My favourite flavour today is Vencò. The place where I decided to develop my roots has also become my favourite ingredient. It surrounds me. If it’s missing in my dishes, I know I did something wrong. We wanted our restaurant right in this place, surrounded by the river and with the border not far away.  It’s a vast territory because it has everything I need: forests, water, wind, meadows, a garden that gets larger and larger and an orchard, but most of all it’s full of beauty. This beauty has become a weapon in the moments of dejection or insecurity: all I need to do is to raise my eyes to see through the windows of our dining room and look at the countryside that I have chosen.

“Spinach, parmigiano, grappa and juniper” is a dish I want to share with you: at Vencò we have a beautiful juniper plant bent by the wind – that plant has inspired this dish.

Antonia Klugmann,  L’Argine a Vencò (Vencò/Dolegna del Collio – Gorizia, Italy)