Two more Michelin Stars have been Born in Croatia

Extremely exciting news on the gourmet scene for Croatia came in. The Croatian National Tourist Board announced that two more Croatian restaurants were awarded the prestigious Michelin stars: The Noel restaurant in Zagreb and the Draga di Lovrana restaurant in Lovran.

More than that, restaurants Pelegrini from Šibenik, 360º from Dubrovnik and Monte from Rovinj successfully retained their stars, meaning Croatia now has five restaurants that can pride themselves with the prestigious Michelin stars.

Kristjan Staničić, Director of the Croatian National Tourist Board said that these new stars prove, not just that the Croatian gastronomy scene meets the international quality criteria, but that this quality is increasingly becoming more recognizable in the world.

Besides gaining two new shining stars, another four Croatian restaurants got labeled with Michelin’s Bib Gourmand! For all you guys who don’t know what this label means, let us break it down. The Bib Gourmand label is not about “fine dining”. Rather, it is a label that offers truly quality menus, but at an affordable price.

Alongside last year’s Bib Gourmand winners Konoba Mate from Korčula, the Danube from Ilok, Vuglec Breg from Krapina and Konoba Fetivi from Split, the list was broadened by the restaurants Batelina from Banjole, Konoba Vinko from Konjevrate, and Agava and TAČ from Zagreb. This means that Croatia now has a total of eight restaurants with that label, twice as many in comparison to last year.

The 2019 Michelin Guide carries a total of 51 restaurants across the globe. The list is a result of secret tours which were carried out by professional Michelin inspectors, who do their absolute best to remain completely anonymous.

Although Michelin never published or otherwise revealed the specific criteria that must be met to earn a star, the guide has evolved to be the gold standard of restaurant and hotel recommendations.

The inclusion of new Croatian restaurants into the Michelin guide serves both as a powerful incentive for further continuous improvement of the local gastronomic scene as well as a great global promotion of Croatia as a top gourmet destination, and we couldn’t be more thrilled about this.

Congratulations to all the winners!