User:FrostFairBlade/sandbox/Hiša Franko

History
Hiša Franko ("Frank's house") is a restaurant and inn situated in the village of Staro Selo, which is located west of the town of Kobarid. The establishment is positioned in the valley of the Soča river, approximately three kilometers away from the Italian border. The building that houses the restaurant had previously been a farmhouse, as well as a hospital during World War I. In 1970, Franko and Jožica Kramar took over the building. Three years later, they established a restaurant there, utilizing Franko's previous experience as a waiter and Jožica's hospitality studies. Some time later, Franko and Jožica had a son named Valter, who trained to become a sommelier.

While finishing her university studies in diplomacy, Ana Roš met Valter while dining at the restaurant, and the two shortly began dating. When Valter's parents retired in the summer of 2000, he inherited the restaurant. Out of love for Valter, Roš made the decision to forgo a potential job interview in Brussels and help him run the restaurant. Initially, Roš was in charge of the front of house while Valter handled sommelier duties, as the kitchen was already staffed. To fund a much-needed renovation, Valter and Roš took out a loan of more than €1 million. In the summer of 2002, as the kitchen staff quit, Valter reluctantly assumed the role of chef. However, his true passions lay in wine, and he was not particularly interested in running the kitchen. Despite being pregnant and lacking formal culinary training, Roš chose to take over as chef instead in August 2002.

The early years of Roš' tenure as chef were challenging for Hiša Franko. The restaurant lost most of their regular customers as she learnt on the job. Roš picked up culinary techniques from reading books and learning from friends in the restaurant industry. She and Valter also made trips to fine dining restaurants like El Bulli and El Celler de Can Roca to gain insights on their operations. These trips inspired Roš to try experimenting more with the menu.
 * Hiša Franko ("Frank's house") is an restaurant and inn located in Staro Selo, a remote village west of Kobarid.
 * It is three kilometers from the Italian border and situated in the valley of the Soča river
 * The building the restaurant is located in had previously been a farmhouse, as well as a hospital during World War I
 * Franko and Jožica Kramar took the building over in 1970, establishing a restaurant there three years later
 * Franko had worked as a waiter, and his wife Jožica had learned hospitality
 * Roš claims that it was the first private business since Slovenia was under socialist rule
 * While finishing her university studies in diplomacy, Roš met Kramar while dining at the restaurant, and the two shortly began dating
 * Kramar's parents retired in the summer of 2000, leaving their son the restaurant
 * Roš decided to cancel a potential job interview in Brussels to be with Kramar, helping him run the restaurant
 * Initially, Roš was in charge of the front of house while Kramar handled sommelier duties, as the kitchen already had a chef working full-time
 * To finance a much-needed renovation, Kramar and Roš took out a loan of more than €1 million
 * Due to employee turnover, Kramar took over as chef in summer 2002, but he was disinterested in running the kitchen as his passion was in wine
 * Despite having no formal culinary training, Roš decided to take over the kitchen in August of that year
 * She took the job in 2002 at age 30 and while pregnant
 * The restaurant went into a rough transition period, losing most of their regular customers as Roš learnt on the job
 * Roš learnt culinary techniques from books and restaurant industry friends, as well as making trips to fine dining restaurants like El Bulli and El Celler de Can Roca to understand how they operate
 * These fine dining trips enabled Roš to try experimenting more with the menu
 * In 2006, Roš created what she believed was her breakthrough dish, ravioli with potato and trout
 * Roš recalled that Italian food journalist Anna Morelli liked the food and helped spread the word about the restaurant
 * Roš recalled that her appearance on Chef's Table skyrocketed the restaurant to such popularity that visits to its website went from 200 to 10,000 daily visitors
 * In 2023, Hiša Franko unveiled a special tasting menu, "50 Shades of Life", to celebrate its 50th anniversary

Design and lodging

 * The restaurant is located in a countryside house built in 1860
 * The building is elongated and painted pink
 * In addition to dining, Hiša Franko also provides lodging; guests can book one of ten themed rooms to stay in
 * Hiša Franko's official website describes these rooms as "modest", and that they are "intended for restaurant guests who do not want to drive after dinner."
 * As of March 2024, room prices range from 230 EUR to 250 EUR a night
 * In 2021, Roš worked with local designer Matea Benedetti to create floral-inspired uniforms for the Hiša Franko staff

Food

 * Prior to Roš entering the kitchen, the Kramars served eatery items like English roast beef—a popular staple amongst the locals—and štruklji, a type of Slovene dumpling
 * Roš remembered that the Kramars' clientele were primarily Italians who stopped in Slovenia for cheaper fuel and groceries
 * Now, the dishes served at Hiša Franko are creative interpretations of Slovenian cuisine
 * Because of Roš' unconventional, autodidactic approach to cooking, her dishes are primarily inspired not by traditional methods, but by her natural surroundings
 * Hiša Franko has a rotating menu, with Roš choosing to create entirely new dishes instead of keeping some signature items
 * Roš: "I simply can't cook a dish I did two years ago, because I am a different person. My cooking style changes, because I am changing."
 * Guests have a choice of a six or an eleven-course dinner, which changes every month
 * Since the area's remoteness made it difficult to get suppliers, Roš uses a farm-to-table approach for Hiša Franko
 * She focuses on making food with hyperlocal Slovenian ingredients, a method she calls "zero kilometer"
 * Roš intentionally uses locally-grown produce taken from either the garden behind the restaurant, or purchased from neighboring farmers
 * Lamb is sourced from the nearby Drežnica, and pork dishes use the Krškopolje pig as its base
 * A 2018 article for The Independent noted that she maintains contact with around ten different foragers to source ingredients like mushrooms and plants
 * Roš: "One of the things I'm proudest of is how we have built a chain of producers no one knew about 10 to 15 years ago and helped to create a sustainable market for their products."
 * The restaurant has a selection of wines, many of them Slovenian natural wines curated by Kramar, the sommelier
 * Kramar also ages Tolminc cheese, a local specialty made from raw cow's milk, in a cellar at the restaurant
 * A 2005 New York Times article estimated that the restaurant's customers were 80% foreigners, especially in the summer

Awards and media

 * Roš and Hiša Franko were featured in an episode of the television series Chef's Table in 2016
 * In 2020, Roš published her first cookbook, Ana Roš: Sun and Rain, which showcases recipes from Hiša Franko