From Robb Report · Laura Dannen Redman · · 1m 20s
How a one-euro potato put Slovenia on the food map
A self-taught chef in the Soča Valley answered an insult with a hay-baked potato, and picked up three Michelin stars doing it.
In brief
A self-taught chef in the Soča Valley answered an insult with a hay-baked potato, and picked up three Michelin stars doing it. Ana Roš built a three-star reputation by proving Slovenia's so-called poor ingredients were never poor at all. Originally reported by Robb Report.
Dinner starts with hay
An evening at Hiša Franko in Slovenia's Soča Valley begins with something you would normally feed a horse. It works.
“I just ate hay, and I think I like it.”
The One-Euro Potato
Ana Roš's best-known dish looks like an egg in a nest: an alpine potato slow cooked inside a hay crust, served with honey and sour cream.
The insult behind it
An Italian critic once called Roš a talent stuck in a country with nothing to cook. She built her menu around proving him wrong.
“land of poor ingredients”
A potato at $380
The humble spud sits inside a three-hour tasting menu that runs about $380. Naming it after a single euro is the joke, and she knows it.
Three stars and Netflix
Roš is self-taught. She now holds three Michelin stars, an episode of Chef's Table, and second place at the 2025 Best Chef Awards in Milan.
Slovenia on the map
Her cooking is hyper-seasonal and personal, drawn from what her homeland gives up each week. That approach pulled Slovenian gastronomy into the global conversation.
The bottom line
Ana Roš built a three-star reputation by proving Slovenia's so-called poor ingredients were never poor at all.
