"New wave” Balkan cuisine restaurant in Belgrade, Serbia.
Awarded the Bib Gourmand label in recognition of its excellent value for money in the 2021 Michelin guide, Iva New Balkan Cuisine is a local restaurant serving traditional Balkan dishes with a subtly updated feel.
One of the Belgrade’s most interesting restaurants is Iva New Balkan Cuisine, a welcoming and bustling place in the heart of Belgrade, and an excellent choice for anyone in search of “new wave” Balkan cuisine offering excellent value for money. This multi-functional space is open from morning to night, and is overseen by owner-chef Vanja Puškar, who has spent years carefully selecting local ingredients and listening to the interesting stories of the people behind each product. As a result, he takes great delight in offering guests countless opportunities to taste local produce and learn more about the region’s small producers.
Behind each of chef Vanja Puškar’s culinary creations is a story of people, passion and a love for Serbia. “Each of our dishes takes guests on an incredible journey through our country”, concludes the chef. “There’s so much to discover, and we are here, standing shoulder to shoulder with our local producers in order to breathe new life into our historic roots.”
Vanja is on behalf of a young and highly motivated team with determination to showcase small producers and their specialities, which are the result of hard work and incredible passion. Local cheeses, aromatic herbs, meat and wine are all precious natural resources, and all their different varieties need to be protected. Their ambition is to create a sustainable model in which producers feel as though they are an integral part of their team. With this in mind, they want to create a virtuous circle between the land and our food. Vanja is constantly on the move looking for new producers.
“We have a strong and unbroken connection with our environment and its community.”, Puškar says. “New Balkan Cuisine is the name that we have given to this new approach, which combines the use of local ingredients alongside modern cooking techniques in order to create a new style of Balkan cuisine. At first, we felt it was quite difficult to define exactly what constitutes Serbian cuisine. So, in order to create our “New Balkan cuisine” we studied the region’s traditional recipes and cultural influences which we then adapted using zero-kilometer ingredients and adding a touch of imagination. This has resulted in dishes full of striking, authentic flavors which not only appeal to the tastebuds but also tell a story.”
Iva New Balkan Cuisine featured in the 2021 Michelin guide, a first for Serbia. The initial selection of restaurants in Belgrade includes 14 venues, located in various spaces. For now, restaurants haven’t received any Michelin stars. However, 14 restaurants deserved the recommendations of Michelin inspectors, who evaluate restaurants based on the world criteria of the MICHELIN guide, with the aim of providing the best recommendations to gastronomes around the world. Iva New Balkan Cuisine is awarded the Bib Gourmand label in recognition of its excellent value for money.
MICHELIN Guide’s Point of View
“There’s great value to be had at this semi-basement level restaurant with a pared-back modern look. The extensive menu covers everything from breakfast to street food, and much more. Traditional Balkan recipes are subtly refined yet remain wholesome and comforting. They favor using smaller producers.”