Hiša Franko

Hiša Franko

Just across Italy's Friulian border, Slovenian restaurant Hiša Franko is a world-class destination which is championing the produce of the Soča Valley and acts as a base for Ana Ros' incredible cooking.
Staro Selo 1

Kobarid
Slovenia
5222
Contact Details
  • +386 5 389 4120
  • Visit website
  • Hiša Franko
    Staro Selo 1, , Slovenia, Kobarid, 5222
    Telephone
    +386 5 389 4120
    Restaurant reservations
    Open Table Logo

    You couldn’t ask for a more picturesque location than Slovenia’s Soča Valley. The lush pastures, craggy mountains and pure, pristine streams make for some of the most breathtaking landscapes in Europe. But in this unspoilt part of Slovenia, which borders Friuli in Italy, there’s a building which is as famous as its surroundings – Hiša Franko.

    Originally built in 1868, Hiša Franko has been many things in its lifetime, and is reported to be where Ernest Hemingway wrote A Farewell to Arms as he was being treated for injuries sustained whilst working as an ambulance driver in World War I. Today, however, it is Slovenia’s most famous restaurant, where internationally renowned chef Ana Roš takes ingredients from the surrounding area and turns them into world-class cuisine.

    The house has been renovated and added to over the years, but the essence of its nineteenth-century origins remains front and centre. The dining room features bold red walls with clean white tablecloths and plenty of foliage to bring a little bit of the beautiful valley inside, but there’s also a glass-walled conservatory for when the sun is shining. Don’t expect stiff, formal service however – waiting staff are welcoming and friendly, and eating at the restaurant feels very much like being welcomed into someone’s home – after all, Hiša Franko literally means ‘Frank’s House’.

    There are two menus on offer at the restaurant, comprised of either eight courses or eleven. Every dish served is designed to showcase the flavours of the local area, which is best known for fish, dairy products, game and foraged herbs and vegetables. Seafood comes from a nearby coastal lagoon, and there’s a thriving kitchen garden where Ana sources many fruits and vegetables for the menu.

    While Ana is in charge of the kitchen, her husband Valter is in charge of Hiša Franko’s vast wine cellar, which specialises in biodynamic and Slovenian wines. Matched perfectly with each course, the varieties on offer are often very rare and hard to come by outside of the country. As well as storing wine, the cellars at Hiša Franko are also used to make and mature local cheeses such as Tolminc, Nanoški and Bovški, which are then served with homemade chutneys and the restaurant’s own honey.

    Three things you should know
    1
    There is a guesthouse at Hiša Franko for diners looking to spend the night, with ten rooms to choose from.
    2
    Valter credits Josko Sirk, the owner of Italian restaurant La Subida, for opening his eyes to the world of wine.
    3
    Ana and Valter not only work at Hiša Franko; they live there too with their two children and pets.
    Hiša Franko
    Staro Selo 1, , Slovenia, Kobarid, 5222
    Telephone
    +386 5 389 4120
    Restaurant reservations
    Open Table Logo
    The Chef

    Ana Roš

    People get bitten by the cooking bug in all sorts of different ways. They might see something on television as a child and instantly know it’s for them, or they might take a job as a potwasher at their local restaurant and fall in love with the high-octane thrill of service. For Ana Roš, however, an interest in cooking professionally came later in life. After meeting her future husband Valter Kramar in 2000, she left the University of Trieste and a future career in diplomacy to work in his parent’s restaurant in Kobarid, just across the Friulian border in Slovenia.‘When I left to start at Hiša Franko my parents weren’t happy,’ she says. ‘In Slovenian society cooking isn’t really respected, so leaving an intellectual career to go into the kitchen – which is seen as a craft and something you do when you can’t do much else – meant my parents were pretty disappointed. I think my mum would still prefer it if I was a diplomat today!’It’s easy to see why Ana’s parents were less than enthused about her decision to give up a promising career as a diplomat to work in a remote restaurant near her birthplace of Tolmin. Her father was a doctor and her mother was a journalist, and Ana had been both a promising dancer and alpine skier in her youth (as well as achieving fluency in five languages). Falling in love with Valter, moving back to Slovenia and working front of house at Hiša Franko must have seemed like a waste of opportunity. However, when the chef left and Ana moved into the kitchen, she found her calling – despite having no previous experience.