why I hadn't come earlier.
[instrumental music playing]
[Karin] The capital, Ljubljana,
is picture-perfect.
[Nick] Along the river,
you can see cobblestone streets
and people sitting at outdoor cafes.
It's got a real artsy vibe.
[music stops]
[Dennis] This is amazing.
I'm on a bicycle,
riding to a restaurant
in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
[Karin] We're on our way to Žmauc,
a family-run business
that has been a staple
in the historic district since Slovenia
got their independence in the early '90s.
They've had a good run over the years, but
recently, the business has taken a hit.
[Nick] Growing competition
in the neighborhood
is leaving them severely overlooked.
They've been left stuck in the past.
If they can't find a way
to compete quickly, they will fail.
[Karin] Owners Matjaz and Ksenja
and their son, Luka,
feel a makeover is long overdue,
except they don't want to completely lose
the restaurant's old-world charm.
[Dennis] Žmauc has been coasting
on the reputation
as the late-night spot
with a relaxed vibe,
but their menu needs to be kicked up
a notch if they want to stay relevant.
Pulling up to the restaurant,
you immediately notice the cool artwork.
You notice the patio.
It's got a little bit of a street vibe.
[Nick] There's this
cafe-bar-type situation.
[Dennis] And then you walk down a corridor
into the restaurant
and the vibe changes instantly.
[Karin] It's simple
and it feels definitely European.
[Dennis] There's arches everywhere.
It doesn't feel like a restaurant
in and of itself,
other than there's a bar and some tables,
but it needs a little love.
- [Nick] Hey.
- [indistinct]
Luka, nice to meet you.
So, I'm really happy
to have you here in Slovenia,
in the most beautiful country in Europe
or in the world.
I kind of thought
these guys are super cool.
They're super chic, super European.
They're a little hippie.
[Karin] I'm trying to feel the owners out.
What are they like?
Are they excited
we're about to do a transformation?
Or are they nervous
that we're gonna take it over
and change it to something
they don't want?
Žmauc, it was my grandfather's place
but, basically, we got it back in 1995,
after de-nationalization.
Because in Ljubljana,
before, the restaurants
were mostly in hands of the state.
You didn't have these private-hand bars.
So, we were like the first ones
to have imported draft beer.
So, it was totally different stuff.
[Matjaz] We're in this business 23 years.
It's like our child, you know?
Like our second child, yeah.
One is Luka
and the other one is this restaurant.
We own the whole ground floor
of this building,
where we have bar
and restaurant connected.
The plan for the future is to
maybe let this business to Luka,
to our son, but we are still in the game,
and we just don't want
to leave him alone in this.
Lately, the business is not
going as good as we want it,
so we hope that the place
could be much better than now.
We will help him as much as we can.
We just love our restaurant,
but now we need some new direction.
And I think that you just came
in the perfect time for us
to make something newer.
- [Karin] Oh!
- Serving the soup now. [chuckles]
- [Karin] Wow!
- [Luka] And then, the boys.
Slovenian kitchen, at its best. [laughs]
- Definitely.
- [Nick] Perfect. Perfect.
[Luka] It's pumpkin soup
from northern part of Slovenia
called muškatna buča.
When we sat down at the table,
I was pretty surprised.
Honestly, the food was pretty elevated.
The restaurant itself, not so elevated.
Did the restaurant always look like this?
Actually, we just got the restaurant
pretty much in this shape.
We were renting it for one year,
and then we bought the place.
We got a bank loan.
We got into some problems,
and now we're pretty much
struggling now, but--
- No, we are good. We are the best.
- Yeah.
No, no struggling.
- We are the best.
- [Matjaz] We are good, yeah.
So, let's go for the food
and show them what we have here.
[Nick] Luka is having a tough time
admitting they're struggling,
but you have to face facts
in the restaurant business.
You always have to stay
one step ahead of the competition
and take your vision to the next level.
This is the sea bass,
and they're also the flowers
from my mother's
that she's picking up from our garden,
so you can eat it all.
[Dennis] Apparently,
the menu changes all the time.
But without consistent dishes,
you don't build a strong identity.
And that's how the restaurant
will stand out amongst the competition.
So, the flowers, you foraged these?
You picked these yourself?
Yes, yes. My passion.
- [Karin] It's your passion.
- Yeah.
Is foraging a big part
of Slovenian culture?
Oh, yes.
The moment that Ksenja said
she was interested in foraging
and that's a huge part of her life,
I was excited,
so I knew that that had to be a part
of the dishes that we created,
but beyond that, the biggest thing
that is lacking right now is consistency.
What's the demographic? Who's coming here?
We are in this university area,
so a lot of teachers--
- [Matjaz] Open-minded people.
- Open... Creative-minded people.
[Matjaz] Creative, like actors.
On Tuesday, we have these size bites.
On Thursday, we have, like, jazz or funk.
On Fridays, we have DJs.
Their heart, their soul,
everything's in this business.
But sometimes,
when you're facing competition,
you try a bunch of different things
to bring in guests,
but that's also how you can lose focus,
and it'll show in the food, the decor,
and the overall vibe.
[Luka] That's our main dish. Roast beef.
Here's also white asparagus
and two different sauces.
Welcome here. Bon appétit. [chuckles]
- Beautiful.
- [Luka] That's it.
[Karin] I have to say, I'm really
interested in this orange wine.
I've had rose, cabernet, sauvignon blanc,
every color wine
you could possibly imagine,
but I've never had orange wine.
[Matjaz] It's made from red wine
or even white wine,
just you macerate
a little bit more than usually.
[Nick] How important
is this space to you guys?
[Matjaz] We are all three
in this business,
so we don't have any other jobs.
So, it's pretty important.
We breathe with this place.
You know what?
He and she, the heart,
they put it in this restaurant,
you can feel it in the food,
you can feel it in the wine,
you can feel it in the water.
We want to prolong this
and make something out of this place.
- It is such an interesting space.
- [Matjaz] Yeah.
Such an interesting space,
and there's so many things about this room
that I really, really love.
But you know
that I want to come and add to it.
Yeah, we know that.
We are really excited about it.
[Karin] The cool thing
about this restaurant,
it's a place you can have a late-night
dinner, and they throw parties here.
I mean, it's got a vibe
that it's a late-night place.
So, what this really needs to be
is a really awesome supper club.
So, let's make this happen.
For us, it's life.
For us, it's so important
to have you here, guys.
And thank you very much.
[Nick] I've come here,
down to the heart of Ljubljana,
to go over the online reviews
with the family from Žmauc.
- [Nick] Thank you.
- [Luka] Thank you.
[Nick] I wanted to pick
a peaceful environment
in this time of the day
where we're able to go through
some things that aren't as pleasant.
And it's online reviews of your business.
- And you brought them?
- [Nick] And I brought them, of course.
[Luka] Yeah, nice.
But only the good ones, yeah? [laughs]
Only the good ones.
The first one I wanted to touch on was,
"Forty minutes waiting for a burger
and still not there.
After 41 minutes, we left."
- How do you feel about that?
- Yeah, not very good, but--
To be left alone
is a terrible feeling, as a guest.
If food is late making it to the table,
you and your staff
need to be on top of it,
and apologize in the moment.
- It's all about the guest experience.
- Definitely.
The reviews are online for everyone to see
and it's a way
that everyone judges businesses nowadays.
Before they even go into places nowadays,
they're going online.
For instance,
"The staff was very friendly.
Food was okay,
but I cannot get over the fact
that this place
is somehow stuck in the past."
[Matjaz] "Stuck in the past."
We are not stuck in the past, you know?
That is a bad review. [laughs]
- Maybe he's crazy, or something like that.
- [Luka laughs]
But he could also be true
because we had better times.
That's true.
We are of 23 years
on the market in this business,
and we were 23 years younger
with more energy,
- but we are still trying to do our best.
- Very energetic.
Yeah, definitely.
[Nick] I think one of the most
beautiful things about your space is
that it is an old place.
Our main goal here
is putting a modern spin on a classic.
- Do you agree with that?
- Yeah, definitely.
We can still be stuck in the past
in some areas,
but I think we need some...
push. Push, push, push.
If we can just put these reviews
in the past
- and move forward into the future...
- Move on.
- Yeah. Cheers.
- Let's go. Cheers.
[speaks Slovene]
[Nick] It's great to respect your roots,
but the restaurant business is too tough
to sit stagnant.
You've gotta move with the times
and stay relevant.
Žmauc needs something unique
to help them stand out
among the countless new restaurants
that have popped up in Ljubljana.
I have a great idea
to help them make that happen.
[Karin] So, my goal today
is to get the lay of the land.
It's not a huge space but it's old.
That's a challenge.
I know that they've got
a nightlife scene going here,
so, really, I see my job
is just taking it to the next level,
making this restaurant better.
Overall, it's an old space
without a strong design focus.
It even looks like a bedroom
in some spots,
which is not the right mood.
Finding a way to accentuate the old,
yet interesting architecture here
will be a good start.
[Dennis] Slovenia is essentially
covered in forest.
Most of it is forest.
Eating at Žmauc
and really talking to Ksenja
about her passion for foraging,
I was really inspired.
This is a culture that celebrates
that across the board.
So today, I'm hooking up with Bine Volčič.
He's a chef here in Slovenia.
He even hosts MasterChef here.
So, he knows food.
And we're also going to hang out
with his foraging mentor, Katja.
This forest is amazing.
I feel like I'm in a dream a little bit.
- What are we hoping to find today?
- [Bine] I think we'll find some ramsons.
There is also one interesting plant.
It's called a dropping bittercress.
- [Dennis] I hope we find it.
- [Katja] It's here.
- [Bine] It's everywhere.
- [Katja] Yeah. It's all edible.
It's beautiful.
There's a little bit of spiciness,
a little bit of mustard,
a little bit of citrus.
I feel like on there
just if you added lemon zest
or something just very, very gently.
This is aposeris.
This one tastes exactly like raw potato.
That's amazing.
What do you use that with?
[Bine] I usually use it with octopus.
Grilled octopus with baked potatoes,
but I make it in a more modern way.
- Yeah, it's a modern spin on a classic.
- Yeah.
That's beautiful.
I can think of a million ways to use that.
- What is this?
- [Katja] A meadow sweet.
It's like a raw almond with the skin on.
If you taste it,
it really brings you something special.
You're right, it tastes exactly
like an almond with the skin on.
Yeah. These leaves are really young,
but later has flowers.
And these flowers, if you infuse it
into cream and milk
and put some sugar inside
and you cook it a little bit and wait,
the whole cream
has, like, amaretto almond milk.
He knows about his country
and his backyard.
He wants to celebrate ingredients
and make them taste delicious.
[Bine] You can survive in forest.
You just need fire
and water and that's it.
- So, you know what this is?
- No, what is it?
- This is a dormouse.
- [Dennis] Ah! Tail and all.
[Bine] Yeah, everything and head.
When Chef Bine pulled out the dormouse,
honestly, at first, I thought...
I don't know how this is gonna go.
I'm an adventurous eater.
But I would be lying if I said
this wasn't a little bit
of a Fear Factor moment.
If you said to me ten years ago that
I would be in Slovenia in the forest
eating a rat,
would not have believed you.
- It's not a rat.
- But I'm really excited.
- It looks like a rat, but it's not.
- [Dennis] It's not.
It's a dormouse. It lives in a forest.
And you have to eat it with your hands.
[Dennis] Eating dormice is not a fad.
People have been trapping and eating them
since medieval times in Slovenia.
Not only were they sources of protein,
the fat had medicinal properties.
And we will eat it with polenta,
and that will be really foresty dish.
I don't know how to describe,
but it's amazing.
So, all these herbs
we will mix with polenta.
- Are you ready?
- [Dennis] Yeah. Absolutely.
And maybe a little bit of flowers.
- [Dennis] Always.
- [Katja chuckles]
And bite it, like this.
Mmm.
Oh, my God.
Wow!
The dormouse itself
had a little of a chicken flavor.
Everyone says
everything tastes like chicken,
but it was very gamey.
There was a little bit of deer in there.
It was unique.
You have to get beyond the head thing,
a little bit, you know?
The most joyful thing is
how to eat it with the bones and all. Mmm.
And the polenta with the herbs.
Mmm.
And the polenta's packed full
of all of those foraged herbs we found.
It was so fragrant and delicious and light.
All of those herbs mixed together,
it does taste like the forest.
This is the most authentic place.
Nature is always the finest cook,
actually.
[Dennis] Katja said it best.
Nature is our finest cook,
and Slovenians know that
better than anyone.
Anytime I travel anywhere in the world,
I wanna do justice to that food
and that food culture.
I hope that I'm going to bring dishes
to the restaurant
that are going to celebrate Slovenia.
Although I won't be bringing
any dormice into Žmauc,
these foraged herbs are amazing,
and different types are available
all year round.
I'm leaving here full, just flooded
with inspiration to come up with a dish
that's sure to get this restaurant
on the right track.
[Karin] I'm looking for inspiration to
bring Žmauc's supper club that wow factor.
And what's more "wow" than a castle?
I don't know anything about this castle
other than it's built
on the side of a mountain.
Sergeja is a castle historian,
and she knows all about its origins.
This is incredible, behind us.
Can you tell me a little bit
or a lot about this castle?
Well, its name says a lot about it.
The name is Predjama,
which means "in front of the cave."
And it was built in front of a cave
to make it as safe as possible.
It was impossible to get in.
[Karin] But nowadays,
getting into the castle is a lot easier.
And there's so many different elements
to look at.
You've got this cave.
It's dark, it's moist, it's wet,
and it's so interesting to look at, too,
the texture of the stone.
Even though this is mold,
I really love the way that this looks,
this natural patina over time
and the weathering.
You don't know when inspiration
is gonna happen. It just happens.
So, we're entering
the cave part of the castle.
[Karin] You're in a space where there's
a cave attached to a living space.
I mean, that's crazy.
And then it opens up into bigger spaces
with a lot of light.
All of that creates a sense of drama
and a sense of theater.
It feels really intimate
and I'm connecting the dots.
I've got these curved ceilings
in the restaurant.
It's almost got this cave-like structure.
Wouldn't it be cool if the restaurant
was dark and had the feeling of a cave?
Maybe I can do a modern cave.
[Nick] When I was sitting at dinner
at Žmauc,
I got really inspired
when I was poured this orange wine.
So I decided
to travel out of Ljubljana to Goče,
the oldest wine village in Slovenia.
It's situated perfectly in a valley
surrounded by mountains.
It produces some of the best wine
in the country,
including orange wine, which actually
has nothing to do with oranges.
When you're walking down
these little alleyways,
you just want to constantly take
little twists and turns and get lost.
What I hope I'm going to find
is the best orange wine
produced on this planet.
And I really wanna figure out
how I can incorporate it into Žmauc.
Miha, this village is gorgeous.
- Tell me more about this wine region.
- Well, of course, for the orange wine,
it's necessary
that you have a very healthy grape.
And here you realize
that it's always a little bit windy.
This is perfect
for growing orange wine, because...
[Nick] The mountains bring
the right amount of wind over the hills.
The wind protects the grapes
from getting mildew,
and the soil
has the right amount of minerals.
All those conditions come together
to make it the perfect location
for wine production.
- And here we are. This is the wine cellar.
- Ah!
This is my pride and joy.
- Let's do it. Let's go in.
- Let's go.
[Nick] I would be lying if I told you
I didn't have butterflies in my stomach,
with excitement,
with what was behind that door.
[Karin] The castle gave me
the cave concept,
but the owners of Žmauc said
that creative people
are already attracted to the restaurant.
So I wanna make sure the design
reflects Ljubljana's artistic soul.
This place is Metelkova.
It's known
as an alternative cultural zone.
I mean, street culture in Ljubljana?
This is definitely where it's happening.
It used to be the old army barracks,
and when Slovenia gained independence,
artists and activists took it over.
When the government wanted to tear it down
and commercialize the area,
artists like Tina fought back.
Tina's been working here for years,
and her paintings are all over this place.
She's done murals. She's painted
the buildings. She makes lighting.
I'm really excited to get into her studio,
because I think it's gonna be
pretty interesting.
I will show you my biggest mural.
I want to tell with a painting
that big fishes are eating little fishes,
and the jellyfishes are smaller,
but they are very poison,
so be aware.
- [Karin] It's really a social commentary.
- [Tina] Yeah.
- [Karin] That's what you're doing.
- [Tina] Yeah.
My art is always a little social critical.
I became a mural painter
because always I want
to paint big paintings,
but I don't have a room.
Wow!
Well, this is... pretty incredible
how much stuff is going on in here.
[Tina] Yeah, here is too much stuff.
[Karin] This type of mosaic
is on the front of the building as well.
- [Tina] Yeah.
- Did you do this?
[Tina] Yeah, because in the beginning
of Metelkova, the mayor,
he decided that he will destroy...
Metelkova cannot be.
And they attacked this building.
And we decided
that we will fight with art.
So the outside of the building
was an attempt to fill the holes?
[Tina] Yeah.
[Karin] I like what you were saying
about how the artists have taken
building materials and found objects
and broken them and reused them
to really beautify a building
that had been initially destroyed.
It seems like there's a lot of expression,
and a lot of this desire
to sort of speak out.
I like that idea
because that's what art is.
It's taking the old and reinventing it
and making it new.
You're always making
a commentary on something.
[bees buzzing]
[Dennis] The story of Slovenia
includes honey.
Honey is part of the culture here,
so they obviously have a long tradition
of using honey in their diet.
The menu at Žmauc
already focuses on fresh ingredients
done in a traditional way.
But I want to take tradition
and put a modern spin on it.
Danijela and Blaž are beekeeping experts,
and we are in a picture-perfect location
to figure out how I can use honey
with a new twist.
Slovenia, it's a different country
when it comes to bees.
Our hives open from the back,
and that's why they can be stuck
next to each other, like this.
I suggest now that we open now
one of our specialties.
[Dennis] Sure.
[Blaž] The Carniolan bee
which homeland is here.
Wow! I think most people would think
if you got that close to a bee
with your hand,
you would immediately get stung.
[Blaž] Bees are like this.
Uh, if we would now shake the hive,
we would have a problem.
Every third spoon which we eat
is because of these small animals.
[Dennis] One out of every three bites
that we put in our mouths
is based on bees.
Bees pollinating the plants, bees ensuring
that we have great vegetables.
That's staggering.
We need to prioritize bees
or we're not going to have any food.
This looks awesome.
So, these are
all different kinds of honey?
[Danijela] Yes. So, in Slovenia, we have
a lot of different sorts of honeys.
- So, this one is linden.
- [Dennis] The linden.
Honey is special because the flavor
comes from the plants
the bees are collecting nectar from.
- That's beautiful.
- Yeah.
- About after four seconds...
- [Danijela] It goes.
...all the crystals went away
and that citrus started to come out.
- And this is the spruce.
- [Danijela] Mmm-hmm.
This one is more stronger. Has like, um...
burning caramel.
- That tastes like caramel to me.
- [Danijela] Yeah.
But it only happened
once you just let it sit.
The story of Slovenia includes honey.
I have loved honey my whole life.
This is a taste test dream come true.
But I don't know if I've ever tasted honey
that tasted like this.
I think the reason is
because the farmers here
care not just about the honey product
and not about the end dollar
that they get from it.
They care about the bees.
They care what the bees are doing,
they want to give them good lives,
and they want to make sure
that you can taste that in their products.
And I am so inspired,
because now,
honey's not just honey anymore.
Honey is a very unique ingredient,
and it can be celebrated and it can be
the star of the show in a dish.
[Nick] Dropping down into the cellar
was like walking into a wine heaven.
You immediately smell these oak barrels
that have different types of wine in them.
He had charcuterie
that he had cured himself.
Candles are lit.
- This is where the magic happens.
- This is where the magic happens.
I'm starting to notice also you
have a limited production,
and not only that,
there's not too much exporting.
You guys are drinking it all yourselves.
You guys like to drink.
- Yeah, Slovenians like to drink.
- [laughs]
You can see even the orange wine here,
I only have it in two barrels,
so altogether the production,
it's 1,000 liters.
What do you think? Is it time?
- Orange wine?
- Yeah.
I'm ready.
[Nick] I can't tell you how happy I was
when he finally opened that bottle.
Orange wine is a type of white wine
fermented with the grape skins.
That's what gives it that orange color.
Immediately, right on the nose,
you get citrus notes.
When I taste it, you get a little sourness
in the back of your tongue,
but the finish
was absolutely smooth, perfect.
It's a calm, easy-drinking wine
on the palate.
I'm getting little notes of citrus.
You are right on the notch,
because this is made out of rebula,
which is a citrate wine.
This wine is unlike any other wine
I've ever had.
And what makes it so special
is the fact that
it's a grape that is native to Slovenia.
I've definitely found the best orange wine
in all of Slovenia.
I know this is something
I wanna get incorporated
back in Ljubljana, back into Žmauc.
[both speaking Slovene]
[Karin] Metelkova has given me real
insight into Slovenia's cultural identity.
It's really inspiring to see how art
has transformed famous spaces.
The former military prison has undergone
one of the most radical re-designs.
It's gone from jail to youth hostel.
The head architect, Janko,
oversaw the entire redesign.
Architects are like artists,
and their work helps influence
the way we live.
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
[Karin] I'm excited to understand
how he approached this transformation,
and what I can take away to apply
to my own design with the restaurant.
- This was the military prison.
- Yes.
- Okay.
- And these are holes.
- [Karin] Because of demolition.
- [Janko] Yes. One there and one here.
For our group, it was the main challenge
how to transform the most closed space
into the most open one for a new light.
[Karin] This looks like an interesting...
[Janko] This is
the most historical connection.
In the cellar are two dungeons.
Oh, my goodness.
[Janko] Here, the people will get rid of
not only your freedom, but a light, too.
It's pretty impactful to come down here.
[Karin] When you're really physically
standing in a dungeon that's dark
where people were really captured
and were put in solitude,
there's sort of
a really eerie, creepy feeling
that runs through your whole body
when you're standing there.
[mimics explosion]
This is prisoner corridor.
We really didn't want to lose
the basic structure
of a prisoner corridor,
so we have cells on the both sides.
We didn't want to remove original bars.
[Karin] Oh, interesting.
- It's so warm, though, and inviting now.
- Yes, that's true.
Here is another one.
This is original window and nobody
who was in couldn't see the earth,
just sky through the bars.
So we added these little windows
for the touch with the earth.
This is a corner of peace.
- [Karin] A corner of peace?
- [Janko] Yes.
[Karin] My big takeaway from Janko is
he wanted to take something dark
and make it light,
completely change perspective
and flip it on its head.
Every aspect of this building has meaning.
It's so special and so thoughtful
and so...
selfless.
That's the point of design.
It's about
making the world a better place,
and that's what he's done
with this building,
and I think that's why
I'm getting emotional,
'cause I'm thinking,
"Okay, what is it that I'm doing
that's gonna have meaning
in this restaurant?"
That's--
That's my goal for the restaurant,
is to take a space and transform it
and make it better.
Not just for the family who owns it,
but for the people who come and visit it.
I think there's just a higher purpose
when it comes to design.
[Dennis] When you come to a city,
the best thing you can do
is walk around, go to cafes,
see people drinking wine, nice beers,
enjoying food, the square is bustling.
But one of the best parts
is going to a local market.
Slovenia is on the Adriatic.
It's surrounded by Austria, Italy
and Croatia,
and all of these influences
are right here.
This market is happening.
So much going on.
There's all these vendors that are set up.
You really get a sense of
what people love to eat,
and, honestly, what the community is like.
I know this restaurant,
they are having people come in,
yeah, for dinner, yeah, for lunch,
but, honestly, people are coming to drink.
They're coming in for a party.
They don't want an enormous dish.
They want really quick and easy food
'cause they want to get their drink on.
There's something pretty amazing
about eating mussels in Slovenia.
The mussels were incredibly fresh.
Honestly, like, four, five ingredients,
and you're done.
Cheese and carbs are heaven on earth.
Parmesan wheel, pasta on top of it,
cream sauce.
This dish, it's a rock star.
It deserves to be on a menu.
And obviously, once you've had
a feed of mussels and pasta,
there's nothing better than to
top that off with a nice bratwurst.
This is not your mom and dad's hot dog
with ketchup on it.
It was really beautiful,
hand-held happiness.
If the owners are trying
to create a restaurant
where people can come, relax,
attend events and parties,
they're going to want easy, light dishes
for the customers to eat.
The honey, the herbs,
all that street food,
it's all coming together in my head.
Now, I've just gotta get cooking.
Slovenia is one of Europe's hidden gems.
[Nick] We've mined some of its secrets
with amazing experiences.
[Karin] Now we're meeting to talk strategy
about how to take what we've learned
and turn Žmauc
into an amazing supper club.
- It's so nice to see you guys.
- So nice to see you.
- We're in Europe. I can't believe it.
- I know.
I've been on the craziest adventures
and I've had so much inspiration.
I don't even know where to start.
When the family talked about them having
late-night dinners and having parties,
and they bring in DJs and stuff like that,
I felt like the vibe needs to be amped up.
The restaurant, as you guys know,
has a dome ceiling.
It's really interesting.
Because the restaurant right now
is a little bit simple and all-white,
you don't really get
to see the architecture
of the space that well.
So, I went to go
see the only castle in Europe
that's built on the side of a cave.
It would be really great to darken up
the restaurant space,
and really create a distinct
cave-like feeling in the restaurant.
- That'd be cool, right?
- Yeah.
The mom was talking about
how she's a little bit of a botanist,
and I found this great wallpaper company,
PaperMint, out of France.
I really wanna place it anywhere
where there's distinct arches
and a recess in the wall.
You know how there's a little fireplace
tucked in that corner?
I need to do something new
and fresh with it.
So I did this incredible tour
through Metelkova,
and I got really inspired
when I walked by this one wall
that is just covered in mosaics.
What I want to do is break these plates
and teacups
and create a mosaic
over the top of this fireplace.
And that space already has
such a good structure,
but I'm going to layer in vintage elements
and modern elements.
I'm just inspired to turn this restaurant
completely upside down,
and give it a new, fresh and modern look.
Yeah, I love the idea of adding
this kind of club vibe.
Exactly. I feel like this is going to be
the hottest supper club in Ljubljana.
Yeah. We can't have a party without wine.
And the last time we saw each other,
we had a great meal,
but we also discovered
orange wine together.
So, I wanted to get into it
a little bit more,
so I ventured out
into the Goče wine region.
The town of Goče
dates back to the 14th century.
So, it's this really cool,
like, medieval kind of vibe,
and there's over 70 cellars
all throughout this village
which are underground and they have
these little hobbit doors.
I hung out with this guy, Miha,
and his family has been producing wine
for a very long time.
This is actually a wine
that's not produced a lot,
but Miha has really been able to keep up
with the production of this,
and I was actually able
to strike a deal with him
to be able to keep
a consistent flow of the best orange wine
you can possibly have at Žmauc.
We found the best stuff
to give to these guys.
Every supper club needs a signature wine,
don't you guys think?
I love that, because right now
they don't really have a thing
that's driving people there.
The food changes all the time,
the vibe's not quite there.
Why are people going?
They're going to get orange wine.
I love that.
So we're talking a lot
about stepping back in time.
I actually went foraging in the forest.
We were there with an expert, Katja,
and a chef from here, Chef Bine.
He's a MasterChef judge
and he's got some restaurants,
and, you know, he's a local rock star.
We found so many little treasures.
This is wild garlic.
- [Nick] Mmm.
- [Karin] Wow!
Oh, yeah.
[Dennis] We ended up cooking a dormouse
with Chef Bine.
- [Nick] A mouse?
- A mouse. [laughs]
But it actually tasted delicious,
served over this polenta
that was made with a mixture
of all of these herbs together.
So, the polenta,
once you added these herbs,
à la minute, right at the last minute,
it tasted like everything we picked.
And then I got to visit an apiary.
[bees buzzing]
One in three spoons
that we put in our mouth
is because of bees.
And one in 200 people that live here
keep bees. One in 200.
So, hanging out with these experts,
Blaž and Danijela,
I learned so much more than I ever thought
that I would learn about bees,
and then Danijela had me
do a taste test of the honey.
And then I tried this little guy,
and I want you guys to try it.
Don't swallow it. Put it on your tongue.
- This is so good!
- [Dennis] So good, right?
- [Karin] Yeah.
- It's crazy how good it was.
Obviously, honey needs to be
a huge part of the menu,
and this is a perfect honey
to go with fish.
I loved that polenta,
so I'm going to do a version
of the polenta
with all of these soft herbs
that we tried.
I went to the market as well,
so I tried beautiful mussels,
amazing pasta from here.
We had a great sausage 'cause we're in
a sausage part of the world.
All of the food being something
that you can eat
if you go out for drinks
with friends and family.
It's not gonna be heavy.
You don't feel stuffy sitting down.
It's not crazy fine dining,
but it's really accessible,
and something the restaurant's
gonna pull off
that really is gonna stick with the vibe,
the wine. It's all gonna come together.
[Karin] When this was coming together,
I have to admit I was a little nervous
about how dark the space is,
and how big of a transformation
we're doing here.
Luka and his parents
are passionate about their business,
and although the restaurant
has been around for years,
competition was squeezing them out,
and they were struggling
with the best methods
to keep pulling in business
night after night.
Now they've got all the ingredients
for a great supper club
that's gonna help them
stand out from the crowd
and bring in locals and tourists.
They have no idea
what changes we've made here,
so I'm always really excited
to see the reaction.
[Ksenja laughs]
Oh, my God. [chuckles]
Something completely different.
[all laughing]
[Luka] I know. Crazy. We need it. [laughs]
I need to process this thing, you know?
- [Ksenja] So much more professional.
- [Luka] Yeah.
- Wow! Wow, wow!
- [Ksenja] Wow!
[Ksenja gasps and laughs]
[Matjaz] The best.
Hello!
- [Matjaz] Hello, Karin. Great job.
- [all laugh]
- Hi.
- Thank you so much.
Oh, hi.
- I hope you like it.
- Oh, yeah.
- Yeah? I see big smiles.
- [Luka chuckles]
Wait a second,
do I see tears in your eyes?
No? [laughs]
Maybe a little.
- Breathtaking.
- [Karin] Yeah.
Really breathtaking, that's why maybe
you thought that it was... [chuckles]
Well, I'm so happy that you like it.
I'm so happy to see your smiles.
- It's so different.
- Amazing, amazing, it's amazing.
Well, let me show you around.
- I'll talk about some of the details.
- Yeah, yeah.
[Karin] As soon as I walked in here
for the first time,
it had a special soul to it,
a special vibe.
And I wanted to just use that
as the jumping-off point
and amp it up a little bit.
So there's a mix of modern and vintage.
We kept the floors the same,
and we painted
the whole restaurant dark.
- The ceiling is a light pink.
- [Matjaz] Yeah.
[Karin] We've got two new chandeliers
hanging from the ceiling.
Because you love plants
and flowers so much,
we really wanted to incorporate
some flowers into the space,
so we've got
this big, bold, modern wallpaper.
When I was in Metelkova, I saw
a beautiful wall of the broken mosaics.
I'm sure you've seen it.
And that was the inspiration
for this fireplace.
It was a really nice way
to bring in something
so special from the city and so artistic.
And now the fireplace feels like
such a focal point.
I went and visited Predjama
and I was really inspired by the caves,
and it made me think of this restaurant.
Because you have this amazing ceiling,
it almost feels like a cave.
So, that was the inspiration
for painting it really dark.
So I'm calling this--
It's almost like a modern, hip cave.
- [Matjaz] Mmm-hmm.
- [Luka laughs]
Nice one.
[Karin] Well, I'm so happy
that you like the space.
And more importantly, too,
is that the locals really like it,
people of Ljubljana.
[Luka] I think everybody
would love this place
because every aspect of it has the soul,
you know?
- These lights.
- Yes!
[Matjaz] Before it was, like,
a little bit messy,
and some things were lying
there and there.
- And now it's really, like...
- [Ksenja] Wow.
- So, we're gonna do dinner tonight, right?
- [Luka] Yeah.
Have you been to the party here
in Slovenia already?
- [Karin] Never. No.
- Never?
We're going to bring some good DJ
with proper Slovenian, Yugoslavian music,
and we'll dance.
Yeah, we're gonna throw one good party.
Okay, I can't wait. I can't wait.
I'm so happy that you're happy.
What's up, everybody?
Oh!
Look at this.
- [Luka] What?
- [Matjaz] Looks great.
- [Luka] Beautiful.
- [Ksenja] Whoa.
[Dennis] When we got here, honestly,
the food was well on its way
to being great.
I just repositioned the menu
to take advantage
of the amazing local ingredients
you can find in the market and the forest.
So, these are mussels
that are made with orange wine,
lots of butter, garlic and shallots,
and a beautiful herbed vinaigrette on top.
So, we've got my version
of Ljubljana mussels here.
We've got a polenta dish
packed full of herbs that we picked.
So we've got some honey trout
on top of that,
some fennel, and then extra little flowers
on top, because I know you love flowers.
Last but not least,
the pièce de résistance,
we've got some pasta in a parm wheel
mixed into some dandelion greens,
some raw asparagus, and, of course
a lot of foraged greens in this
as well, and it's vegetarian.
Let's eat.
These dishes are great
for a late-night supper club.
People love to come here
and they have a couple drinks,
so it's not food you feel
like you have to put a suit jacket on.
You can come, listen to some good music,
have drinks with friends,
and have a really great time.
Yeah, the tastes are incredible.
Really.
Every plate with polenta brings you back,
you know?
- like childhood memories.
- A hundred percent.
Awesome. Nice. Really nice.
There's a table between us
or I'd give you a hug right now,
- 'cause that makes me very happy.
- [all laughing]
[Dennis] Awesome.
But you know
what is missing on this table, guys?
It's a little bit of wine.
I was very inspired by the orange wine,
and I went out to the oldest wine village,
the Goče wine village.
And I sought out the best orange wine
that I could possibly find.
And I found it for you guys.
Even though orange wine is something
that's very common around here,
we have a direct connection
between the Goče wine village
and we have that connection
into Ljubljana here in Žmauc, all right?
This'll be the only place
people are going to be able to get it,
and it's going to be a house wine
that's special for you guys.
So here's to you and your family.
You guys are beautiful people.
- To us.
- Here's to us.
Cheers and thank you.
I think we'll never forget you.
How cool is it to have dinner
in your new space?
This new vision of everything, I think--
- [Karin] Feels good, right?
- We're on the right path, so...
- [Karin] Really?
- Definitely.
- Good, good.
- [Luka] Yeah. So...
Tonight, we're going to have here
a great party,
- and we're gonna dance on it, you know?
- [all laugh]
- [Luka] Let's party. Let's go.
- [Karin] Let's party.
[all laugh]
[Dennis] This country
celebrates deliciousness,
and I got to introduce ingredients
to this menu that are so delicious.
People get to come here every single night
to this restaurant
and eat these ingredients.
I am equal parts jealous and excited
that we got to kill it here
at the restaurant,
using ingredients
that are just next level.
[Nick] Overall, I couldn't be happier
with the result.
From the decor to the food, to the vibe,
and the wine that's flowing.
I mean, I was just blown away.
[Karin] It's got a really moody vibe.
It feels sexy, but it's modern,
and it's got all of these European
touches, which is what makes it so great,
but it's so different.
So I feel this is a huge transformation,
not just for the owners, but for the city.
---
[classical music playing]
[Nick] We've been invited by restaurants
on the edge
of the most beautiful views imaginable.
[Karin] Who really need some help
keeping their business from going under.
[Dennis] There is nothing more inspiring
than celebrating a community on the plate.
But far too often, the better the view,
the worse the food.
[Karin] This is about reviving
not only the restaurants...
Everything's at stake for us.
For us, this is life.
...but also the owners' belief
in themselves.
- [woman gasps]
- [man whoops]
This means the world to me.
Oh, my God! [chuckles]
It's like a part of us here.
[Dennis] So, together, we're traveling
the world in search of inspiration
to transform these restaurants
into authentic hot spots
that paint a picture
not just of that restaurant,
not just of that chef,
but of that community.
I'm telling you, my brother,
you all changed my life.
[Dennis] I've been really fortunate
to travel all over Europe,
but I've never been to Slovenia.
Now that I'm here,
I don't know why I hadn't come earlier.
[instrumental music playing]
[Karin] The capital, Ljubljana,
is picture-perfect.
[Nick] Along the river,
you can see cobblestone streets
and people sitting at outdoor cafes.
It's got a real artsy vibe.
[music stops]
[Dennis] This is amazing.
I'm on a bicycle,
riding to a restaurant
in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
[Karin] We're on our way to Žmauc,
a family-run business
that has been a staple
in the historic district since Slovenia
got their independence in the early '90s.
They've had a good run over the years, but
recently, the business has taken a hit.
[Nick] Growing competition
in the neighborhood
is leaving them severely overlooked.
They've been left stuck in the past.
If they can't find a way
to compete quickly, they will fail.
[Karin] Owners Matjaz and Ksenja
and their son, Luka,
feel a makeover is long overdue,
except they don't want to completely lose
the restaurant's old-world charm.
[Dennis] Žmauc has been coasting
on the reputation
as the late-night spot
with a relaxed vibe,
but their menu needs to be kicked up
a notch if they want to stay relevant.
Pulling up to the restaurant,
you immediately notice the cool artwork.
You notice the patio.
It's got a little bit of a street vibe.
[Nick] There's this
cafe-bar-type situation.
[Dennis] And then you walk down a corridor
into the restaurant
and the vibe changes instantly.
[Karin] It's simple
and it feels definitely European.
[Dennis] There's arches everywhere.
It doesn't feel like a restaurant
in and of itself,
other than there's a bar and some tables,
but it needs a little love.
- [Nick] Hey.
- [indistinct]
Luka, nice to meet you.
So, I'm really happy
to have you here in Slovenia,
in the most beautiful country in Europe
or in the world.
I kind of thought
these guys are super cool.
They're super chic, super European.
They're a little hippie.
[Karin] I'm trying to feel the owners out.
What are they like?
Are they excited
we're about to do a transformation?
Or are they nervous
that we're gonna take it over
and change it to something
they don't want?
Žmauc, it was my grandfather's place
but, basically, we got it back in 1995,
after de-nationalization.
Because in Ljubljana,
before, the restaurants
were mostly in hands of the state.
You didn't have these private-hand bars.
So, we were like the first ones
to have imported draft beer.
So, it was totally different stuff.
[Matjaz] We're in this business 23 years.
It's like our child, you know?
Like our second child, yeah.
One is Luka
and the other one is this restaurant.
We own the whole ground floor
of this building,
where we have bar
and restaurant connected.
The plan for the future is to
maybe let this business to Luka,
to our son, but we are still in the game,
and we just don't want
to leave him alone in this.
Lately, the business is not
going as good as we want it,
so we hope that the place
could be much better than now.
We will help him as much as we can.
We just love our restaurant,
but now we need some new direction.
And I think that you just came
in the perfect time for us
to make something newer.
- [Karin] Oh!
- Serving the soup now. [chuckles]
- [Karin] Wow!
- [Luka] And then, the boys.
Slovenian kitchen, at its best. [laughs]
- Definitely.
- [Nick] Perfect. Perfect.
[Luka] It's pumpkin soup
from northern part of Slovenia
called muškatna buča.
When we sat down at the table,
I was pretty surprised.
Honestly, the food was pretty elevated.
The restaurant itself, not so elevated.
Did the restaurant always look like this?
Actually, we just got the restaurant
pretty much in this shape.
We were renting it for one year,
and then we bought the place.
We got a bank loan.
We got into some problems,
and now we're pretty much
struggling now, but--
- No, we are good. We are the best.
- Yeah.
No, no struggling.
- We are the best.
- [Matjaz] We are good, yeah.
So, let's go for the food
and show them what we have here.
[Nick] Luka is having a tough time
admitting they're struggling,
but you have to face facts
in the restaurant business.
You always have to stay
one step ahead of the competition
and take your vision to the next level.
This is the sea bass,
and they're also the flowers
from my mother's
that she's picking up from our garden,
so you can eat it all.
[Dennis] Apparently,
the menu changes all the time.
But without consistent dishes,
you don't build a strong identity.
And that's how the restaurant
will stand out amongst the competition.
So, the flowers, you foraged these?
You picked these yourself?
Yes, yes. My passion.
- [Karin] It's your passion.
- Yeah.
Is foraging a big part
of Slovenian culture?
Oh, yes.
The moment that Ksenja said
she was interested in foraging
and that's a huge part of her life,
I was excited,
so I knew that that had to be a part
of the dishes that we created,
but beyond that, the biggest thing
that is lacking right now is consistency.
What's the demographic? Who's coming here?
We are in this university area,
so a lot of teachers--
- [Matjaz] Open-minded people.
- Open... Creative-minded people.
[Matjaz] Creative, like actors.
On Tuesday, we have these size bites.
On Thursday, we have, like, jazz or funk.
On Fridays, we have DJs.
Their heart, their soul,
everything's in this business.
But sometimes,
when you're facing competition,
you try a bunch of different things
to bring in guests,
but that's also how you can lose focus,
and it'll show in the food, the decor,
and the overall vibe.
[Luka] That's our main dish. Roast beef.
Here's also white asparagus
and two different sauces.
Welcome here. Bon appétit. [chuckles]
- Beautiful.
- [Luka] That's it.
[Karin] I have to say, I'm really
interested in this orange wine.
I've had rose, cabernet, sauvignon blanc,
every color wine
you could possibly imagine,
but I've never had orange wine.
[Matjaz] It's made from red wine
or even white wine,
just you macerate
a little bit more than usually.
[Nick] How important
is this space to you guys?
[Matjaz] We are all three
in this business,
so we don't have any other jobs.
So, it's pretty important.
We breathe with this place.
You know what?
He and she, the heart,
they put it in this restaurant,
you can feel it in the food,
you can feel it in the wine,
you can feel it in the water.
We want to prolong this
and make something out of this place.
- It is such an interesting space.
- [Matjaz] Yeah.
Such an interesting space,
and there's so many things about this room
that I really, really love.
But you know
that I want to come and add to it.
Yeah, we know that.
We are really excited about it.
[Karin] The cool thing
about this restaurant,
it's a place you can have a late-night
dinner, and they throw parties here.
I mean, it's got a vibe
that it's a late-night place.
So, what this really needs to be
is a really awesome supper club.
So, let's make this happen.
For us, it's life.
For us, it's so important
to have you here, guys.
And thank you very much.
[Nick] I've come here,
down to the heart of Ljubljana,
to go over the online reviews
with the family from Žmauc.
- [Nick] Thank you.
- [Luka] Thank you.
[Nick] I wanted to pick
a peaceful environment
in this time of the day
where we're able to go through
some things that aren't as pleasant.
And it's online reviews of your business.
- And you brought them?
- [Nick] And I brought them, of course.
[Luka] Yeah, nice.
But only the good ones, yeah? [laughs]
Only the good ones.
The first one I wanted to touch on was,
"Forty minutes waiting for a burger
and still not there.
After 41 minutes, we left."
- How do you feel about that?
- Yeah, not very good, but--
To be left alone
is a terrible feeling, as a guest.
If food is late making it to the table,
you and your staff
need to be on top of it,
and apologize in the moment.
- It's all about the guest experience.
- Definitely.
The reviews are online for everyone to see
and it's a way
that everyone judges businesses nowadays.
Before they even go into places nowadays,
they're going online.
For instance,
"The staff was very friendly.
Food was okay,
but I cannot get over the fact
that this place
is somehow stuck in the past."
[Matjaz] "Stuck in the past."
We are not stuck in the past, you know?
That is a bad review. [laughs]
- Maybe he's crazy, or something like that.
- [Luka laughs]
But he could also be true
because we had better times.
That's true.
We are of 23 years
on the market in this business,
and we were 23 years younger
with more energy,
- but we are still trying to do our best.
- Very energetic.
Yeah, definitely.
[Nick] I think one of the most
beautiful things about your space is
that it is an old place.
Our main goal here
is putting a modern spin on a classic.
- Do you agree with that?
- Yeah, definitely.
We can still be stuck in the past
in some areas,
but I think we need some...
push. Push, push, push.
If we can just put these reviews
in the past
- and move forward into the future...
- Move on.
- Yeah. Cheers.
- Let's go. Cheers.
[speaks Slovene]
[Nick] It's great to respect your roots,
but the restaurant business is too tough
to sit stagnant.
You've gotta move with the times
and stay relevant.
Žmauc needs something unique
to help them stand out
among the countless new restaurants
that have popped up in Ljubljana.
I have a great idea
to help them make that happen.
[Karin] So, my goal today
is to get the lay of the land.
It's not a huge space but it's old.
That's a challenge.
I know that they've got
a nightlife scene going here,
so, really, I see my job
is just taking it to the next level,
making this restaurant better.
Overall, it's an old space
without a strong design focus.
It even looks like a bedroom
in some spots,
which is not the right mood.
Finding a way to accentuate the old,
yet interesting architecture here
will be a good start.
[Dennis] Slovenia is essentially
covered in forest.
Most of it is forest.
Eating at Žmauc
and really talking to Ksenja
about her passion for foraging,
I was really inspired.
This is a culture that celebrates
that across the board.
So today, I'm hooking up with Bine Volčič.
He's a chef here in Slovenia.
He even hosts MasterChef here.
So, he knows food.
And we're also going to hang out
with his foraging mentor, Katja.
This forest is amazing.
I feel like I'm in a dream a little bit.
- What are we hoping to find today?
- [Bine] I think we'll find some ramsons.
There is also one interesting plant.
It's called a dropping bittercress.
- [Dennis] I hope we find it.
- [Katja] It's here.
- [Bine] It's everywhere.
- [Katja] Yeah. It's all edible.
It's beautiful.
There's a little bit of spiciness,
a little bit of mustard,
a little bit of citrus.
I feel like on there
just if you added lemon zest
or something just very, very gently.
This is aposeris.
This one tastes exactly like raw potato.
That's amazing.
What do you use that with?
[Bine] I usually use it with octopus.
Grilled octopus with baked potatoes,
but I make it in a more modern way.
- Yeah, it's a modern spin on a classic.
- Yeah.
That's beautiful.
I can think of a million ways to use that.
- What is this?
- [Katja] A meadow sweet.
It's like a raw almond with the skin on.
If you taste it,
it really brings you something special.
You're right, it tastes exactly
like an almond with the skin on.
Yeah. These leaves are really young,
but later has flowers.
And these flowers, if you infuse it
into cream and milk
and put some sugar inside
and you cook it a little bit and wait,
the whole cream
has, like, amaretto almond milk.
He knows about his country
and his backyard.
He wants to celebrate ingredients
and make them taste delicious.
[Bine] You can survive in forest.
You just need fire
and water and that's it.
- So, you know what this is?
- No, what is it?
- This is a dormouse.
- [Dennis] Ah! Tail and all.
[Bine] Yeah, everything and head.
When Chef Bine pulled out the dormouse,
honestly, at first, I thought...
I don't know how this is gonna go.
I'm an adventurous eater.
But I would be lying if I said
this wasn't a little bit
of a Fear Factor moment.
If you said to me ten years ago that
I would be in Slovenia in the forest
eating a rat,
would not have believed you.
- It's not a rat.
- But I'm really excited.
- It looks like a rat, but it's not.
- [Dennis] It's not.
It's a dormouse. It lives in a forest.
And you have to eat it with your hands.
[Dennis] Eating dormice is not a fad.
People have been trapping and eating them
since medieval times in Slovenia.
Not only were they sources of protein,
the fat had medicinal properties.
And we will eat it with polenta,
and that will be really foresty dish.
I don't know how to describe,
but it's amazing.
So, all these herbs
we will mix with polenta.
- Are you ready?
- [Dennis] Yeah. Absolutely.
And maybe a little bit of flowers.
- [Dennis] Always.
- [Katja chuckles]
And bite it, like this.
Mmm.
Oh, my God.
Wow!
The dormouse itself
had a little of a chicken flavor.
Everyone says
everything tastes like chicken,
but it was very gamey.
There was a little bit of deer in there.
It was unique.
You have to get beyond the head thing,
a little bit, you know?
The most joyful thing is
how to eat it with the bones and all. Mmm.
And the polenta with the herbs.
Mmm.
And the polenta's packed full
of all of those foraged herbs we found.
It was so fragrant and delicious and light.
All of those herbs mixed together,
it does taste like the forest.
This is the most authentic place.
Nature is always the finest cook,
actually.
[Dennis] Katja said it best.
Nature is our finest cook,
and Slovenians know that
better than anyone.
Anytime I travel anywhere in the world,
I wanna do justice to that food
and that food culture.
I hope that I'm going to bring dishes
to the restaurant
that are going to celebrate Slovenia.
Although I won't be bringing
any dormice into Žmauc,
these foraged herbs are amazing,
and different types are available
all year round.
I'm leaving here full, just flooded
with inspiration to come up with a dish
that's sure to get this restaurant
on the right track.
[Karin] I'm looking for inspiration to
bring Žmauc's supper club that wow factor.
And what's more "wow" than a castle?
I don't know anything about this castle
other than it's built
on the side of a mountain.
Sergeja is a castle historian,
and she knows all about its origins.
This is incredible, behind us.
Can you tell me a little bit
or a lot about this castle?
Well, its name says a lot about it.
The name is Predjama,
which means "in front of the cave."
And it was built in front of a cave
to make it as safe as possible.
It was impossible to get in.
[Karin] But nowadays,
getting into the castle is a lot easier.
And there's so many different elements
to look at.
You've got this cave.
It's dark, it's moist, it's wet,
and it's so interesting to look at, too,
the texture of the stone.
Even though this is mold,
I really love the way that this looks,
this natural patina over time
and the weathering.
You don't know when inspiration
is gonna happen. It just happens.
So, we're entering
the cave part of the castle.
[Karin] You're in a space where there's
a cave attached to a living space.
I mean, that's crazy.
And then it opens up into bigger spaces
with a lot of light.
All of that creates a sense of drama
and a sense of theater.
It feels really intimate
and I'm connecting the dots.
I've got these curved ceilings
in the restaurant.
It's almost got this cave-like structure.
Wouldn't it be cool if the restaurant
was dark and had the feeling of a cave?
Maybe I can do a modern cave.
[Nick] When I was sitting at dinner
at Žmauc,
I got really inspired
when I was poured this orange wine.
So I decided
to travel out of Ljubljana to Goče,
the oldest wine village in Slovenia.
It's situated perfectly in a valley
surrounded by mountains.
It produces some of the best wine
in the country,
including orange wine, which actually
has nothing to do with oranges.
When you're walking down
these little alleyways,
you just want to constantly take
little twists and turns and get lost.
What I hope I'm going to find
is the best orange wine
produced on this planet.
And I really wanna figure out
how I can incorporate it into Žmauc.
Miha, this village is gorgeous.
- Tell me more about this wine region.
- Well, of course, for the orange wine,
it's necessary
that you have a very healthy grape.
And here you realize
that it's always a little bit windy.
This is perfect
for growing orange wine, because...
[Nick] The mountains bring
the right amount of wind over the hills.
The wind protects the grapes
from getting mildew,
and the soil
has the right amount of minerals.
All those conditions come together
to make it the perfect location
for wine production.
- And here we are. This is the wine cellar.
- Ah!
This is my pride and joy.
- Let's do it. Let's go in.
- Let's go.
[Nick] I would be lying if I told you
I didn't have butterflies in my stomach,
with excitement,
with what was behind that door.
[Karin] The castle gave me
the cave concept,
but the owners of Žmauc said
that creative people
are already attracted to the restaurant.
So I wanna make sure the design
reflects Ljubljana's artistic soul.
This place is Metelkova.
It's known
as an alternative cultural zone.
I mean, street culture in Ljubljana?
This is definitely where it's happening.
It used to be the old army barracks,
and when Slovenia gained independence,
artists and activists took it over.
When the government wanted to tear it down
and commercialize the area,
artists like Tina fought back.
Tina's been working here for years,
and her paintings are all over this place.
She's done murals. She's painted
the buildings. She makes lighting.
I'm really excited to get into her studio,
because I think it's gonna be
pretty interesting.
I will show you my biggest mural.
I want to tell with a painting
that big fishes are eating little fishes,
and the jellyfishes are smaller,
but they are very poison,
so be aware.
- [Karin] It's really a social commentary.
- [Tina] Yeah.
- [Karin] That's what you're doing.
- [Tina] Yeah.
My art is always a little social critical.
I became a mural painter
because always I want
to paint big paintings,
but I don't have a room.
Wow!
Well, this is... pretty incredible
how much stuff is going on in here.
[Tina] Yeah, here is too much stuff.
[Karin] This type of mosaic
is on the front of the building as well.
- [Tina] Yeah.
- Did you do this?
[Tina] Yeah, because in the beginning
of Metelkova, the mayor,
he decided that he will destroy...
Metelkova cannot be.
And they attacked this building.
And we decided
that we will fight with art.
So the outside of the building
was an attempt to fill the holes?
[Tina] Yeah.
[Karin] I like what you were saying
about how the artists have taken
building materials and found objects
and broken them and reused them
to really beautify a building
that had been initially destroyed.
It seems like there's a lot of expression,
and a lot of this desire
to sort of speak out.
I like that idea
because that's what art is.
It's taking the old and reinventing it
and making it new.
You're always making
a commentary on something.
[bees buzzing]
[Dennis] The story of Slovenia
includes honey.
Honey is part of the culture here,
so they obviously have a long tradition
of using honey in their diet.
The menu at Žmauc
already focuses on fresh ingredients
done in a traditional way.
But I want to take tradition
and put a modern spin on it.
Danijela and Blaž are beekeeping experts,
and we are in a picture-perfect location
to figure out how I can use honey
with a new twist.
Slovenia, it's a different country
when it comes to bees.
Our hives open from the back,
and that's why they can be stuck
next to each other, like this.
I suggest now that we open now
one of our specialties.
[Dennis] Sure.
[Blaž] The Carniolan bee
which homeland is here.
Wow! I think most people would think
if you got that close to a bee
with your hand,
you would immediately get stung.
[Blaž] Bees are like this.
Uh, if we would now shake the hive,
we would have a problem.
Every third spoon which we eat
is because of these small animals.
[Dennis] One out of every three bites
that we put in our mouths
is based on bees.
Bees pollinating the plants, bees ensuring
that we have great vegetables.
That's staggering.
We need to prioritize bees
or we're not going to have any food.
This looks awesome.
So, these are
all different kinds of honey?
[Danijela] Yes. So, in Slovenia, we have
a lot of different sorts of honeys.
- So, this one is linden.
- [Dennis] The linden.
Honey is special because the flavor
comes from the plants
the bees are collecting nectar from.
- That's beautiful.
- Yeah.
- About after four seconds...
- [Danijela] It goes.
...all the crystals went away
and that citrus started to come out.
- And this is the spruce.
- [Danijela] Mmm-hmm.
This one is more stronger. Has like, um...
burning caramel.
- That tastes like caramel to me.
- [Danijela] Yeah.
But it only happened
once you just let it sit.
The story of Slovenia includes honey.
I have loved honey my whole life.
This is a taste test dream come true.
But I don't know if I've ever tasted honey
that tasted like this.
I think the reason is
because the farmers here
care not just about the honey product
and not about the end dollar
that they get from it.
They care about the bees.
They care what the bees are doing,
they want to give them good lives,
and they want to make sure
that you can taste that in their products.
And I am so inspired,
because now,
honey's not just honey anymore.
Honey is a very unique ingredient,
and it can be celebrated and it can be
the star of the show in a dish.
[Nick] Dropping down into the cellar
was like walking into a wine heaven.
You immediately smell these oak barrels
that have different types of wine in them.
He had charcuterie
that he had cured himself.
Candles are lit.
- This is where the magic happens.
- This is where the magic happens.
I'm starting to notice also you
have a limited production,
and not only that,
there's not too much exporting.
You guys are drinking it all yourselves.
You guys like to drink.
- Yeah, Slovenians like to drink.
- [laughs]
You can see even the orange wine here,
I only have it in two barrels,
so altogether the production,
it's 1,000 liters.
What do you think? Is it time?
- Orange wine?
- Yeah.
I'm ready.
[Nick] I can't tell you how happy I was
when he finally opened that bottle.
Orange wine is a type of white wine
fermented with the grape skins.
That's what gives it that orange color.
Immediately, right on the nose,
you get citrus notes.
When I taste it, you get a little sourness
in the back of your tongue,
but the finish
was absolutely smooth, perfect.
It's a calm, easy-drinking wine
on the palate.
I'm getting little notes of citrus.
You are right on the notch,
because this is made out of rebula,
which is a citrate wine.
This wine is unlike any other wine
I've ever had.
And what makes it so special
is the fact that
it's a grape that is native to Slovenia.
I've definitely found the best orange wine
in all of Slovenia.
I know this is something
I wanna get incorporated
back in Ljubljana, back into Žmauc.
[both speaking Slovene]
[Karin] Metelkova has given me real
insight into Slovenia's cultural identity.
It's really inspiring to see how art
has transformed famous spaces.
The former military prison has undergone
one of the most radical re-designs.
It's gone from jail to youth hostel.
The head architect, Janko,
oversaw the entire redesign.
Architects are like artists,
and their work helps influence
the way we live.
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
[Karin] I'm excited to understand
how he approached this transformation,
and what I can take away to apply
to my own design with the restaurant.
- This was the military prison.
- Yes.
- Okay.
- And these are holes.
- [Karin] Because of demolition.
- [Janko] Yes. One there and one here.
For our group, it was the main challenge
how to transform the most closed space
into the most open one for a new light.
[Karin] This looks like an interesting...
[Janko] This is
the most historical connection.
In the cellar are two dungeons.
Oh, my goodness.
[Janko] Here, the people will get rid of
not only your freedom, but a light, too.
It's pretty impactful to come down here.
[Karin] When you're really physically
standing in a dungeon that's dark
where people were really captured
and were put in solitude,
there's sort of
a really eerie, creepy feeling
that runs through your whole body
when you're standing there.
[mimics explosion]
This is prisoner corridor.
We really didn't want to lose
the basic structure
of a prisoner corridor,
so we have cells on the both sides.
We didn't want to remove original bars.
[Karin] Oh, interesting.
- It's so warm, though, and inviting now.
- Yes, that's true.
Here is another one.
This is original window and nobody
who was in couldn't see the earth,
just sky through the bars.
So we added these little windows
for the touch with the earth.
This is a corner of peace.
- [Karin] A corner of peace?
- [Janko] Yes.
[Karin] My big takeaway from Janko is
he wanted to take something dark
and make it light,
completely change perspective
and flip it on its head.
Every aspect of this building has meaning.
It's so special and so thoughtful
and so...
selfless.
That's the point of design.
It's about
making the world a better place,
and that's what he's done
with this building,
and I think that's why
I'm getting emotional,
'cause I'm thinking,
"Okay, what is it that I'm doing
that's gonna have meaning
in this restaurant?"
That's--
That's my goal for the restaurant,
is to take a space and transform it
and make it better.
Not just for the family who owns it,
but for the people who come and visit it.
I think there's just a higher purpose
when it comes to design.
[Dennis] When you come to a city,
the best thing you can do
is walk around, go to cafes,
see people drinking wine, nice beers,
enjoying food, the square is bustling.
But one of the best parts
is going to a local market.
Slovenia is on the Adriatic.
It's surrounded by Austria, Italy
and Croatia,
and all of these influences
are right here.
This market is happening.
So much going on.
There's all these vendors that are set up.
You really get a sense of
what people love to eat,
and, honestly, what the community is like.
I know this restaurant,
they are having people come in,
yeah, for dinner, yeah, for lunch,
but, honestly, people are coming to drink.
They're coming in for a party.
They don't want an enormous dish.
They want really quick and easy food
'cause they want to get their drink on.
There's something pretty amazing
about eating mussels in Slovenia.
The mussels were incredibly fresh.
Honestly, like, four, five ingredients,
and you're done.
Cheese and carbs are heaven on earth.
Parmesan wheel, pasta on top of it,
cream sauce.
This dish, it's a rock star.
It deserves to be on a menu.
And obviously, once you've had
a feed of mussels and pasta,
there's nothing better than to
top that off with a nice bratwurst.
This is not your mom and dad's hot dog
with ketchup on it.
It was really beautiful,
hand-held happiness.
If the owners are trying
to create a restaurant
where people can come, relax,
attend events and parties,
they're going to want easy, light dishes
for the customers to eat.
The honey, the herbs,
all that street food,
it's all coming together in my head.
Now, I've just gotta get cooking.
Slovenia is one of Europe's hidden gems.
[Nick] We've mined some of its secrets
with amazing experiences.
[Karin] Now we're meeting to talk strategy
about how to take what we've learned
and turn Žmauc
into an amazing supper club.
- It's so nice to see you guys.
- So nice to see you.
- We're in Europe. I can't believe it.
- I know.
I've been on the craziest adventures
and I've had so much inspiration.
I don't even know where to start.
When the family talked about them having
late-night dinners and having parties,
and they bring in DJs and stuff like that,
I felt like the vibe needs to be amped up.
The restaurant, as you guys know,
has a dome ceiling.
It's really interesting.
Because the restaurant right now
is a little bit simple and all-white,
you don't really get
to see the architecture
of the space that well.
So, I went to go
see the only castle in Europe
that's built on the side of a cave.
It would be really great to darken up
the restaurant space,
and really create a distinct
cave-like feeling in the restaurant.
- That'd be cool, right?
- Yeah.
The mom was talking about
how she's a little bit of a botanist,
and I found this great wallpaper company,
PaperMint, out of France.
I really wanna place it anywhere
where there's distinct arches
and a recess in the wall.
You know how there's a little fireplace
tucked in that corner?
I need to do something new
and fresh with it.
So I did this incredible tour
through Metelkova,
and I got really inspired
when I walked by this one wall
that is just covered in mosaics.
What I want to do is break these plates
and teacups
and create a mosaic
over the top of this fireplace.
And that space already has
such a good structure,
but I'm going to layer in vintage elements
and modern elements.
I'm just inspired to turn this restaurant
completely upside down,
and give it a new, fresh and modern look.
Yeah, I love the idea of adding
this kind of club vibe.
Exactly. I feel like this is going to be
the hottest supper club in Ljubljana.
Yeah. We can't have a party without wine.
And the last time we saw each other,
we had a great meal,
but we also discovered
orange wine together.
So, I wanted to get into it
a little bit more,
so I ventured out
into the Goče wine region.
The town of Goče
dates back to the 14th century.
So, it's this really cool,
like, medieval kind of vibe,
and there's over 70 cellars
all throughout this village
which are underground and they have
these little hobbit doors.
I hung out with this guy, Miha,
and his family has been producing wine
for a very long time.
This is actually a wine
that's not produced a lot,
but Miha has really been able to keep up
with the production of this,
and I was actually able
to strike a deal with him
to be able to keep
a consistent flow of the best orange wine
you can possibly have at Žmauc.
We found the best stuff
to give to these guys.
Every supper club needs a signature wine,
don't you guys think?
I love that, because right now
they don't really have a thing
that's driving people there.
The food changes all the time,
the vibe's not quite there.
Why are people going?
They're going to get orange wine.
I love that.
So we're talking a lot
about stepping back in time.
I actually went foraging in the forest.
We were there with an expert, Katja,
and a chef from here, Chef Bine.
He's a MasterChef judge
and he's got some restaurants,
and, you know, he's a local rock star.
We found so many little treasures.
This is wild garlic.
- [Nick] Mmm.
- [Karin] Wow!
Oh, yeah.
[Dennis] We ended up cooking a dormouse
with Chef Bine.
- [Nick] A mouse?
- A mouse. [laughs]
But it actually tasted delicious,
served over this polenta
that was made with a mixture
of all of these herbs together.
So, the polenta,
once you added these herbs,
à la minute, right at the last minute,
it tasted like everything we picked.
And then I got to visit an apiary.
[bees buzzing]
One in three spoons
that we put in our mouth
is because of bees.
And one in 200 people that live here
keep bees. One in 200.
So, hanging out with these experts,
Blaž and Danijela,
I learned so much more than I ever thought
that I would learn about bees,
and then Danijela had me
do a taste test of the honey.
And then I tried this little guy,
and I want you guys to try it.
Don't swallow it. Put it on your tongue.
- This is so good!
- [Dennis] So good, right?
- [Karin] Yeah.
- It's crazy how good it was.
Obviously, honey needs to be
a huge part of the menu,
and this is a perfect honey
to go with fish.
I loved that polenta,
so I'm going to do a version
of the polenta
with all of these soft herbs
that we tried.
I went to the market as well,
so I tried beautiful mussels,
amazing pasta from here.
We had a great sausage 'cause we're in
a sausage part of the world.
All of the food being something
that you can eat
if you go out for drinks
with friends and family.
It's not gonna be heavy.
You don't feel stuffy sitting down.
It's not crazy fine dining,
but it's really accessible,
and something the restaurant's
gonna pull off
that really is gonna stick with the vibe,
the wine. It's all gonna come together.
[Karin] When this was coming together,
I have to admit I was a little nervous
about how dark the space is,
and how big of a transformation
we're doing here.
Luka and his parents
are passionate about their business,
and although the restaurant
has been around for years,
competition was squeezing them out,
and they were struggling
with the best methods
to keep pulling in business
night after night.
Now they've got all the ingredients
for a great supper club
that's gonna help them
stand out from the crowd
and bring in locals and tourists.
They have no idea
what changes we've made here,
so I'm always really excited
to see the reaction.
[Ksenja laughs]
Oh, my God. [chuckles]
Something completely different.
[all laughing]
[Luka] I know. Crazy. We need it. [laughs]
I need to process this thing, you know?
- [Ksenja] So much more professional.
- [Luka] Yeah.
- Wow! Wow, wow!
- [Ksenja] Wow!
[Ksenja gasps and laughs]
[Matjaz] The best.
Hello!
- [Matjaz] Hello, Karin. Great job.
- [all laugh]
- Hi.
- Thank you so much.
Oh, hi.
- I hope you like it.
- Oh, yeah.
- Yeah? I see big smiles.
- [Luka chuckles]
Wait a second,
do I see tears in your eyes?
No? [laughs]
Maybe a little.
- Breathtaking.
- [Karin] Yeah.
Really breathtaking, that's why maybe
you thought that it was... [chuckles]
Well, I'm so happy that you like it.
I'm so happy to see your smiles.
- It's so different.
- Amazing, amazing, it's amazing.
Well, let me show you around.
- I'll talk about some of the details.
- Yeah, yeah.
[Karin] As soon as I walked in here
for the first time,
it had a special soul to it,
a special vibe.
And I wanted to just use that
as the jumping-off point
and amp it up a little bit.
So there's a mix of modern and vintage.
We kept the floors the same,
and we painted
the whole restaurant dark.
- The ceiling is a light pink.
- [Matjaz] Yeah.
[Karin] We've got two new chandeliers
hanging from the ceiling.
Because you love plants
and flowers so much,
we really wanted to incorporate
some flowers into the space,
so we've got
this big, bold, modern wallpaper.
When I was in Metelkova, I saw
a beautiful wall of the broken mosaics.
I'm sure you've seen it.
And that was the inspiration
for this fireplace.
It was a really nice way
to bring in something
so special from the city and so artistic.
And now the fireplace feels like
such a focal point.
I went and visited Predjama
and I was really inspired by the caves,
and it made me think of this restaurant.
Because you have this amazing ceiling,
it almost feels like a cave.
So, that was the inspiration
for painting it really dark.
So I'm calling this--
It's almost like a modern, hip cave.
- [Matjaz] Mmm-hmm.
- [Luka laughs]
Nice one.
[Karin] Well, I'm so happy
that you like the space.
And more importantly, too,
is that the locals really like it,
people of Ljubljana.
[Luka] I think everybody
would love this place
because every aspect of it has the soul,
you know?
- These lights.
- Yes!
[Matjaz] Before it was, like,
a little bit messy,
and some things were lying
there and there.
- And now it's really, like...
- [Ksenja] Wow.
- So, we're gonna do dinner tonight, right?
- [Luka] Yeah.
Have you been to the party here
in Slovenia already?
- [Karin] Never. No.
- Never?
We're going to bring some good DJ
with proper Slovenian, Yugoslavian music,
and we'll dance.
Yeah, we're gonna throw one good party.
Okay, I can't wait. I can't wait.
I'm so happy that you're happy.
What's up, everybody?
Oh!
Look at this.
- [Luka] What?
- [Matjaz] Looks great.
- [Luka] Beautiful.
- [Ksenja] Whoa.
[Dennis] When we got here, honestly,
the food was well on its way
to being great.
I just repositioned the menu
to take advantage
of the amazing local ingredients
you can find in the market and the forest.
So, these are mussels
that are made with orange wine,
lots of butter, garlic and shallots,
and a beautiful herbed vinaigrette on top.
So, we've got my version
of Ljubljana mussels here.
We've got a polenta dish
packed full of herbs that we picked.
So we've got some honey trout
on top of that,
some fennel, and then extra little flowers
on top, because I know you love flowers.
Last but not least,
the pièce de résistance,
we've got some pasta in a parm wheel
mixed into some dandelion greens,
some raw asparagus, and, of course
a lot of foraged greens in this
as well, and it's vegetarian.
Let's eat.
These dishes are great
for a late-night supper club.
People love to come here
and they have a couple drinks,
so it's not food you feel
like you have to put a suit jacket on.
You can come, listen to some good music,
have drinks with friends,
and have a really great time.
Yeah, the tastes are incredible.
Really.
Every plate with polenta brings you back,
you know?
- like childhood memories.
- A hundred percent.
Awesome. Nice. Really nice.
There's a table between us
or I'd give you a hug right now,
- 'cause that makes me very happy.
- [all laughing]
[Dennis] Awesome.
But you know
what is missing on this table, guys?
It's a little bit of wine.
I was very inspired by the orange wine,
and I went out to the oldest wine village,
the Goče wine village.
And I sought out the best orange wine
that I could possibly find.
And I found it for you guys.
Even though orange wine is something
that's very common around here,
we have a direct connection
between the Goče wine village
and we have that connection
into Ljubljana here in Žmauc, all right?
This'll be the only place
people are going to be able to get it,
and it's going to be a house wine
that's special for you guys.
So here's to you and your family.
You guys are beautiful people.
- To us.
- Here's to us.
Cheers and thank you.
I think we'll never forget you.
How cool is it to have dinner
in your new space?
This new vision of everything, I think--
- [Karin] Feels good, right?
- We're on the right path, so...
- [Karin] Really?
- Definitely.
- Good, good.
- [Luka] Yeah. So...
Tonight, we're going to have here
a great party,
- and we're gonna dance on it, you know?
- [all laugh]
- [Luka] Let's party. Let's go.
- [Karin] Let's party.
[all laugh]
[Dennis] This country
celebrates deliciousness,
and I got to introduce ingredients
to this menu that are so delicious.
People get to come here every single night
to this restaurant
and eat these ingredients.
I am equal parts jealous and excited
that we got to kill it here
at the restaurant,
using ingredients
that are just next level.
[Nick] Overall, I couldn't be happier
with the result.
From the decor to the food, to the vibe,
and the wine that's flowing.
I mean, I was just blown away.
[Karin] It's got a really moody vibe.
It feels sexy, but it's modern,
and it's got all of these European
touches, which is what makes it so great,
but it's so different.
So I feel this is a huge transformation,
not just for the owners, but for the city.