Vila Podvin

An eternal villa

Vila Podvin is eternal, because it survived a king and a marshal, and it was here that the Slovenian constitution was born. Now it has a new a new chef, whose culinary skills are reflected in every dish and who uses the finest seasonal and local ingredients to uniquely change tradition into modernity.

This isn’t ‘fine dining’ which can be all-too-the-same, because it merely focuses on ‘make-up’ and requires (too long) sitting. Vila Podvin is once again offering an experience, from the aperitif cocktail, which is eaten with a spoon, to baked ice-cream, which is made from black garlic. In between, it’s not just about tiny mouthfuls, which you swallow quickly and wash down, but rather they are actions that stir the imagination.

How is the fried ravioli, filled with foam of invasive blue crab, deepened with ripened beetroot, and how is the raw scallop in a delicate chamomile sauce seared with spruce needles? Is the tuna in a black tea and green pepper soup so succulent because it’s infused with arugula, and is the venison in a merlot and cocoa sauce so tender because of the sour milk puree or the hibiscus vinegar reduction? Is the reward that in such a fine restaurant you can only eat with a spoon, or are the flavours so deep that it’s impossible to be fancy at all!?