May the 19th, 2023 - The well known Croatian brand Valamar is bringing more Michelin stars to Croatia thanks to their long-term cooperation with no less than the Italian Cerea family.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Valamar has entered into a long-term cooperation with the world-famous Italian Cerea family, the holders of as many as three Michelin stars, which will raise the international recognition of Istria and indeed the rest of the Republic of Croatia to the level of a globally recognised gastronomic tourist destination. The first act of cooperation is the opening of the restaurant Miramare by Fratelli Cerea in the Valamar Collection Isabella Resort on the island of Sveti Nikola near Porec.

This season's opening of Miramare by Fratelli Cerea will bring a new dimension to the Croatian and Istrian gastronomy scene. The Miramare by Fratelli Cerea restaurant will offer classic Mediterranean and Italian cuisine, including several signature dishes from the famous Da Vittorio restaurant crowned with the three aforementioned Michelin stars, as well as a specially created tasting menu. Valamar's cooperation with the Cerea family also includes several months of training for Valamar's chefs, restaurant managers, sommeliers and other restaurant employees in both Croatia and Italy in the Cerea family's restaurants, in which the Miramare restaurant team, as well as numerous other food and beverage specialists in Valamar, will participate.

"Enrico "Chicco" and Roberto "Bobo" Cerea are two of the most influential European chefs of today, whose Michelin stars have done a great deal for the Italian area of Bergamo, as well as for all other destinations where they've opened their restaurants. It's an exceptional honour for us to be able to collaborate with these gastronomic virtuosos again, and even greater that our employees will have the opportunity to learn their craft from them. This beginning of this cooperation is the basis for building relations with the Cerea family and joint projects of the highest level in the future,'' said Dario Kinkela, the director of the food and beverage sector within Valamar.

The Cerea family otherwise nurtures a culinary tradition spanning more than 55 years, ever since they opened their very first restaurant in Bergamo, after which they opened several more in the following years, including in St. Moritz and in China. Da Vittorio is one of the few Italian restaurants with the famous three Michelin stars and is among the most prestigious restaurants in all of Italy.

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September the 17th, 2022 - Popular German TV chef Johann Lafer has been spending time on the gorgeous Istrian peninsula as it seeks to position itself as one of the most exciting gastronomic destinations in all of Europe.

As Morski writes, one of the most prominent television chefs in the entire German-speaking region, Johann Lafer, recently visited Istria. During his stay, an extensive editorial photo production was carried out, which will be presented on as many as thirteen pages of the prestigious Lafer magazine this month.

At the end of July in Singapore, he created new menus for Singapore Airlines as one of the world's best airlines, which the German television company ARD reported to an audience of millions during a special one-hour show during the primetime evening programme. In August, German TV chef Johann Lafer visited Istria to thoroughly research the area and its rich and varied gastronomic scene.

The star chef, who, among other things, has been awarded multiple Michelin stars, is considered to be among the most respected and highest paid chefs in all of Germany and Austria. His visit to Istria without any fees was arranged by Dr. Wolfgang Neuhuber from ART Redaktionsteam, a public relations agency, a long-time partner of Istria, and the Tourist Board of Istria County.

''Johann Lafer is simply a passionate chef who takes a lot of delight from cooking, wine and other top quality products. Together with the director of the Istria County Tourist Board, Denis Ivosevic, we tried to present all the faces of the gastronomic destination of Istria,'' said Neuhuber.

During the three-day research tour, Johann Lafer got better acquainted with various Istrian specialties, from baking to fine dining and classic wines, as well as typical Istrian delicacies. Of course, there was no shortage of tasting prosciutto, truffles and Istria's well known extra virgin olive oil.

Along with German TV chef Johann Lafer, Patricia Brohm, the longtime editor-in-chief of the prestigious Gault Millau Germany guide, was present, as well as the top photographer from Hamburg, David Maupile, with Dr. Wolfgang Neuhuber working as the presenter. Johann Lafer was delighted with what he discovered and has already booked his next private holiday in Croatia to "get to know even more of this fascinating country''.

What is most important and represents a huge success for Istrian tourism is the extensive cover story about Istria as a gastronomic destination, which is due to be published in the autumn edition of the prestigious Lafer magazine. The magazine belongs to the elite publisher Jahreszeiten-Verlag (Feinschmecker, Merian), and it is estimated that the advertising value of this free reportage for Istria stands at about 230,000 euros, but it will bring inestimable value to the image of Istria and its destinations.

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July the 2nd, 2022 - Croatia is very well known for its varied and extremely rich gastronomic offer which alters dramatically from region to region, but just how many Croatian restaurants have Michelin stars?

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, with the new Michelin selection, all previous Croatian restaurants holding the prestigious Michelin star have successfully retained that designation, the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ/CNTB) announced on Thursday the 30th of June.

These are the following Croatian restaurants: Pelegrini (Sibenik), 360º (Dubrovnik), Monte (Rovinj), Noel (Zagreb), Draga di Lovrana (Lovran), Boskinac (Novalja), LD Terrace (Korcula), Nebo (Rijeka), Alfred Keller ( Mali Losinj) and Agli Amici (Rovinj). In addition to ten Croatian restaurants with a Michelin star, the country can also boast of two restaurants with the Michelin Green Star label, which are the Zinfandel (Zagreb) and Konoba Mate (Korcula) restaurants.

"Today, the Republic of Croatia can boast of a total of 84 restaurants that bear one of the prestigious Michelin labels. Given that their system of assigning labels and recommendations is a complex, stringent and very secretive process, this is absolutely great news and a huge success for Croatian restaurants, to whose owners and staff I'd like to send out my sincere congratulations," said the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board, Kristjan Stanicic.

He added that the Croatian National Tourist Board is the main national partner of Michelin and that cooperation with this globally recognised brand, whose recommendation is respected and appreciated worldwide, contributes to an even better positioning of Croatian restaurants on the gastronomic map, and thus reaffirms Croatia as a quality and authentic gastronomic destination for all palates.

In addition to the aforementioned prestigious stars, the restaurant Sug (Split) was also included in the Bib Gourmand list, meaning that a total of twelve restaurants across the Republic of Croatia currently carry this designation, while another 62 Croatian restaurants have the recommendation of that recognised gastronomic guide.

"Inclusion in world-renowned guides such as Michelin is recognition for everyone who continuously works on the level of quality. Our top chefs are putting Croatia on the gastronomic map of the world with their successes, and I'd like to congratulate them on that," said Minister of Tourism and Sport, Nikolina Brnjac.

"Our inspectors paid particular attention to the quality of the restaurant's culinary experiences, the teams proved consistency, showing how important the constant level of high quality is for distinguishing and obtaining Michelin stars", explained the international director of the Michelin guide, Gwendal Poullennec.

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