T hose who know New York well claim that it is impossible to try all the cuisines that are served in this city in the same year. It is sim- ply impossible, even if you are obstinate enough to eat breakfast, lunch and din- ner in a different place every day. People have been arriving in New York for centu- ries from all over the world, bringing with them their dreams, history, culture, hab- its... Thus New York became, among other things, a centre of gastronomy. Among the various scents that spread around Manhattan, somewhere in the East Village you will sense freshly baked giban- ica cheese pie, grilled ćevapi kebabs and other mixed meat. This emanates from Kafana , the restaurant of Serbian nation- al cuisine. Nine years has passed since it was opened by Belgrader Vladimir Ocokol- jić. He came to America 27 years ago due to his mother’s work, then circumstanc- es led to him staying there. When you ask him about his first days in a foreign land, he says: “In Belgrade I left behind my sis- ter, grandmother, grandfather and a never better Red Star. The toughest for me was that I wasn’t in Munich and Belgrade for the semi-final in 1991, or at the Ramones concert in Zagreb.” The Ocokoljić family never had res- taurateurs. Vlade completed interior de- sign studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where he later taught, while his father was an architect and his mother an economist... However, the men in the family were known as great hosts, and the woman as great cooks. - Really, the female members of the family are formidable cooks, on both my mother’s and father’s sides. Both grand- mothers were housewives, so it was prob- ably understood that they could knead dough and that they knew every villag- er on the market... On St Nicholas’s Day, our family saint’s day, hundreds of people came, but when we moved to New York that celebration slowly developed into an event that everyone talked about. It started with my parents and their guests, and I lat- er continued the tradition. You can imagine a one-bedroom apartment with 200 peo- ple in it... They were waiting in line in front of the building, in the entrance hall ... That also encouraged us to open a restaurant. Today at Kafana they serve pies, stuffed cabbage rolls, salads and other specialities prepared according to the recipes of Vlada’s grandmothers, aunts, mother... And not a single Serb works in the kitchen. - That makes my job easier because in this way they cook in the way I tell them to, without their own memories of“grand- mother’s kitchen” – says Vlada.
Everything on the menu is good, but the ćevapi are still the most popular. They also devised a brunch menu and the guests like that thay offer fried eggy bread and uštipak donuts and the full bread-bun, but it always ends with “Give us 10 ćevapi!” Two-thirds of the guests have noth- ing to do with Serbia or the Balkans. Sim- ply, a good reputation spreads quickly, just like that enticing scent spreads through- out Manhattan. Some time ago, 53 of the most highly-rated foreign chefs have made a list of the hundred best restaurants in the world. Among them is Kafana. Many inter- national media companies agreed with this choice, including Newsweek, Business In- sider, The New York Times etc. - I most like critiques from people who are in the hospitality industry. I am particularly happy about the beautiful words written by Gabrielle Hamilton, Mi- chael White, but also July Moskin of The New York Times. We’re in New York, so di- verse people really come. I’m always glad when I see and meet our people who are famous around the world, such as Gorda- na Novaković, Marina Abramović, Nikola Jokić, Novak Đoković... The restaurant’s interior is filled with old photographs of Belgrade. Also domi- nant is brickwork, which is characteristic of Manhattan, but the other details are authentically Serbian. Many pieces were relocated directly from the House of Vla- da’s grandfather, while one chandelier has a special story. – I’d say it comes from the urban mi- lieu, because my grandfather came from Katić near Ivanjica to Belgrade when he was 13 years old. His art deco chandelier from 1930 was a wedding gift from his best man. The tonet chairs, which I ordered via the internet, were made in Yugoslavia. My father was passionate about carpentry. He came and together we made the entire in- terior. He brought our family rugs, that are over 100 years old... Vlada grew up with the music of the Ramones and the films of Scorsese, so he says that New York and the East Village were logical choices. - New York is not easy to paraphrase. Every area is different. Sometimes you cross the street and enter another world, anoth- er century, and it is precisely this diversity that makes it unique. Here everyone has their own customs, while cultures inter- twine and overlap. New York is not Fifth Av- enue. New York is not Times Square. Don’t go to tourist spots. Stroll. Drink. Eat. Forget about shopping. New York is Brooklyn and Queens. Some of my favourite places in- clude Cocoron, Prune, Employees Only, Ten Bells, Nublu, Bunker, M. Wells ...
Sve što je na meniju dobro ide, ali ipak su ćevapi najpopularniji Everything on the menu is good, but the ćevapi are still the most popular
Menhetnom se širi miris tek pečene gibanice Around Manhattan you will smell freshly baked gibanica cheese pie
Kada sam u Beogradu, najdraže mi je da jedem kod kuće. Ali kada izlazim, najviše volim da jedem u Dijagonali, Cveću zla i Guštima mora , kaže Vlada Ocokoljić When I’m in Belgrade I most enjoy eating at home. But when I go out I most like to eat at Dijagonala, Cveća zla and Guštima mora, says Vlada Ocokoljić
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