Zadar dinner in Delmonico’s Restaurant on Wall Street: Zadar chefs, vintners and olive growers delight journalist and tour operator elite of New York

(Photo credit: Marijana Marinović)

A presentation dinner with as many as 11 separate gastronomic units – dishes, all together outlined the most important features of gastronomy, wine and olive oil of Zadar and its region in Delmonico’s Restaurant in New York, on Manhattan. 

On Tuesday, the Zadar City Tourist Office represented our city to a larger group of invited guests – tour operators, travel agents and representatives of travel and camping professional associations, journalists, editors and television producers specialized in the tourism sector. 

(Photo credit: Marijana Marinović)

At the beginning of the multi-hour tasting, the guests were greeted by the Zadar City Tourist Office director Mario Paleka, the Mayor of the City of Zadar and President of the Assembly and Tourist Council of the Zadar Tourist Office, Branko Dukić, the director of the Croatian Tourist Board main office Kristjan Staničić and the Republic of Croatia ambassador to the USA, Pjer Šimunović. 

Stephen McGillivray, Leila Krešić-Jurić and Kristjan Staničić (Photo credit: Marijana Marinović)

Last year’s award-winning promotional film on Zadar by author Igor Goić was shown, and the main characteristics of the city, its historical and cultural heritage and the tourist characteristics of Mediterranean Zadar were presented by a Zadar Tourist Office employee, Lucija Grubić. A-Capella quintet Niko entertained the guests all evening.

(Photo credit: Marijana Marinović)

All foods used to prepare small snacks, appetizers and the main course (except for the beef meat), arrived from Zadar for the occasion, with the great assistance of the company Marikomerc.

(Photo credit: Marijana Marinović)

The originality of the taste of the Zadar region was thus preserved, and the Zadar chefs, Saša Began, chef of Foša Restaurant, Niko Erik Pavin, owner of Niko Restaurant and Jakov Meštrović as representative of the younger and fresh generation coming from the Zadar Cooking School, wanted to preserve the authenticity of heritage dishes and their flavors on their plates and, of course, the Zadar sea and its products. 

(Photo credit: Marijana Marinović)

The evening started with four brief greetings from the kitchen: a small basket with carpaccio from Marikomerc Adriatic octopus and Pelagos marinated anchovies, a Began focaccia with salted anchovies, Ston oysters from Marikomerc offer and a morsel of ike jime fillet of aged seabass from the Ugljan company Marfish topped with orange and olive oil emulsion.

(Photo credit: Marijana Marinović)

(Photo credit: Marijana Marinović)

All dishes were prepared and seasoned with local extra virgin olive oils from the Zadar region, which were donated by award-winning olive growers through the Association of Zadar County Olive Growers dr. Ivica Vlatković, Ante Vulin, Vinko Lalin and Marin Matešić. 

(Photo credit: Marijana Marinović)

Small bottles of their oils were also part of the gift packages for the guests with the Nin salt flower from the Nin Salt Pans.

The evening continued with Began’s performance of a traditional savur made of blue fish and white fish, Meštrović’s fillet of ‘burned’ Adriatic bluefin tuna (from the Jadran Tuna Company cages) with chickpea puree, thick white fish soup with dory fillet and mussel seasoned with local saffron from the Stigma Company Saffron from Geneva, then the Pavin classical risotto made from Velebit scampi, Dalmatian pašticada with mini vegetables instead of gnocchi, and a real little Zadar fine dining tasting ended with the Meštrović Zadar cake made of orange and enriched with  Dalmatian truffle in chocolate and Zadar marasca sour cherry cream, almond crumbles and the famous Maraska Maraschino. 

(Photo credit: Marijana Marinović)

That did not end the presentation: the guests were then served small plates with slices of Pag cheese from the Pag Cheese Factory and slices of Dalmatian prosciutto from the village of Zemunik.

All the dishes were paired exclusively with authentic wines from Zadar wineries. Fiolić Winery participated with Maraština and Rosé, Royal Vineyards (Kraljevski vinogradi) Winery with Pošip, Chardonnay and Crljenak, while Degarra Winery with its Primo sparkling wine, strong Bonter and dessert coupage Bonter and marasca sour cherry wine Bomary. All the wines for this occasion came, of course, from Zadar.

(Photo credit: Marijana Marinović)

All the guests, an eminent group of experienced and well-known journalists who have seen the world, including the food of all world cuisines, as well as tourism managers from several American countries, were really delighted with the tastes and smells of the Mediterranean in the Zadar manner. 

Some of them such as David Farley, a freelance journalist who had made Zadar illustrious in his The New York Times column, were well acquainted with the tastes of the city. An experienced editor of the famous new company Amy Wirshup thus met our gastronomy for the first time. Like everyone else, two high-ranking representatives of the city of New York were delighted with Zadar’s food: Alexandra Silversmith, second person at the New York Office of Tourism and Rachel Insler, Head of Marketing in the same office.

Branko Dukić, Dennis Turčinović and Nikica Kopačević(Photo credit: Marijana Marinović)

Listing the names of other guests at this Zadar dinner in New York would be long. Their impressions and memories of this Zadar gastronomic event will surely help them when they tell their partners or future Croatian guests about our city.

Interestingly, Zadar’s well-known friend from Italy, local TV star Fabrizio Nonis, who had recently filmed some parts during the Meat Me 4.0 Festival in Zadar stopped by for a short time at the famous Delmonico’s. Whether this time Nonis will tell his story for the Italian TV company about the people of Zadar in New York remains to be seen.

(Photo credit: Marijana Marinović)

Denis Turčinović, one of the co-owners of Delmonico’s, was especially delighted with the entire event. His numerous team of cooks and waiters and the entire staff of the restaurant provided maximum support and assistance to the Zadar chefs.

(Photo credit: Marijana Marinović)

This was the second time that the Zadar Tourist Office organized a gastro-tourist presentation. The first time it was organized in Felidia Restaurant of the famous Lidija Bastijanich at the beginning of 2020, directly prior to the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. 

(Photo credit: Marijana Marinović)

The results of all these promotional investments, including performances at tourist fairs in the USA and numerous press visits and reports about Zadar in the USA, slowly but surely are beginning to give results through a greater presence and visibility of our city on the competitive and dynamic American market and a greater number of tourist arrivals from the American continent to Zadar.