There is something of John Coltrane’s “It’s Easy to Remember” about the menu at Hiša Franko.
Something that gives the impression that everything flows effortlessly - that the menu unfolds, note after note, dish after dish - welcoming us, inviting us to let go, carried along by that melody.
The seduction begins with the extraordinary freshness of the plants that define the opening courses.
Biting into the bouquet of “Garden leaves,” tasting the contrast between the bitterness of raw radicchio leaf, the earthy depth of truffle, and the sweetness of egg yolk; picking up, with your hands, the kohlrabi and wild plants “taco,” feeling the pungency of horseradish.
There is something that imprints itself immediately. And lingers.
In the way the sommelier, in her uniform adorned with drawn flowers and plants, casually bends down to table level whenever she comes to explain the why behind the wine that follows.
In the pleasure of encountering again some of the house classics—the “Corn beignet” or “Potato and hay.” Or the indispensable “Trout the Queen.”
In the sweetness and acidity of the “Spring Harvest” salad. It is possible to shine with a salad.
In the tagliolini with (a lot of) saffron—delicious, with just the right amount of spiciness—followed by the “Cappelletti, saporito delle valli and tonka.”
There is something that flows with meaning. Naturally, without fanfare, without pretension. A mellow tone that binds the dishes together, without obscuring the identity of each one.
There is something that is hard to forget.