Since early times Ljubljana dishes renowned ...
Unsurprisingly, the hatching of forms startedwith cookery. The menu is a creation! This piece of creation was designed in cooperation with ethnologist, Professor Janez Bogataj and Chef Igor Jagodic, who signed off each and every dish created.

The offer of the new Restaurant Strelec represents a culinary crossroads between the Alps, the Mediterranean, and the Pannonian Basin. Offering a taste of our ancestors' food, a pinch of castle-like atmosphere and the rousing noble aromas together with a glimpse into the medieval epoch, are the vision and genuine objectives of the restaurant. In Restaurant Strelec, we wish for the medieval time to stand still, at least for a short moment, as we offer you nothing but that which is the sweetest, the best, and the most beautiful, combined with wonderful view over the immediate surroundings and the enchanting hustle and bustle of the city below.

Shapes alter ceaselessly in the space, images create a picture of the infinite landscape in which works by renowned authors, artists and craftsmen have found their place. Their care, sense for every minor detail and the commitment to their work now stands as the goal of Restaurant Strelec.
Concentric circles are diminishing and the arrow has reached its target. Into the middle!

From mouth to mouth ... And off to the shooting tower

The walls of Restaurant Strelec are decorated with carvings or sgraffitos that are the work of architect, painter and university professor, Boris Kobe (1905-1981) and academic painter, Mario Pregelj (1913-1967). Congruent with Kobe's design and equipment of the former castle restaurant (e.g. the beer hall that was operating until the 1960s), the sgrafittos were created in 1952-1953. During the last renovation of the Ljubljana Castle, the sgrafittos were substantially damaged, yet skilful restoration works have managed to preserve them.

The idea for the images, painted on the walls of the Shooting Towers depicting motives of Slovenian folk poems, was part of the endeavours by Borut Kobe, who before WWII dedicated much of his creative attention to arranging Castle Hill and the castle itself, thus carrying on the work initiated by architect, Jože Plečnik (1872 1957). Over the walls of the Castle Tower, he developed a narration of selected folk poems by dividing the vast wall planes into separate narrating fields transmitting the main messages of the poem narratives. He attracted his friend and renowned Slovenian academic painter, Mario Pregelj, for the realisation of the extensive task. Between them, they rhythmically divided individual fields and therewith, also the universal motive of folk poems. Boris Kobe decided for the sgrafitto technique, which represents a popular way of wall refining and façade ornamenting from the gothic period. The essence of the technique is a deposit of several multicoloured layers of thin plaster. For the actual composition, the artist has to design paper blueprints or cartons serving to transfer the illustrations onto the fresh layers of plaster; the selected motive is brought to light by carving the plasters until the desired colour shade is achieved. Once the layers are solid, this technique offers exceptional durability.

Igor Jagodic, Strelec Restaurant, Ljubljana castle

After graduating from the School for Catering and Tourism in Ljubljana and School for Catering and Tourism Bled, Igor Jagodic started his culinary career as an apprentice in JGZ Brdo Kranj. His mentor was Andrej Goljat, one of the best chefs at the time.

His culinary career led him to Hotel Lev, the Astoria Hotel, Grand Hotel Toplice and Vila Bled. Since 2012 he has been the chef at Restaurant Strelec at the Ljubljana Castle.

Igor Jagodic continually improves his knowledge through various courses and professional training at home and abroad. In 2010 he worked for three weeks in the famous restaurant, Noma, in Copenhagen, where he was impressed by Chef Rene Redzepi and his philosophy of preparing contemporary cuisine using local ingredients.