Be Yourself, Don't Forget Your Identity!

This year, the Hungarian capital hosted Bocuse d'Or Europe 2022, the European selecting event of the famous gastronomy competition. The jury was headed – as president of honor for the European selection – by acclaimed Slovenian chef Ana Roš. Diplomacy&Trade caught up with her during the two-day competition.

In her childhood – and even early adulthood – no one, not even herself, suspected that Ana Roš would once be heading a restaurant of two Michelin stars and become the ‘face’ of Slovenian gastronomy.

Runs in the family
“Of course, growing up is always the learning part of our life with the family around you having the largest influence. My mother has always been amazing as has my grandmother – one was more traditional, the other more aristocratic in cooking. However, I never cooked with them. I was more into sports and into dance, so, I actually came home and I was eating. I always had these very well prepared, very healthy, very fresh, no shortcut food on the table. And I believe that what you're given as a child you never forget it. It is true in my case as well: it stayed with me,” the chef points out.

Making a restaurant great
The year 2000 saw an important change in the life of Ana Roš. As she recalls, “my partner, Valter Kramar’s parents retired in 1999 and the following year, we took over their restaurant in Kobarid, northwestern Slovenia. However, at that time, the establishment called Hiša Franko wasn't a place with the concept of today. It was a kind of long stairway going step by step towards something. It was absolutely not ready for something great, but we were not ready for something great either. So, I believe that what Hiša Franko is in this moment, it is because we respected the slow process of transforming the restaurant to something great,” she explains.

Guests more valuable than Michelin stars
The restaurant has so far been awarded two Michelin stars but Ana Roš says these distinctions have not changed her life or approach in any way. “I feel I am the same person as before, I don't feel any more pressure. I don't feel any more responsibility. However, I do feel great responsibility towards our guests who need to travel a lot to get to Hiša Franko. And if that guest is happy, it means that my restaurant works well and it will be full. Without the guests, these stars don't mean anything, be it one star or two stars. So, I believe that if we can make the client happy, we can also make the Michelin inspector happy. I think my message has always been very clear about that: regardless of the number of stars, our service is always the same. I'm not going to change that. If I need to lose a star because I'm stubborn and believe in something, I'm ready for it. I've seen so many chefs, friends very stressed or very often disappointed about their career. I think the career and the success need to be the result of good work,” she stresses.

Doing what she believes in
Having conducted diplomatic studies in Italy, Ana Roš must have made a very difficult decision to abandon the road to Brussels. Instead, she stayed in her homeland and built up an amazing career in gastronomy. In reply to notes like “if you pursued a diplomatic career, you could perhaps be the President of Slovenia because you are so successful,” she simply says: “but I can be the President of Slovenia also as a chef, that is no problem. Elections are free…”
She adds that she believed that the path that she chose was a natural continuation of her life. “A woman also has a heart to follow – that is what I did. Then, somehow my work, diplomacy, even my political opinion eventually met. So, today, already for three years, I am the Ambassador at the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for sustainable tourism and gastronomy. In this position, I am actually raising the awareness about the danger that gastronomy is heading towards – and also about the sustainability of what I believe in. On the other side, in the time of crisis, we all show our character somehow. And for me, it is the fight for this to be a strong sector, fight for the food. The pandemic times made me a hero in the country but also one hated by some in the political elite. But I never stepped aside. I always said what I thought was right. Therefore, I don't know if my life is so much different wearing a chef jacket and cooking from what it would be if I was working in Brussels and staying there.”

Be yourself!
Currently, there are two Slovenian ladies as great promoters of the country: Ana Roš and Olympic and world champion alpine skier Tina Maze. The latter made an amazing promotion for Slovenia and Slovenian tourism and Ana Roš did the same for Slovenian gastronomy with a very, very important message for the new generation on how to save global climate, how to save gastronomy. As to what her message is to the next generation of chefs some of whom were present at this year’s Bocuse d’Or 2022 European final in Budapest, the celebrated Slovenian chef points out that “well, it is very simple. It is be yourself, stay yourself. Be yourself, stay yourself, don't forget your identity! That's the most important!”