Karlovac to be Branded as Gastro Destination Driven by Mushrooms and Beer

In February, the Karlovac Tourist Board organized a three-day free educational workshop for chefs of catering facilities from the area as part of the IQM project. The training aimed to exchange knowledge and experiences about local products and recipes in order to position Karlovac as a quality gastronomic destination.

HRTurizam writes that as a continuation of the planned activities and branding of Karlovac gastronomy, thematic menus are being prepared in the city's catering facilities. Thus, the Tourist Board, in cooperation with restaurants, will promote new themed menus and work on branding Karlovac as a desirable gastro destination.

Dishes made from two main ingredients - mushrooms and beer - will lead the way.

Beer is one of the trademarks of the region, known for its brewing tradition, and for the Karlovac Beer Days event. Beer dishes will be a special feature of this summer season from June to September in the offer of local restaurants.

"There is a lot that Karlovac can offer to its guests at this moment. Our big attractions - the Freshwater Aquarium Aquatika and the Homeland War Museum on Turanj are two great lures for coming to Karlovac. Combined with numerous cultural sights and activities in nature and on the water offered by our travel agencies, a quality gastronomic offer is what will complete the experience of visitors to the destination. Our restaurants have this quality and we are happy to be able to show it to visitors," says Marina Burić, director of the Karlovac Tourist Board.

Dishes with beer and dishes with mushrooms are being photographed for the needs of promoting the city's gastronomic offer, the Tourist Board pointed out. They added that they believe local restaurants can impose themselves on lovers of good food with the quality of the dishes on offer, and that restaurants will use local ingredients in the preparation of meals, thus creating a local gastronomic story.

Part of the autochthonous offer that will be found in Karlovac restaurants will be beef goulash with vegetables in dark beer sauce, venison in black beer sauce, or porcini mushrooms in butter with quail eggs.

The goal of the campaign and branding is to increase visibility and better present local gastronomy and to attract visitors motivated by the original gastronomic offer in Karlovac.