Fine dining in Zagreb: Ana Grgić Tomić creates exciting new à la carte menu at Zinfandel’s

(Photos: Mario Kučera/ Goran Jakuš)

This experienced and charming chef has just released a new collection of fantastic must-try courses

Inspired by winter, Hotel Esplanade’s chef Ana Grgić Tomić played with available foods such as mushrooms, game, snails, beets, pumpkins, winter truffles, quinces and oranges in the new menu of Zinfandel’s restaurant in Zagreb.

Ana Grgić Tomić (Photo credti: Goran Jakuš)

Ana carefully combined carefully selected ingredients into attractive, modern and delicious dishes while respecting the original taste, while giving them her specific signature.

Attractive flavours such as chestnut cream, parsley powder, smoked mussels, bisque with saffron and cognac gelée are just part of Ana’s new divine symphony inviting tasting.

Bisque with safron, oragne, marinated red stripped mullet, smoked mussels and garlic gelée (Photo credit: Mario Kučera)

“I am looking forward to the announcement of Zinfandel’s new menu. My team and I have worked on it a lot, so I believe it will satisfy our guests and true gourmands. I tried to use seasonal ingredients and prepare much of it in my own workshop through special preparation techniques to achieve unique flavours.

Ana Grgić Tomić (Photo credti: Goran Jakuš).

For example, the delicious salted beetroot that is combined with juicy American strip loin steak in this menu is kept in salt for three days to extract all the liquid from it, and it takes on a special sweet-salty taste. On the other hand, we bake celery in salt precisely so that it does not dry out and all the juices are preserved.

American strip loin steak, salted beetroot, pine oil, pine nuts, black garlic (Photo credit: Mario Kučera)

We make pine oil ourselves by cooking pine needles in a sous vide vacuumed with olive oil – in this way the oil takes over the taste of pine and gives a special aromatic winter note. St. Jacob shells are baked in grape seed oil, which in combination with chicory soup gives a unique taste.

St. Jacob shells baked in grape seed oil, chicory soup (Photo credit: Mario Kučera)

Among the main dishes, I put guineafowl breast, which we put a fine cream of butter, mushrooms and truffles under the skin to keep the meat juicy. Deer comes with a thick port sauce that we prepare by first smoking cherries which we then cook in the port with anise, cinnamon and cloves – this blend with venison is great.

Creamy risotto with smoked cod and beans (Photo credit: Mario Kučera)

We are also happy to prepare homemade bread with homemade yeast that my boys grow themselves. For guests, we also bake homemade focaccia to which we add rosemary, herbs and olive oil to highlight the Mediterranean concept of cuisine. In addition, we serve our guests butter that we beat ourselves, and we enrich the taste with olives and black salt,” Ana, head chef at Esplanade in Zagreb said, adding.

Pumpkin, white truffle, lardo, cashews (Photo credit: Mario Kučera)

“When creating the menu, I pay special attention to the correct choice of food, sustainability and maximum usability. We are dedicated to this because I believe that we chefs, as representatives of gastronomy, have a duty to direct the public and the media to the global problem of usability and food waste. We recently received a major Michelin award recognising our efforts in that direction and Zinfandel’s restaurant was awarded the first green star.

Wild sea bass, sea bass velouté, black quinoa, kale (Photo credit: Mario Kučera)

We are very proud of this achievement and we intend to dedicate ourselves even more deeply to reducing waste in cooperation with WWF partners, as well as educating our staff and guests, but also growing some of our own ingredients. For now, we are growing our own spices and peppers and zinfandel vines on the Oleander terrace, which gave us the first bottles with our own label a few years after planting, in cooperation with the Krauthaker winery.”

Guineafowl breast, mushrooms, celery baked in salt, brown butter (Photo credit: Mario Kučera)

Noodles with truffles, goat butter, goat cheese with truffles (Photo credit: Mario Kučera)

The menu still includes Zinfandel’s faithful classics such as hand-sliced steak tartare prepared from the best pieces of meat and selected spices, wild sea bass baked in salt, Istrian fuži with truffles, Caesar salad and the cult Esplanade strudels baked in cream. which also come in a gluten-free variant.

Shrimp marinated with honey and citrus, lemongrass and coconut cream, spinach (Photo credit: Mario Kučera)

Zubatac, thick consommé of shallots and thyme, roasted shallots cream, smoked cauliflower roasted in brown butter (Photo credit: Mario Kučera)

A sweet list of desserts such as homemade corn and poppy seeds, grape mousse with rose water panna cotta, buckwheat mille-feuille in peanut cream with tonka mousse and juicy caramelised quince and yuzu with lime completes Ana’s creative winter story.

Buckwheat mille-feuille, peanut cream, tonka mousse, caramelised quince (Photo credit: Mario Kučera)

Zinfandel’s wine list has been refreshed with some new interesting labels of wines, champagnes and dessert wines from Croatia and the world. The wines were carefully chosen by the sommelier to perfectly complement the menu.

Goose liver mousse, cocoa crumble, marinated rhubarb with thyme pepper (Photo credit: Mario Kučera)

Yuzu, lime, bitter chocolate (Photo credit: Mario Kučera)

“Zinfandel’s restaurant with its magical Oleander terrace and city view is a place of exceptional decadence made by Ana’s creative menus, but also people, professional and affordable, friendly service that makes our guests always happy to return,” added Stjepan Okun, maitre d ‘ Zinfandel’s restaurant.

(Photo credit: Arhiva hotela Esplanade)

The combination of innovative approach and creative food design, charming and professional service, sophisticated fine dining experience and art deco atmosphere undoubtedly places Esplanade’s Zinfandel’s at the very top of the domestic gastro scene.

(Photo credit: Mario Kučera)

(Photo credit: Arhiva hotela Esplanade)

The à la carte menu is available daily for lunch and dinner from 12 noon to 11 pm. On Sundays, traditional brunch is served at 12:30 in Zinfandel’s from 12:30. Table reservations are accepted by phone on 01 4566 644 or by e-mail at [email protected].

(Photo credit: Mario Kučera)

The restaurant adheres to the prescribed epidemiological measures in all business segments and pays special attention to the special eating habits of guests, so the dishes are specially marked according to halal standards of preparation, veggie dishes and those that should not contain gluten.