Culinary jazz in the Kamene Priče tavern

Kamene Priče - Tuesday, 06.06. - Tuesday, 31.10.2023.

Matej Horvat and his dedicated team continue the tradition at the iconic Istrian tavern, creating unforgettable moments with top-quality ingredients and respect for cultural heritage. Authenticity, genuineness and simplicity are at the heart of this year's concept. Here's what Matej says:

Kamene Priče Tavern opens its doors for the 22nd time on April 1. It's time to gather once more in Bale, the place of eternal creation, ready to create an experience like no other on stage as well as in the kitchen. We emphasize the homegrown, the true and the simple. We must make catering the passion of all participants if we are to build a business that is sustainable and continuous. Catering, in its own way, implies respect.

Good hosting is a key component of mutual respect in this business.

To ensure a quality experience, it is important to understand the relationship between guest and host. The members of our team share a passion for quality and spirit-rich living. Through such an atmosphere, we turn our love into an unparalleled mutual experience of hospitality at every level. 

Rest and reflection during the winter months

However, 6 months of hibernation is not in the nature of man, so it is usually filled with retrospection-developing the film of the previous season and planning the next one in parallel. There are always a lot of impressions that open space for ideas; one has to be able to balance this human need for improvement, growth, development with what is the eternal truth that our millennial road brings - the truth woven into the Istrian peninsula. In the last few years we have been thinking a lot about innovation, the fusion of different traditional cuisines, and we have also been working on presentation, the tavern's step in this direction, with universal techniques and superb preparations. It has been a challenge with excellent results for our guests, although we could say that a high-level tavern does not necessarily require such treatment.

Inspiration from Venice and back to basics

I spent part of last fall in Venice to visit the Biennale. It gave me the opportunity to visit many high-end Venetian restaurants, both starred ones and osterias, and to taste many forgotten Mediterranean dishes. One thing they have in common: the preparation of timeless and unpretentious dishes from the finest ingredients that are still prized as top-notch specialties.

Fresh food and passion for catering

One morning, sitting at the Fondamenta Gherardini, I watched the "market boat" enter the canal and the quick reaction of well-known restaurateurs in search of the best food. This moment reminded me of the meaning and composition of our community and encouraged me in the direction of a good restaurateur's greatest value, which is high-quality food-with quality and meaning. Meaning envelops the component of time and space. There is no place for premium maple syrup in authentic Istrian cuisine: it simply does not belong. When catering is simplified in this way, the harmony between time and space is achieved-the truth is revealed. So is Bale, so is all of Istria - pure and meaningful.

Culinary art and preservation of tradition

The pursuit of creation based on first-rate ingredients is nothing new in our house. OPG Dobravac has been providing us with wonderful fruits and vegetables for years, Damjanić is our winemaker because he is committed to quality and infallibility. However, in the search for meaningful ingredients, our chef Marko Bajić, a great connoisseur of growing and preparing food, but also an artist of the plate, played an important role, so his traditional and indigenous compositions will still decorate the tables of our guests.

Marko and I have known each other for many years, and we met right here at Stone Stories. Upon my return from Venice, we met to begin developing plans for the 2023 season; the days of creating the menu passed quickly and enthusiastically-selecting true traditions, recognizing the roles of various ingredients on our rich peninsula, discovering forgotten notes of the rhapsody of Istrian flavors. Marko's knowledge allowed us to package a high-quality offering with the fruits of our peninsula, food worthy of the title of a tavern with a decades-long tradition. The determining factor of his creativity is simplicity and meaningfulness.

Marko is an exceptional chef with extensive experience! In addition to his vast knowledge of cooking and preparation, I especially appreciate his many years of involvement in food creation--growing food, working with original local foods, and activities to preserve old varieties. I admire his knowledge of food and his understanding of the "life of food," from seed to table. This is where his great capital resides. He recently returned from Spain from one of the many European projects in which he is actively involved: the topic of ecological transition and permaculture gardens fascinates him, and he himself is a skilled creator of such a garden next to his home.

The tradition of 22 years since our tavern has existed is very respectable, so we cannot afford big changes. Many people have incorporated our street into their living habits. Habits are an important part of people's lives, especially when they are on vacation-it would be cruel to take them away or change them. Again, small variations are always part of our scene: every day we redo every measure of our composition to achieve a kind of harmonious symphony - listenable, discreet, romantic and at the same time revolutionary in this modern spirit of tourism. Our season is composed of many micro-seasons, if we look at it through the prism of the foods we use: this is how we will compose our offer throughout spring and summer, respecting the rhythm of life in all senses.

Cultural heritage preservation

Marko and I share a passion for cultural heritage preservation-we understand each other very well and think along these lines even when we talk about food. For a person to love his or her work, he or she must understand it well, and understanding the concept of a tavern in a house 3000 years ago must also take into account the "cultural heritage" that was served on the tables of our ancestors: this is real creativity based on simple but slowly forgotten knowledge. Istria is not only fish and fake truffles. There are also many wild plants surrounding us, which are spoken of very little today, but which once enriched tables, palates and souls on a daily basis.

The skilled and precise hands of our "two Ives" preserve Kamene Priče with dignity and worthy of the title of tavern with tradition. One of them is a pedagogue-master of Croatian studies and passionate collector of certified herbs; the other is a superb cocktail master. Both lovers of Bale, Ive will refresh both sides of the bar with his professionalism this summer.

Tomislav Pavleka's signature jazz

The habit of good sound and quality musical performance brings many fans to our door, and again this year we will not disappoint. Another Last Minute Open Jazz Festival has been prepared under the direction of the brilliant Tomislav Pavleka, ready to once again thrill all the loyal worshippers of our garden. It will be a superb musical experience in Bale, forever anchored in Jazz Konoba - Kamene Priče.