Slovenia's zero waste revolution

In Šentjanž, the Repovž family has been working the land for at least six generations, and their inn operates on a farm that is over 500 years old. The menu features produce from their organic farm: salads, cabbage, beans, potatoes, and grains. They don't raise animals; what they don't produce they buy from small local farmers, who usually deliver the daily harvest in boxes or baskets.

In the kitchen, preservation and fermentation are deeply rooted techniques. Beet greens are transformed into oil or powder, and stale bread into crispy snacks or dumplings. As Repovž says, for generations it was natural to cultivate what the land offered, and waste was not an option.

At Hotel Plesnik, chef Janez Bratovž works with freshwater trout and mushrooms gathered in the forest. The meat is purchased in large, premium cuts, which the restaurant processes in its own kitchen. Organic waste is returned to the garden as compost, and leftover trout roe is freeze-dried with the help of a local partner.

Milka, with chef David Žefran, offers a single tasting menu featuring ingredients sourced mostly from within a 150-kilometer radius. Leftover bread is used to make beer, fish and vegetable scraps for garum, miso, and vinegar, and once a week they cook for the local food bank. Žefran avoids the term "sustainability," which he considers an empty buzzword.

In Radovljica, Hiša Linhart, run by chef Uroš Štefelin, reinterprets forgotten local specialties, such as tepka pears, which were traditionally dried to make flour. Ingredients arrive in boxes and glass bottles that are returned to the producers for refilling. Galerija okusov sources from over fifty local farms and producers, preserving and fermenting their surplus.