Ana Roš Stojan (born 1972) is a

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

from

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. A self-taught cook, she helms the kitchen of Hiša Franko restaurant in

Kobarid Kobarid (; ; ; ) is a settlement in Slovenia, the administrative centre of the Municipality of Kobarid. Kobarid is known for the 1917 Battle of Caporetto, where the Italian retreat was documented by Ernest Hemingway in his novel '' A Farewell t ...

, Slovenia. Born to distinctly ambitious parents, she trained

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...

as a child, earning a place in the Yugoslavian youth national team, but later decided she didn't want a professional career. After that, she studied

diplomacy Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of State (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international syste ...

Gorizia Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...

, when she met her ex-partner Valter Kramar. Kramar's parents owned Hiša Franko, an already established restaurant. Incidentally, they decided to retire just as she completed her study, so she and Kramar decided to stay and take over the family restaurant (against the wish of her parents). At first, she worked as a waitress (Kramar became a

sommelier A ''sommelier'' ( , , ), ''chef de vin'' or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing. The role of the ''s ...

) and tried convincing the then chef to try experimenting with traditional recipes, to no avail. After he left, she took over the kitchen. With the help of her mother-in-law and a family friend, she shortly learned cooking well enough to attract attention in the wider region with her culinary creations. In 2010, she was featured in the Italian culinary magazine ''Identità Golose'', which brought her even more attention. She began receiving invitations to top-notch culinary events, such as being a guest chef of the Ikarus restaurant in

Hangar-7 Hangar-7 is an events venue, gallery and museum space adjacent to Salzburg Airport. Designed to bring together arts, aviation and the culinary arts, the venue hosts the Michelin-starred restaurant Ikarus, two bars and a lounge alongside a coll ...

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

, Austria, and the Gelinaz Grand Shuffle in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In 2016, Roš was featured in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

documentary ''

Chef's Table ''Chef's Table'' is an American documentary series created by David Gelb', which premiered on video streaming service Netflix on April 26, 2015. The series takes viewers inside both the lives and kitchens of a variety of acclaimed and successful ...

'' and in early 2017, she was named world's best female chef by

The World's 50 Best Restaurants The World's 50 Best Restaurants is a list produced by the UK media company William Reed Ltd, William Reed, which originally appeared in the British magazine ''Restaurant (magazine), Restaurant'' in 2002. The list and awards are no longer direc ...

academy. Her cooking style features innovative remaking of traditional recipes from the upper

Soča Soča (, in Slovene) or Isonzo (, in Italian; other names: ; ; or ') is a long river that flows through western Slovenia () and northeastern Italy (). An Alpine river in character, its source lies in the Trenta Valley in the Julian Alps ...

valley region, prepared with local ingredients. Roš characterizes her own approach as "technical, almost scientific." She has a preference of serving raw food, especially vegetables.

Recognition

In 2016, Roš was featured in the Netflix documentary ''

.'' The following year, she was named world's best female chef by

academy. In 2019,

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Co. (formerly Wyndham Destinations, Inc., and Wyndham Worldwide Corporation) is an American timeshare company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. It develops, sells, and manages timeshare properties under several vacation owners ...

named Hiša Franko one of the world's 30 best restaurants. Hiša Franko was awarded two Michelin stars as

Michelin Guide The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few restaurants ...

presented its first ever rating for Slovenia in 2020. In addition, her restaurant was specially noted for sustainability. In 2023, Hiša Franko was awarded 3 stars by

and a green star for sustainability.

Personal life

Roš and Kramar have two children. Apart from her native Slovene, she speaks English, Italian, French, Croatian, Spanish fluently and some German.

References

1972 births Living people Slovenian chefs Women chefs Head chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants {{Chef-bio-stub