FOOD LOVER’S PARADISE
Croatian peninsula of Istria is a magical playground of hill towns, Roman ruins and top-notch dining.
ISTRIA, CROATIA— Spend enough time on this verdant peninsula and someone will tell you: “I have a friend here who has lived in four different countries and never moved.” A 100-year-old Istrian, for example, would be able to say that she was born in Austro-Hungary (which ended in1918), came of age when Istria was part of Italy (until 1947), spent most of her adult years as a Yugoslavian and, finally, starting in 1991, became Croatian.
This peninsula in the northern Adriatic is made up of about 90 per cent Croatian territory (the rest is Slovenian with a tiny sliver going to Italy). Istria may be a microcosm of 20th-century southeastern European history, but it is also a magical, 21stcentury playground for those who like beaches, hill towns, Roman ruins, local wine, truffles and top-notch dining. Italophiles will feel at home as most of the population is still bilingual, speaking Italian and Croatian. The stunning seaside towns of Rovinj, Porec and Pula may attract most visitors. But the inland medieval hill towns of Motovun and Groznjan and their artsy communities and restaurants serving truffle-laden pasta dishes are certainly worth a visit.
FRIDAY 3 p.m.: Afternoon beer soak
When the San Servolo brewery first began producing beer, or pivo, in 2013, little did anyone know people would be soaking in it five years later. The newly opened San Servolo Resort & Beer Spa, next to the brewery, just outside the hilltop town of Buje, offers the chance to have a 45-minute soak in hoppy beer while drinking unlimited amounts of lager from the bathtub-side tap. For this reason, it might be a good idea to book a room at the hotel. After a beer bath, spa guests can sweat it out in the sauna or go for a swim in the pool (filled with water, not beer). The spa (including the beer bath) is 525 kuna for guests (or about $108 Canadian), 700 kuna for non-guests.
6:30 p.m.: On the rocks
Hidden down some steps on the southern side of Rovinj’s Old Town is Valentino, a cocktail bar that mostly attracts a foreign clientele. The appeal here is that seating is on lounge chair cushions situated on rocks just above the Adriatic Sea. The average drink — the Aperol spritz is very popular here — costs 90 kuna. Steer clear of the servers’ recommendations, which tend to be the most expensive.
8 p.m.: Monte-astic
It’s no surprise that Croatia’s first Michelin star was awarded to Monte, in Istria. There are Italian influences in various pasta dishes, and a longtime emphasis on local, artisanal products. The restaurant makes its own olive oil (a few kilometres away), and sends out creative Italian and Istrian-inflected dishes from options that might include Adriatic tuna tartar, oxtail and lobster dumplings, and fennel ice cream. Six courses are 849 kuna, not including wine.
SATURDAY 9 a.m.: Truffle hunt
Croatia, specifically Istria, was not always on the truffle map. Italians from Piedmont would cross the border to buy white truffles from Istrians, then quietly transport them back to northern Italy to sell them as “Italian.” But all that changed on Nov. 2, 1999, when a local Croatian truffle hunter, Giancarlo Zigante, and his dog, Diana, unearthed a nearly threepound white truffle, at the time the biggest one ever found. Suddenly, the world was aware that the prized white truffle could be found — and purchased for much cheaper prices — in Istria. Get a taste of these white truffles and go on a truffle hunt at Prodan Tartufi, where the Prodan family and their dogs take visitors on an hour-long hunt and then cook up a truffleladen meal. The experience and meal costs about 475 kuna a person. 1p.m.: Slow lunch Housed in a 600-year-old former olive mill in the countryside, the 17-seat Toklarija is one of the great Istrian dining experiences. The eccentric chef and owner, Nevio Sirotic, puts the “slow” in “slow food,” with lunches lasting for three or more hours.
But the rustic, fireplace-lit dining room invites you to stay awhile. Sirotic sources nearly all his ingredients locally, including in the restaurant’s back garden. The multicourse meal might, depending on the season, include dishes such as wild asparagus salad, prosciutto-filled ravioli and a super-slow-roasted suckling pig that is so tender you can leave your knife on the table. Reservations are a must and the six-course tasting menu is 450 kuna.
4 p.m.: The art of the stroll
Groznjan still has an abandoned feel to it. After the Second World War, many of this hill town’s longtime residents fled for Italy, leaving few inhabitants. By the late 1960s, artists and bohemian types had settled in. Today the charmingly ramshackle village is crammed with galleries. At Galerija Il Punto, artists sell their handmade jewelry and paintings of local land and seascapes (including images of Groznjan); and Galerija Gasspar sells the work of several local artists.
6 p.m.: Getting medieval
Just 16 kilometres across the lush Mirna River Valley from Groznjan sits Motovun, possibly the most picturesque hill town on the peninsula and the birthplace of race car driver Mario Andretti. The diminutive walled town is mostly filled with shops selling local products, but it is a delightful pit stop to walk the medieval walls (20 kuna).
8:30 p.m.: Istrian sushi
Celebrating its 20th year in 2018, Damir & Ornella, in the seaside town of Novigrad, is one of the great Istrian dining experiences. The menu focuses mostly on crudo. Damir works the front, carving up raw branzino and de-shelling scallops at a tableside cart, then sprinkling the just-pulled-from-the-sea morsels with local olive oil, squirts of lemon and dashes of salt and pepper. The menu changes daily based on what fishermen catch that morning. The five-course tasting menu at this seven-table spot starts at 500 kuna a person before wine.
SUNDAY 9 a.m.: Beach blanket Babylon
Hit the beach in Pula. Saccorgiana, south of the city centre, is a quiet cove beach. The pebbly beach — you won’t find any sand strands around here — is more comfortable than it seems for sunbathing.
12:30 p.m.: Fisherman’s lunch
Set on a pleasant marina in the old fishing village of Fazana, about eight kilometres north of Pula, Stara Konoba is a good place to sit outside and watch the boats rock and the fishermen walk by. The Old Tavern, as it’s translated in English, has a menu that leans toward the sea, as one would expect. Grilled sardines, fried calamari, fish soup and pastas sprinkled with clams, mussels and shrimp are menu standouts. Expect to pay about 250 kuna a person for lunch.
2:30 p.m.: The “other” Colosseum
There is more than one reason to drive out to Pula at the southern tip of the peninsula but you really only need one: the first-century A.D. Roman arena is the world’s sixth largest ancient Roman amphitheatre of the more than 200 that still exist, once holding more than 20,000 gladiator-loving spectators. Its sibling in Rome may inspire more oohs and aahs because of its size and majesty but the Pula arena’s exterior ring is still fully enclosed. The entrance fee is 50 kuna. Elsewhere, the well-preserved 2,000-year-old Temple of Augustus and other ruins of Rome are scattered throughout the town.