Golf
When the JB restaurant moved out of Ljubljana, the Bratovž family actually only moved the (legendary) name of the restaurant, which was a pioneer of Slovenian fine dining, to the golf course in the Arboretum. With the move, father Janez-JB not only officially handed over the scepter to his son and chef Tomaž and daughter, hostess and wine consultant Nina, but the move – from Plečnik to Pečečnik – was also a completely new and very different hospitality challenge for both of them. Not only did the guests and their dining preferences change, but also the ambitions, possibilities and needs of the Arboretum itself offer and require different hospitality approaches. Fine dining and original cooking became just an addition. However, the transformation was rapid, from spring to autumn.
By the pond
JB at its new location in Volčji potok is a golf restaurant every day, and three times a week Nina and Tomaž also serve (more) fine dining in a special room and on a secluded terrace.
Greetings
A crispy corn tortilla pocket is filled with Adriatic octopus and homemade ajvar; boiled cod with potatoes in a black seaweed cup, saffron vegetable cream is on a flower-twisted crust, whose sour and fruity flavor is enhanced by the sumac spice.
Bread and butter
The buttery sourdough brioche is the base for the whipped butter, which has a deep, full, round and quite infectious flavor. Tomaž has given it umami with the help of homemade miso (made from soy), which is also helped by a splash of Worcestershire sauce. Green in color, with a hint of sweetness that matches the fluffy bread, the butter is rounded off with a sprinkling of fig leaf powder.
Tomato
Cherry tomatoes, crispy chili oil, homemade stracciatella and peanuts, and in a ceramic jar, the essence, a clear, solitary flow of tomatoes that (should) wash away the burning sweetness of summer.
Nina and Tomaž
Tomaž Bratovž announces the new dish of his first “golf tasting” to both tables at the same time, and a few courses later he introduces the “deer from the fifth hole” (of the course), so sister Nina explains: “Since there are few tables, the idea is for communication to take place as a group, not only between Tomaž and the guests, but also among the guests.”
Dairy cow
Because she gave so much milk and was therefore able to live to a good old age, the chef also made an effort with her back. He cut carpaccio from the “old” roast beef and “rejuvenated” it with butter, into which he mixed all the herbs that “we found in our garden”. Since he was using the butter in the French way, he also mixed it into the homemade ajvar, so that together with the paprika he created a pleasantly tickling cream. He sprinkled it with fried fresh capers and tried it. “It lacked a little acid,” so he added fermented cabbage and pickled spruce tips.
Marble trout
Sous vide trout cooked in cuttlefish ink, trout bone broth and citrus. Topped with chanterelles in tempura with red and Sichuan pepper.
Scampi
Kvarner scampi from the island of Krk, nut cream, oil and lime leaf foam
Cracklings
Although this morning dish – a combination of egg and cracklings – has become modern in its evening fine version, Bratovž’s version is different enough that the authorship is not in dispute. The egg is from the neighbor, but the yolk is the chef’s due to its thick creaminess; the main credit (maybe) goes to the cream on the bottom, made from fermented cauliflower, with the help of black garlic. The answer to why an egg whited like this is enough for the whole day in the morning, and why it doesn’t feel too heavy in the evening, despite the additional umami, probably isn’t in the parsnip powder and pickled red onion.
Deer
Deer fillet, berry jus, licorice foam and dried watermelon.
Lemons
Although Tomaž baked a flour-free (gluten-free) tart for his fiancée, we, the trial guests of the first JB fine dining at the new location, were also happy because we only had refreshments at the end, with almonds on the bottom and lemon on the top.
Wine pairing
Aperitif: sparkling wine peNINA, Radgonske gorice, chardonnay, brut nature, sans dosage;
Brioche and tomatoes: Rosé 2025, Ana Selection (Elizaveta and Peter Gönc), pinot noir; Beef carpaccio: Zelen 2023, Miška; Trout: Laški Riesling 2024, Hlade; Kvarner scampi: Chardonnay 2024, Kozinc; Egg and cracklings: Vitovska 2022, Fedora; Deer: Črna rebula 2022, Nebo, co-authored with Nina Bratovž.
