On a recent business trip to Zagreb, Croatia, I tasted some of the best food of my life. I couldn’t help but think: Mangiare Bene cooking classes should set up a sister-program here. It wasn’t just the delicious food that was instantly noticeable, but the food culture—the Zagrebians were as attuned to their cuisine as the Italians. They liked to talk about food and wine, they liked to cook, and they liked to eat. Zagreb was definitely a food and dining culture, often referred to by the natives as “Little Vienna.” And coming from Italy, I was pleasantly surprised to taste coffee that was just as good as espresso italiano.

Zagreb’s city center couldn’t be more chic, storefronts inviting with a sense of high-end design and classy cafe-life more prominent than any other business, with rows of tables in the streets, even in wintertime. I tasted the traditional and sublime cuisine of delicious soups, stewed meats, homemade gnocchi, bread balls, and pasta, salami and cheese antipasti, and fancy desserts. Bread was homemade. And yet, I personally marveled even more over the new, chic cuisine creating salads, tofu stir-fries, vegetables, and international dishes with a Zagreb flair. Food tastes this good only when a culture reveres it and a chef endows it with both imagination and art. Wines are also excellent in Croatia. One of my favorite dishes sampled was a traditional mushroom soup; freshly picked mushrooms are a Croatian staple.

It was hard to imagine a more exciting town for international exchange students, with all the cafe and bar life, youth in the streets, internet cafes on every block, and the atmosphere of charged intellectual and cultural life. And yet, exchange programs focus on more famous European hubs—Paris, Rome, London, Madrid. American students study French and Spanish, not Croatian, though it would not be hard to survive in Zagreb using only English! From shopkeepers to delivery truck drivers, English is understood. 

I’ve only lauded Zagreb’s food and dynamic city life; the capital is close to stunning natural wonders such as the Plitvice and Krka national parks, as well as the Dalmatian coast.

I’m already anticipating my next trip to Zagreb; hopefully in the summer season, when I can avail myself of the daily ferry service from Ancona to Zadar, which in wintertime operates on a reduced schedule. Nevertheless, it was a pleasant surprise to find that my door-to-door driving time from Rome to Zagreb’s center was only nine hours.
 

National Theater, Zagreb