Love food? Traveling? (Cook)books? Little everyday pleasures?
Me too.
Welcome. Nice to meet you.
I am Ana-Marija Bujić, a cookbook author, food blogger and restaurant owner from Dubrovnik, Croatia (I hope you know where that is, but if not, you’re forgiven. The whole of Croatia boasts half the population of New York City so… You get the picture).
The English section of this blog is about (mostly Croatian) food, life in Dubrovnik and the good stuff in general, including tips on Croatian food and ingredients as well as the best Dubrovnik has to offer (food- and other-wise). Here I will share my discoveries with food lovers and savvy travelers so that you too can enjoy them during your stay in Dubrovnik or at least, in your own kitchens.
Those were the essentials, here’s the longer story.
I started blogging in 2007 and my blog Da mi je nešto slatko… (which loosely translates as Sweet Cravings) was started only in Croatian. It became popular, made me fall in love with cooking and writing so after I obtained an MA in English and French (translation and teaching respectively) at Zagreb University, I landed a job as a food stylist and website editor for Dobra hrana, the most popular food magazine in Croatia at the time.
However, working nine to five didn’t turn out to be my thing (getting up way too early, coming home with a headache, anyone?) so I plucked up the courage and ventured into the world of entrepreneurship (which, in a developing country such as Croatia, is a risky thing to do). Together, several colleagues and I started an online language school, which, after 10 years of living in the capital, enabled me to pack my bags and move back south to my hometown, Dubrovnik while still keeping my online students, i.e. my job at the time.
The reason for the big move was love. (Corny?)
Love for:
- Milan, my husband (we’d been in a long-distance relationship before the move)
- food. Together with Đuro, a friend, we ventured into another business and opened a restaurant.Read the whole story here.
In the meantime, after 2.5 years of solo work (and missing out on almost everything fun that was going on at the weekends), I self-published What’s Cooking in Dubrovnik, a cookbook dedicated to traditional Dubrovnik recipes which is my way of trying to share Croatian traditions with the rest of the world. I love the way that cookbook has connected me to so many expats and am so happy it has allowed many people to feel what Dubrovnik cooking is all about. The cookbook won a Gourmand International Award the year it was published.
In May 2019 I published Pantarul at Home, my second cookbook (editions available both in Croatian and in English). This book is for those who like to have people over, but without the stress – it features 110 Pantarul recipes adapted for home use and the response so far has been so wonderful that it brings me joy on a daily basis.
And now?
I live in Dubrovnik, run Pantarul (the restaurant) with my husband and our partner, write and teach online language classes. In the evenings you’ll occasionally find me polishing glasses behind the bar, but at the moment most of my time revolves around our toddler who was born in April 2016.
My head is teeming with food-related project ideas and I can’t wait to share them all with you.
If you like what you see or want to work with me, head over to the contact form or find me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
