November 19, 2019 - Everyone’s favorite Riva restaurant is pulling out all the stops this winter to ensure your bellies stay warm all season long. Introducing the Brasserie on 7 winter menu. 

While it may be known as a spring and summer hotspot where sunglass clad locals sip specialty coffee and sweeten up with homemade cakes, winter at Brasserie on 7 is the best seat in the house for Advent in Split. 

This sunshine oasis transforms into a cozy winter wonderland for the chilly season ahead - and their new seasonal menu will have you warmed up in no time. 

For starters, dig into an open face bruschetta with creamy pesto, zucchini, roasted peppers and aubergine, or keep it light with the bonito confit, fixed with mesclun greens, pickled onion, salsa verde and a rice vinegar dressing. The vegans in the group even have their say with the . bulgur, baby spinach and quinoa bowl dressed with pickled mushrooms and a radish and leek dressing. 

Take the chill off with a creamy butternut squash soup topped with roasted chestnut and toasted almonds, the traditional Dalmatian pasta with truffles and pancetta, or the seafood risotto with scampi bisque, razor clams, prawns, semi-dried tomatoes and parmesan. 

For the mains, enjoy a decadent sea bass filet with cauliflower, kohlrabi, and romanesco, or keep it hearty with the chicken breast and sweet potato and parmesan gratin, pork filet wrapped in pancetta, or the braised beef short rib burger. 

Brasserie on 7 even has a festive Advent menu for you to enjoy this winter, boasting braised beef cheeks (with potato and parsnip puree and tempura onion rings), codfish and shrimps with saffron rouille and potatoes, or the duck leg confit with sweet potato, duck rillette praline, and butternut squash. 

And don’t forget, every Sunday in November and December, Brasserie on 7 is offering 3-course menus at promotional prices. Lunch is held from 12:00 do 15:00, and you can follow their Facebook page for more details. 

Hungry yet? We know. Check out the full menu at Brasserie on 7’s website or visit them in Split today! 

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

Recently, we wrote about a member of the Croatian diaspora who was a villain in a true-crime story. Today, it's time to hear about a very successful Croatian immigrant to California, Jakov Dulcich, who fell victim to violent crime in a somewhat bizarre story.

We all know about numerous Croats who have moved to California and started growing grapevines there. Maybe it's more precise to say that they continued growing grapes and making wine there, as most of them (or their families) were making wine here in Croatia long before moving to the New World.

However, there are other options of what can be made with grapes, Pretty Lady is one of the biggest growers, packers, and shippers of premium California Table Grapes and several raisin products. The company which owns the brand Pretty Lady, called Jakov P. Dulcich and Sons is located in McFarland in California's Central Valley, and was founded and owned by Jakov Dulcich. Mr. Dulcich was born in Argentina, but his parents returned to Brusje on the island of Hvar when he was just a boy.

He grew up on Hvar, and after getting married to his wife Antoinette, he left Hvar, first for Chile and then for California. That's where he founded the company, which grew each year, his sons joined him in the business and now they have thousands of acres of premium table grapes.

All of that would seem like an amazing success story of a Croatian emigrant, were it not for how Jakov's life ended, at the age of 85.

The story is told on Twitter by @kchironis (you can find the thread here).

On April the 11th, 2018, he was driving his SUV and was chased by a Kia, the whole thing was seen by an eyewitness. The witness later told the police that both his and Dulcich's cars swerved off the road and crashed, the driver of the Kia then got out and shot Dulcich point-blank. He tried to kill the witness too, but he managed to escape (it's not entirely clear how, as there were supposedly two assailants, and he just managed to escape them and go to the cops, apparently).

Soon after the incident, police located a burnt car belonging to a guy called Mariano Perez, and the witness picked him out of a lineup, saying that he looked "closest" to Dulcich's killer. Soon after, he retracts that, claiming that he wasn't sure it was Perez, and since there was no other evidence linking Perez to Dulcich's murder, he was found not guilty by the jury. But not even a full month after being released from jail, the suspected killer, Mariano Perez, turns up dead too. He was found with multiple gunshot wounds. His killer was never found. 

Then, a few months after that, another weird twist to the story emerged: another employee of Dulcich's company, Rodolfo Elizalde, called the police as his house was targeted by a drive-by shooting, and more than 30 rounds had been fired from what appears to be an AK47-type weapon. Elizalde had worked for the Dulcich's for over 25 years and told the police he was shot at twice before the final incident on his drive back home.

This seems to have been the final incident in the story thus far - if it even is the same story. Jakov Dulcich's killer has never been found. Perez's killer has not been found. It's not known who shot at Elizalde. There were rumours of it starting as a hired assassination of Dulcich, but why then kill the (potential) assassin after he's been found innocent? Does the series of attacks on his long-time employee have anything to do with Dulcich?

Hopefully, there will be a resolution to this mystery (dubbed by @kchironis as "True Grape Crimes"), and if that happens, you'll be able to read all about it on Total Croatia News!

November 18, 2019 - The Croatia Under-21 national team hurt their chances of qualifying for the 2021 European Championships after losing to the Czech Republic 1:2 in Velika Gorica on Monday.

It was the second defeat of the young national team in four games played thus far, and the second loss at home, reports Gol.hr.

Croatia opened the qualifiers with a defeat at home to Scotland (1:2), after which Nenad Gracan was fired and the team was taken over by Igor Biscan. In his debut on the bench, Croatia celebrated in San Marino 0:7 and then against Lithuania away 1:3. However, they suffered an unpleasant defeat against the Czech Republic at home on Monday. 

Croatia led in the game thanks to Luka Ivanusec who scored in the 31st minute, but the Czechs turned the result with goals from Ladislav Krejci (39) and Pavel Bucha (72).

The young Croatia team entered the game forcefully and had a great chance already in the second minute by Petar Musa, but Martin Jedlička defended his shot. In the 19th minute, Josip Brekalo had an even better chance against the Czech keeper, but Jedlička responded once more. Croatia, however, finally took the lead in the 31st minute thanks to Luka Ivanusec. 

Unfortunately, only eight minutes later, the Czech Republic equalized from a corner when Krejci scored. In the second half, the Czech Republic turned the score completely thanks to Pavel Bucha in the 72nd minute, who used the confusion of defenders Branimir Kalaica and Josko Gvardiol.

Domagoj Bradaric was booked for a red card in the last minute of the game.

The Czech Republic now leads the group with 11 points, Greece follows in second with 10 points, Scotland is in third with eight points and Croatia is in fourth with six points. Lithuania (4) and San Marino (0) make up the last two spots in the group. 

The next U-21 national team game is against Scotland on March 27.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

November 18, 2019 - The Davis Cup debuted its new format on Monday in Madrid. Croatia kicked off their competition in Group B against Russia. 

The Croatia national tennis team lost the first duel on Monday, when Borna Gojo, a 21-year-old debutant for Croatia, was defeated by Andrey Rublev 3:6, 3:6 after an hour and eight minutes of play.

Borna Gojo (ATP-280), who only made his way into the world of professional tennis three months ago, had a poor start to the match against the favored Rublev, the 23rd best player in the world. He lost his service in the first game, but managed to collect himself and immediately return with a break. However, the remainder of the first set was a one-way street in which the Russian tennis player took Gojo’s serve two more times.

At the start of the second set, Gojo had two consecutive breaks but did not use them. Rublev then came to a break and routinely concluded the match in his favor.

Gojo played for American Wake Forest University and joined Croatia after Marin Cilic dropped out due to injury. Interim coach Franko Skugor opted for Gojo because he felt he could do better on a faster basis than Nino Serdarusic.

“I’m not satisfied, I had some chances, but I didn't serve well enough. My serve was not at the level as usual, and especially not at the level for this match. I also had occasions where I could be more aggressive, but I was nervous, so I played safely.  We will get the positive things out of this match and try to be as good as possible on Wednesday," Gojo said after his performance.

In the second match, Croatia’s best tennis player Borna Coric lost to Karen Khachanov 7:6(4), 4:6, 4:6.

Coric opened the match well, won the first set, but unfortunately lost his energy in the continuation of the match due to recent virus. Hachanov thus turned the result in his favor.

There was not too much excitement in the first set until it was 3:3 and both tennis players held their serves. Khachanov had three consecutive break points to lead 4:3. However, Borna managed to even it at 4:4. The set was then decided in the thirteenth game. Hachanov led 2:0 with a mini break, but Borna returned and had a tiebreak at 7:4.

In the second set, Khachanov managed to equalize, and the key was the seventh game in which Khachanov broke Coric for the 4:3 lead. In the next game, Borna had the opportunity to get back the game he lost, but failed.

Coric dwindled in the third set. In the fifth game, he saved four break points, but in the seventh game, he struggled and Khachanov came to a great advantage, which he defended until the end of the match.

It was their third encounter and the first win for the 17th best tennis player in the world. Coric won his first two matches in 2017 in Rotterdam and Milan.

“I played the first set great, I even surprised myself a little, the second set, in my opinion, I was better, I didn't break him at 3:3 and then everything went downhill. My strength fell and I could no longer get anything out. I’m sorry about the second set where; I thought I had the match in control, two, three points decided the match and he prevailed. I just didn't take my chances,” Coric said.

Ivan Dodig and Nikola Mektic played in the doubles match that followed against Khachanov and Rublev and lost 7:6 (3), 6:4. Thus, Croatia lost 0:3 to Russia on day one.

At this year's Davis Cup, eighteen teams are divided into six groups of three teams. The winners of the groups and the two best runner-up teams will advance to the quarterfinals. All matches are played in a format with two singles matches and one doubles match.

Croatia's group also includes Spain, led by the world number one tennis player Rafael Nadal.

Spain and Russia meet tomorrow, and in the last match in the group, the title defender Croatia will play against Spain on Wednesday.

Source: HRT

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

ZAGREB, November 18, 2019 - The 14th edition of the wine and food festival "VINOcom" will be held in Zagreb's Hotel Esplanade on November 22 and 23 with more than 300 exhibitors taking part in the event.

The exhibitors are mostly wine makers and producers of delicatessen products from Croatia and Europe and Slovakia is this year's country-partner, the festival's organisers told a press conference on Monday.

"Zagreb VINOcom in one of the oldest festivals in Croatia that promotes wine, food and general table etiquette. I believe that this year again it will attract a large number of visitors and experts and I hope that we will meet their expectations similarly to previous years," the festival's director, Ivan Dropuljić said.

Apart from presenting and providing tasting of more than 200 types of wine, and lots of different cheeses, prosciutto, kulen salami and sweets, about a dozen workshops will be organised during the festival.

Speaking on behalf of Slovakia as the country-partner of this year's festival, public relations consultant in the Slovak Embassy in Zagreb, Jan Stark, said that he was pleased with the cooperation which he believes can continue considering the similarities between the two countries.

"Three wine-makers from Slovakia will be exhibiting and talks are already underway about continuing cooperation so that Croatian wines can be presented in Bratislava and Slovak wines in Zagreb. Slovakia has a long tradition of wine-making and over the past few years it has won medals at international wine competitions," Stark underscored, adding that Slovakia's per capita wine consumption is 12.5 litres annually and that about 600,000 hectolitres of wine is produced each year.

This year as in previous years the festival will have a humanitarian component and part of proceeds will be donated to the RokOtok association which promotes strengthening ties between children and parents through various activities.

More festival news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, November 18, 2019 - An on-site investigation on Tuhobić mountain, where a police officer shot a migrant who is in a critical condition, has been completed and "items of interest for further investigation have been recovered," Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Police said on Monday.

They added in a press release that they could not say more for the time being given the confidentiality of the investigation and a pending report by experts of the Police Directorate.

In coordination with the county prosecutor's office, the police are continuing the investigation to establish all the relevant facts concerning the shooting of the illegal migrant and the light injuries sustained by a police officer, the press release said.

The police recalled that a group of 17 foreign citizens, including the shot migrant, illegally entered Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since none have said they intend to apply for international protection, the process of their readmission to BiH has been started.

The Rijeka University Hospital said the gravely wounded migrant was on a respirator and that his condition remained critical.

He sustained serious gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen during a police operation on Saturday in inaccessible terrain on Tuhobić mountain in the Gorski Kotar region.

Citing unofficial sources, the media have reported that the wounded migrant was carried to a car several kilometres away by the officer who should shot him and another officer. The officer allegedly wanted to shoot in the air so that other officers could come to his assistance however he tripped and fell, shooting the migrant.

The Centre for Peace Studies (CMS) said on Monday it was unacceptable that police shot a migrant in the Gorski Kotar mountainous region, while the police union said the migrant was wounded when a gun accidentally went off and that his life was saved because the officer in question acted in line with the highest principles.

According to media reports, the man underwent urgent surgery due to a gunshot wound in the chest and abdomen area and Rijeka University Hospital doctors are fighting for his life. The use of firearms against refugees and migrants is becoming the rule, and the Interior Ministry and Minister Davor Božinović are doing their best to justify such conduct instead of preventing it, the CMS said in a press release.

The unofficial police information, although the investigation's findings have not been disclosed, is unconvincing and even more worrying are Božinović's statements justifying the use of firearms by police towards migrants, this nongovernmental organisation said, adding that this was not the first time that shots were fired at groups of migrants and refugees.

The SPH police union applauded the activity of all police officers protecting the state border in a difficult time when, it said, the number of people trying to illegally enter Croatia is on the rise.

Conscientious and professional police activity is necessary to maintain the state's integrity and citizens' security as well as to meet all the commitments Croatia undertook by joining the EU and other international agreements and associations, SPH president Dubravko Jagić said in a press release.

As for the shooting of the migrant in Gorski Kotar, he said all public and official information so far indicated that he was shot when the gun of one of the police officers who came across a group of illegal migrants accidentally went off.

Unfortunately, the wounds were grave and the person is still in serious condition, but his life was saved only because the officer whose gun accidentally went off acted in line with all the highest principles of the police profession and humanity, carrying the migrant, together with a colleague, over three kilometres of inaccessible terrain to a place which an ambulance could reach, Jagić said.

The dedicated work of the police to save the life of a migrant is a deeply humane act, the union concluded.

More news about migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, November 19, 2019 - Outgoing European Council President Donald Tusk will be the new president of the European People's Party, the EPP said on Monday ahead of its congress in Zagreb on Wednesday.

The most famous Polish politician internationally will replace France's Joseph Daul, who led the EPP since the end of 2013.

Although he did not announce his candidacy, the party said on its website that democratic Poland's longest-running prime minister is the only candidate for the post.

Tusk recently said he would not run for president of Poland, which paves the way for a new European role when his mandate in Brussels ends at the end of this month.

European centre-right parties are electing a new leadership after scoring a relative victory in the European elections in May and securing the post of new European Commission president.

With a new leadership, the EPP will start drawing up a new ecology platform and youth polices, encouraged by the rise of the Greens in Europe and global protests to save the Earth.

Also high on the agenda is EU enlargement to the Western Balkans, notably after France recently vetoed opening accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania.

The EPP is expected to propose and carry out more effective policies to combat climate change, to empower the younger generations, and to protect democracy and peace in Europe and the neighbourhood, Dahl and EPP Secretary General Antonio Lopez-Isturiz have said ahead of the Zagreb congress.

The EPP was founded in 1976 by bringing together Christian Democrat, conservative and other centre-right parties. With 182 seats, they are the largest group in the 751-seat European Parliament. Together with the Socialists, the Liberals and the Greens, they make up the majority pro-Europe alliance against populist, Eurosceptic and Europhobic parties.

Over 2,000 participants are expected in Zagreb from Tuesday to Thursday at the 26th EPP congress, the first to be held in Croatia, the youngest EU member state which is chairing the EU in the first half of 2020 and is preparing to enter the Schengen and euro areas.

A number of heads of state and government are coming, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the highest European officials from the EPP, Tusk, and the Commission's outgoing and new presidents, Jean Paul Juncker and Ursula von der Leyen.

Aside from the EPP president, over 700 delegates will elect ten vice presidents, the secretary general and treasurer. The HDZ, the strongest party in Croatia's ruling coalition, did not nominate anyone for those positions.

There is no need for that, the party is sufficiently represented in top positions in the EPP and European politics, says a senior source from the HDZ, which is marking its 30th anniversary this year.

The HDZ's former foreign minister, Marija Pejčinović Burić, became Council of Europe secretary-general in June, while HDZ MEP Dubravka Šuica will be a new Commission vice president. Šuica is also the vice president of the EPP group in the European Parliament and of EPP Women, while HDZ MEP Karlo Ressler is the vice president of the Youth of the EPP.

Most of the EPP congress will take place in the Arena sports centre.

More HDZ news can be found in the Politics section.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 18th of November, 2019, visitors to the newly opened McDonald's restaurant in Croatia's capital city will be attracted to state-of-the-art technology within the ''Experience of the Future'' concept, which are stand-alone kiosks for ordering and preparing food only after it has been ordered.

McDonald's opened its 31st restaurant in Zagreb, (more specifically in Buzin), and was among the first to be visited by US Ambassador to Croatia Robert W. Kohorst.

In keeping with the new standards of visual identity, at McDonald's Buzin, guests can enjoy the widely known meals, including burgers and other items. The restaurant features a McCafé corner where guests can enjoy fine 100% Arabica coffee or cakes, and it will likely quickly become a favoirite choice for a quality breakfast.

''We're very pleased to be able to offer Zagreb's residents another McDonald's restaurant where they will create good memories with good food, and that the opening of McDonald's Buzin is yet another indicator that we are successfully continuing our development and strengthening of our position on the Croatian market and opening new employment opportunities,'' said Pavel Pavlicek, CEO of McDonald's Croatia.

The newly opened McDonald's, otherwise the 31st in Croatia, will attract visitors with some of the most impressive modern technologies within the concept of the aforementioned ''Experience of the Future''.

The brand new McDonald's in Buzin is a detached restaurant right next to Supernova Center in Buzin. Easy accessibility for McDrive will attract a number of guests looking for quick ordering and convenience, and for anyone looking forward to being able to order deliveries from McDonald's in that part of the Croatian capital, the good news is that the new restaurant is also launching that service in a few days, in collaboration with the restaurant's partners Glovo and PauzaGO.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more.