One of the restaurants that has been talked about a lot in recent months is the Zagreb Matrix, which has made the author's food accessible to everyone with the signature of a top chef. An interesting gastronomic story quickly found its place in the media, which is not surprising because behind it stands the most famous Croatian spin doctor Krešimir Macan, and photos of imaginative creations of chef Marko Jantolek flooded social networks. The combination of magical PR, a talented chef and a top sommelier brought Zagreb a great new gastronomic story with an author's signature.
Krešimir Macan he is the co-owner of the Matrix restaurant in Zagreb and claims that this venture is definitely better than politics because while politics divides, food and wine combine. Together with an IT expert Marija Stipanović, who has been successful in the restaurant business for a long time, Macan embarked on a new adventure. They gathered a top team with young people from Zagreb chef Marko Jantolek in the kitchen and an experienced sommelier and a woman from the world of hospitality Istrian Manuel Maras at the table. The excellent PR man Macan explained the whole philosophy in one sentence: "What we offer in The Matrix is first and foremost an experience."
Before this new life adventure, Macan wanted to learn everything: "I studied how food is served, how the table is arranged, how the complicated mechanism works from the kitchen to the guest. Only in this way can you provide the guest with the promised experience - because everything plays in it - from top food business and private, restaurants and often something was missing for a complete experience.Somewhere the boss had no understanding for the ambitions of the chef so the service was below the quality of food, somewhere the chef was lazy to change something in an exceptional location, and often everything was subordinated to quantity and make money, even though there was a lot more potential to work differently. And so the idea was born of one place where it would all fit together as much as possible, " Macan explained to Glas Istre. Today, everyone already knows about the Matrix, as well as about the chef whose creations are often on the social networks of satisfied guests.
Matrix chef Marko Jantolek graduated from the Catering and Tourism School in Zagreb. He then worked in several restaurants, and the turning point in his career was the invitation of Goran Kočiš, former chef and co-owner of Noel, to the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Zagreb. He baked the craft at Noel for fifteen months, and the impact of working with a top mentor in a fine dining restaurant is evident on the Matrix menu. After leaving Noel, Jantolek was the sous chef and then the head chef of the Pod zidom bistro. This popular chef has been participating in the Matrix project since day one. We used the visit to ask Mark what the situation is Croatian gastronomic scene.
"Unfortunately, the Croatian gastronomic scene is still far behind the world stage. I must admit that things have started and progress is improving, but it is still not good enough and there are not enough quality long-term projects that would put Croatia at the top of world gastronomy, although according to the predispositions of resources we have the opportunity and belong there.
We are a country with excellent resources, in some things we are without competition. Our olive oils are among the most valued and best in the world, Istrian truffles, top wines from all over Croatia, cheeses, meat, fish, fruits and vegetables… all these are products that are local, top quality, recognizable and that is why we start from ourselves and in the Matrix we use only these home-made ingredients from small family farms for the best quality food, and thus we achieve a difference that, believe me, is very noticeable. I believe that the riches we have must be the guide and the direction in which Croatia will be positioned on the gastronomic map and be recognizable to everyone, " points out Matrix chef Marko Jantolek.
The burning problem of Croatian tourism is the lack of manpower, and Jantolek concludes that this problem begins in the education system.
"For those who love cooking, it is definitely a marathon, so they should be optimistic, persistent and eager for knowledge and learning. As for Croatia, the problem begins with a disastrous education for the profession. Raising the quality of gastronomy, investing in gastronomy, opening quality restaurants. bars, hotels, schools ... we will enable young people to progress better and faster.Young chefs are not educated enough and have completely wrong expectations from tourism.They do not have quality mentors who will guide them in the right direction and they are thus left to themselves and With each addition to the Matrix kitchen, our primary goal is to detect the gaps in the knowledge we come with and to provide quality education and guidance through our familiarity with the processes. they are essential for their preparation.I think this is the right one and the only good approach because besides providing Here is the standard of food quality to which the guest is accustomed and which he expects, we usually open some new vistas for young chefs and spread knowledge that he can later upgrade himself. " emphasizes Jantolek.