Chef Vesna Miletić, Croatia

Restaurant Tač, Zagreb – 3 G&M toque (16/20), Michelin Bib Gourmand

Tač – as the nickname of her husband Tihomir, Tač – as a suffix of the slang term for a restaurant (restač ), Tač – as the Croatian pronunciation of the English word touch, which suggests that she every dish, even when it is prepared by someone from of her associates, ennobled by her expert touch.

Vesna Miletić, the chef of the iconic Zagreb restaurant Tač, started her gastronomic adventure in 1985, when – after graduating from the Faculty of Political Sciences – she opened the first restaurant in Opatija, and fifteen years later, in Zagreb. From the first day in Tač, eating was like “at home”, which means good and quality, and that is exactly what Vesna as a chef built her culinary story on. Although Istrian and Mediterranean cuisine are closest to her, she also draws her inspiration from the traditional flavours of other  Croatian regions. Tač is, in the true sense a family business, in which her husband and sons are involved, and the rustic interior design and the proximity of the small garden, where they grow old varieties of vegetables, create a warm atmosphere.

Vesna won the Gault&Millau trophy of Chef of Traditional Cuisine for 2019, and her restaurant is decorated with three points from the same guide as the Michelin’s Bib gourmand.