Valter Kramar

The Path

Place-based hospitality in Kobarid, Slovenia, works at close range: valley, mountain, producer, and table are part of the same system. Early work as chef at Hiša Polonka in Kobarid, Slovenia, gave Valter Kramar a base in the food culture of the Soča Valley and the mountains above Kobarid, where local dishes carry practical memory as much as menu identity. Regional continuity at Hiša Polonka depends on keeping older dishes in use rather than treating them as archival material. The valley’s rhythms, local producers, and recipes at risk of slipping out of common use remain central to the restaurant’s work. Today, Valter is a sommelier and owner of Hiša Polonka, working between table, cellar, and the cultural setting that gives both their function.

The Work Today

Local gastronomy here is not a theme but the operating method: integration with the environment, strict adherence to the food of the region, and revival of nearly forgotten dishes from the Soča Valley and the mountains above Kobarid. The restaurant functions as an extension of its surroundings, where geography, appetite, and recollection stay connected. At Polonka, that method is visible in frika made from real Tolmin cheese from the milk of cows grazing on high pastures. The point is not ornament; the cheese carries altitude, pasture, and the richness of a product tied to its terrain. The dish remains in active use, direct and local, rather than being held up as nostalgia. The wine work follows the same preference for vitality and character. The bottles Valter Kramar favors are alive, unconventional, and bodily in their appeal. He puts it plainly: "I have fun with the crazy. I think my body really responds well to those kinds of wines. They are great for digestion, great for body cleanse, they don’t make me nervous as opposed to conventional wines." That statement sets the register: curiosity without stiffness, conviction without ceremony, and a view of pleasure that is physical as well as intellectual.

Signature

The signature dishes include Franko’s cult English roast beef, frika, Kobarid štruklji, žlikrofi, and feo craft beer. As a group, they define a Kobarid table: hearty, particular, and built from local memory rather than generic regional styling. Frika centers Tolmin cheese and the mountain pastures behind it. Kobarid štruklji and žlikrofi sit in the language of regional tradition, with forms that imply handwork, repetition, and inheritance. Franko’s cult English roast beef adds another point of recognition, while feo craft beer keeps refreshment inside the same local frame. Each name carries a specific place in the work.

In Their Words “I have fun with the crazy. I think my body really responds well to those kinds of wines. They are great for digestion, great for body cleanse, they don’t make me nervous as opposed to conventional wines.”

Acclaim

The named signatures are tangible: Franko’s 1973 English roast beef, frika made with Tolmin cheese from high-pasture milk, natural wines, and feo craft beer. Together they mark a practice rooted in the Soča Valley and the mountains above Kobarid: local gastronomy kept in service, nearly forgotten dishes brought back into use, and a table defined by specificity of place.