Foša

Fish kept close to its older forms

The fish stays close to its older forms at Foša in Old Town, Zadar, Croatia, where modern seafood still begins with the habits of the Dalmatian kitchen. Executive chef Damir Tomljanović leads the kitchen, blending traditional Croatian and Dalmatian elements with Mediterranean influence, and the logic is continuity rather than rupture: classic fish, crustacean, and shellfish dishes stay active in the service, not framed as references from another time. Fish specialties are handled through a contemporary line without losing the familiar structure of the coast.

The discipline shows first in the sourcing. Fresh seasonal groceries characteristic of Zadar’s climate carry the old tastes of the Dalmatian kitchen, and a design language keeps traditional aspects inside a more polished room. Tomljanović’s emphasis falls on ingredients native to the local climate and on healthy, creative modern gastronomy, which means age-old flavors are honored through current technique rather than preserved under glass. The result reads as a bridge between heritage and contemporary dining, with each dish using a recognizable form as the ground for a more current hand.

A catch-led seafood line

The program at Foša is built around à la carte cooking, degustation menus, daily menus, and Adriatic Sea specials. The bench work follows the catch: Adriatic lobster, shellfish, white fish, red scorpionfish, tuna, and fish brought forward for selection before they meet the grill or the pan. Grilled Adriatic sea bream with herbs keeps the gesture clean, heat, skin, flesh, and a restraint that lets the fish carry the plate. Scampi tartar spaghetti, scampi risotto, tuna carpaccio, shrimp gazpacho, and gnocchi with black cuttlefish ragout show the same range, raw, chilled, folded into rice, or deepened in a ragout.

Foša’s wine program stays Croatian in emphasis, with more than 120 brands drawn from the country’s regions. That matters beside this food. The acidity and salt in the glass have work to do with shellfish and grilled fish, while the broader list gives the kitchen room for lobster, tuna, truffle spaghetti, and the richer edges of cuttlefish ragout. A 3-course surprise menu has been paired with three Croatian wines, a small sign of how the cellar is asked to move with the pass rather than sit apart from it.

The terrace beside the walls

The room carries warm, low light and a calm, elegant register, but the defining station is outside, where the terrace sits directly on the sea beside Zadar’s city walls. The restaurant occupies the small port of Foša, close enough to the water that the marina view becomes part of the rhythm of service. Plates move from the pass toward a waterfront table, conversation stays low, and the city’s stone edge holds the background without becoming theatre.

Inside, the atmosphere is more contained: polished decor, a steady dining room, and the sort of quiet service that gives seafood the space it needs. The format remains upscale casual, which suits the cooking. Nothing about grilled sea bream, shellfish, or a bowl of black cuttlefish ragout benefits from stiffness. The work asks for timing, not ceremony, and the room lets that timing register.

What remains in service

Foša matters most when the older Dalmatian forms continue to appear as working dishes. The restaurant stands beside 16th-century city walls, but the craft is not to turn history into scenery. The kitchen keeps fish, crustaceans, and shellfish in the present tense, through a modern seafood line that still knows why the classic forms lasted. The plate features grilled Adriatic sea bream, herbs, skin, and the port of Foša just beyond the terrace.