Dining in Zagreb: New Piano Bar at the cult Kavkaz
- by croatiaweek
- in Food & Wine
by Jasminka Sikic
Kavkaz or Theatre café, next to the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb has been very well-known for decades as a meeting spot for Croatian artists and other cultural figures.
Writers and poets, like A.G.Matos, Tin Ujevic, Miroslav Krleza, and Branko Simic used to come here, and later it became one of the central spots of the Croatian New Wave.
Branimir Johnny Stulic from the legendary band Azra wrote a song about sitting in this place with his friend Cero, having fags and beer. ‘I said to Cero that we are strangers, just like Morrison said, lonely people from margins, demi-mond’, sang Stulic about those days, and many later generations continued to do so, cherishing the memory of Kavkaz as a piece of cultural heritage of the Croatian capital Zagreb.
As times change, and the owners change, so did Kavkaz change, and now, apart from coffee and cigarettes, and cigarettes and beer, you can have some really nice food here. And wine also, and really good gin, and all sorts of whiskey, including thai. With the new owner, entrepreneur Tomislav Rajic, Kavkaz recently spread its dining space to the basement, into the charmingly decorated Piano bar.
Croatian costume designer Dzenisa Pecotic will be exhibiting here, and at the time everything is in the spirit of the upcoming Valentine’s day, with main themes of love and the soon opening night of Verdi’s ‘The Troubadour’ opera. Guests are being entertained every Saturday evening by piano professor Ivica Simunic.
And last, but not the least, what can you expect to find on the menu here? For example, you could have a rabbit paté for starters and then a beefsteak for the main course, with the prices starting from 30 to 160 kunas.
Their special is a chestnut and quince soup, and they are also placing much hope in their grilled salmon with beetroot, potatoes, English celery, Granny Smith apples, avocado cream
Let’s hope they will meet the expectations, considering the venue in hand.
Kavkaz is located at Trg Republike Hrvatske 1, Zagreb.
(Photos: Stanislav Cvitković)
