BIG BERRY Chef: Damnjan Draganić

Photos by : Peter Zakrajsek and Tjaša Miketič

Damnjan Draganić carries you away to his universe

With his dishes, Damnjan gives you an opportunity explore the culinary arts coming from mountains and the sea of Croatia

Damnjan Draganić is the 2nd BIG BERRY Chef who came on the 28th April for the Opening of BIG BERRY Kolpa Resort 2018. He comes from a small coastal town in Croatia called Novi Vinodolski. He defines cooking as an endless art which reflects one’s personality. Since he has started working as a chef he got a high level of knowledge. He started at the Hotel Katarina Selce as a student where he later became a real chef. In his pursuit to feel the freedom and to demonstrate his cooking skills, he worked in several luxury hotels in both Croatia and Austria. Following his passion for cooking, he got many rewards in various culinary competitions, such as the title of the best young Croatian chef and the Croatian Culinary Cup winner.

"Following his passion for cooking, he got many rewards"

The combination of the sea andmountains is what inspires his cooking the most. “I take the best ingredients from the two and then combine them on a plate into one”. His talent has brought him to Nidum Casual Luxury Hotel in Ostria where he still works as an Executive Chef. 

"I really liked to cook local products of BIG BERRY’s partners. I'll definitely buy some for myself".

He told us in confidence that his inspiration for cooking came from his childhood when he would cook traditional dishes together with his mother. During the Opening of BIG BERRY Kolpa Resort, Damnjan showed his knowledge to the guests and transported them into his own world – a culinary universe where the dishes have the taste of mountains and the scent of the sea.

"A culinary universe where dishes taste mountains and smell the sea."

For the appetizer, he meticulously prepared a pork roulade with roasted green apple and a homemade Pogača from our partner Domače dobrote Mojca. After that, he served stuffed donuts – cooked with eggs from Kmetija Kočevar and butter from Zlati Ghee – with pepper cream and a slice of Ekološka kmetija Totter's cow cheese. The final dish was a marinated trout fillet form our local partner Kmetija Zupančič in combination with cucumber, fennel and golden melon salad.

Various cocktails were introduced at the Opening of BIG BERRY Kolpa Resort. Guests were invited to create their own cocktails by mixing scrumptious drinks from our local partners, such as Semiška Penina’s sparkling wine, traditional Domačija Kuzma and raspberry wine from Kmetija Pavlovič. The refreshing and rich Pivovarna Vizir was also offered to the guests during the Opening.

"My experience at BIG BERRY as a BIG BERRY Chef was awesome. Its environment provide you all you need."

3rd BIG BERRY chef The same day at the Opening of the resort, BIG BERRY will welcome Gorazd Potočnik, a great cook from Slovenia. He currently works as an independant pastry Chef in his own workshop at Smlednik.

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