A Very Fine Lunch at Restoran Kadena in Split

Following our wonderful gourmet dinner at the wine expo on Makarska, we were invited to visit chef Braco Sanjin at his usual kitchen in the lovely Restoran Kadena in Split. We’d spent the morning trailing around various home-improvement superstores in pursuit of equipment for our new BBQ, and were somewhat disillusioned with the cabilities of…

Painting figs with wine

Ever since I saw the paintings in wine, I’ve been keen to try it for myself. So when our neighbour brought round a dish of fresh figs the other day, I decided they would be the perfect subject. And as the wine makes a fairly light wash, I thought I’d work small so as to…

Painting with Wine

Every so often, if I have a glass of wine as I’m painting, I’ll accidentally go to dip my brush in the wrong container. The opposite is also true, and I actually took a good swig of my paint water – but only once, I’ve been a lot more careful since! So I was extremely…

Wine and jazz in Jelsa on a summer evening

Jelsa, it seems, can throw a really good party. Last night’s festival of wine and Jazz was a fine evening’s entertainment in a lovely setting. The entire waterfront was sparkling as we arrived shortly after the 8pm start. We strolled around, looking to see what was where, enjoying the wafting smells of food being prepared…

A slow food adventure in Hvar’s Golden Shell

A birthday is a perfect excuse for eating somewhere special – maybe even somewhere new.  We’d read about the  Zlatna Školjka (Golden Shell) in Hvar town, and how the chef is part of the “slow food” movement. Now that doesn’t mean you’ll still be waiting for your starter a couple of hours after ordering, but…

Dalmacija Wine Expo 2013

Having missed the Dalmacija Wine Expo last year, we were keen to book early for this year. It’s the best place to try a range of Dalmatian wines, and find out what’s new and compare the various offerings. We set ourselves up with a room in the hotel right next to where the Expo is…

Tasting the wines

Wine tasting on Brač at Stina – Jako Vino winery in Bol

Stina wines draw their inspiration from the famous Brač stone. Stina, of course, means stone in the local Dalmatian dialect. Although there’s a history of winemaking on the island that goes back to the ancient Greeks, it’s been somewhat run down over the last century. Stina aka Jako vino has spent the recent few years…

Plancic bottles on the wall

Wine tasting at Plančić vinarija

About a year ago, we visited the Plančić winery in Vrbanj, and were very excited to try their Darnekuša. It’s a very different kind of red from Hvar, unusual to find as a single varietal. This year we called ahead, and were privileged to have winemaker Antun Plančić himself, along with brother Mario to guide…