A serious relationship, and one worthy of celebration.
One of the things that I think Andrea and I do very well is celebrate each other, and our anniversaries. Monthly anniversaries, specifically – It’s not always some huge dinner, or a fancy occasion, but it’s always noted in some special way.
For 18 months, we made it a bit of a special occasion, though. There’s a restaurant Andrea had found called The Library – a fancy spot, promising good wine and good food, in a chic and classy environment.
Unfortunately, I’d say I recall it being around 3.5 stars. The cocktails were… interesting, but a bit underwhelming. The food was fun, but nothing stood out past underwhelming as well. The service, thankfully, was top notch (as we’ve come to expect from many Irish establishments), and the dessert was lovely.
It was a nice night out – I’m thankful we were able to go, and spend time with each other. At the end of the day, that’s the biggest thing.
Christmas 2025 saw us on an Adventure – Andrea’s friend was working at a 3-star Michelin restaurant in Slovenia, Hiša Franko, and we had the opportunity to join her for a dinner and some adventuring. We jumped at the chance, hopping a flight into Northern Italy before the drive out into Slovenia itself… with a few exciting adventures along the way.
Thursday, 25-Dec-2025
We get to the culmination of the adventure. The reason we flew out, the restaurant that drew Andrea’s friend, and sparked this entire adventure. Hiša Franko!
Three Michelin stars. Featuring in the “top 50 best restaurants in the world” consistently since 2017.
Yeah, it’s a little bit fancy.
So are we, though, and thanks to Andrea’s tutelage I felt… well, not confident? But prepared, at least. We’re fancy, and I felt ready to experience something one-of-a-kind.
And let me tell you, dear readers, that meal was one-of-a-kind.
It’s different than any restaurant I’d experienced before. To be totally honest, I’m not convinced that I’d want to go back… but I am convinced that I’ll always be thankful that I got to try it out. It was a different type of dining – not just eating good food, but tasting interesting things. Tasting my way through a story would be the closest description, I think?
Yeah. Tasting my way through a story.
Each dish was brought out by one of the chefs, in an almost ritualistic manner. The servers aligned themselves, and the two servers put our plates down in perfect synchronicity. Drinks were similarly aligned, as if putting them down was part of an arcane ritual, where cutlery placement mattered to the tenth of an inch.
The chef came out, as mentioned, explaining each dish and the ingredients associated. Explaining the how and the why, alongside the origin of the ingredients.
Then we tasted something. Something small – but filling enough that we weren’t ever either hungry or full.
We tasted things for nearly two hours. Paired kombucha, selected wine, everything meticulous.
And then, at the end of the meal and after the dessert, we were offered a tour. A tour of the restaurant, of the kitchen, of the wine cellar, and of the cheese cellar. We met the owner and sommelier, Valter, and got to gawk at the sheer scale of the operation. Dozens of chefs and assistants, all working to make food for a restaurant hosting maybe 20 people an evening.
The previous day, I embarked upon a hike up to the Edelweiss Hut, in a quest to gain elevation and lunch.
I failed in that quest, due to the trail being out, my hiking poles not reminding me to bring them, and another issue that I still can’t quite recall. However, on Monday morning while starting onto my walk toward one of the waterfalls up the valley near the Matterhorn, I was gifted with an absolutely gorgeous view of said Edelweiss Hut – from a distance, and through the morning fog.
See… Zermatt had a lot of cool cafes / restaurants / hotels / buildings that’re perched up on cliffs.
In the mornings, there’s fog throughout the valley.
In this instance, those two combined to form a magical building, floating in a cloud, with birds wheeling about in the empty void between it and the ground.
