Vladislav Penov

The Climb

At Cosmos Restaurant in Sofia, Vladislav Penov has held the Executive Chef role since 2017, working a kitchen language shaped by Bulgarian memory, seasonal produce, and fermentation. The cooking sits in the space between preservation and revision: traditional flavors are kept legible, then adjusted, sharpened, and carried into a more contemporary register. The internship at Relae in Copenhagen (2019) added another point of reference to Penov's path. As a step in the trade, it reads as a period of observation and calibration, the kind of experience that can tighten a cook's sense of precision without changing the core of the work.

Today

Since 2017, Penov has led the kitchen at Cosmos Restaurant in Sofia as Executive Chef. At Cosmos Restaurant, the framework is Space Cuisine, also described by the restaurant as Traditional Space Cuisine. The method is direct: authentic Bulgarian dishes and traditional Balkan recipes are worked through contemporary techniques, seasonal produce, and fermentation, while staying connected to the foodways they come from. The cuisine keeps its base in tradition, but the treatment pushes it into a sharper present. That is where the work finds its center. Bulgarian tradition is treated as working material rather than a fixed exhibit: preserved, re-shaped, and set in motion again. The result is a plate that carries recognition, but not stasis.

Signature

Vladislav's signature dishes include Calamari and prosciutto and Kyopolou with green tomatoes. The pairing shows a kitchen comfortable moving between familiar references and precise handling, with rustic and refined elements kept in the same field.

In Their Words “We create and transform. Flavors. Experiences. Ourselves.”

Recognition

Vladislav's honors include The Best Chef Awards — One Knife (2025) and Restaurant of the Year.