Wine with Barton and creampies with Andric - Klub Knjizevnika restaurant enters seventh decade with a new look

(the restaurant's interior)

Sharp when joking, serious even after few drinks, diplomats, writers, actors, directors, painters, journalists have been talking about politics and finding inspiration for their work in a cellar at 7 Francuska Street for decades now. This famous place in Belgrade has also seen many secret meetings, international marital quarrels, tears and laughs, talks one could never hear in public... It was at this place that famous beauty Olivera Katarina met and fell in love with her future husband Vuk Vuco.

The restaurant Klub Knjizevnika (Writers Club), situated in a house built in late 19th century by Milan Pirocanac, former prime minister of the Kingdom of Serbia, was opened back in 1949. A few years later it was taken over by famous Budimir Blagojevic Buda and his friend Ivo Kusalic from Dalmatia.

Four years ago this restaurant got a new owner. It is now renovated and features several novelties, but it has lost none of its authentic appearance and spirit, which is why its old permanent guests are still regular here and the number of new ones is constantly growing.

Richard Barton and "calf for a calf"

This is a place where government policies were tailored and, as they say, "the elite were being born and dying." It was a gathering place of all those who have marked the pages of the Yugoslav history as well as numerous memorable foreigners. In the beginning, guests had to show a membership card in order to enter the restaurant, so that people in Belgrade started saying that it was more important to be a member of the Writers Club than the Writers Association. The guests here have always known who to offer their chair.

Whether true or not, people still tell a story of how Krleza exchanged arguments with waiter Iva when he came to Klub Knjizevnika for the last time to have a bottle of Grasevina wine with a calf's head. While Iva was bringing him his order, Krleza tossed a comment: "Look, a calf is carrying a calf's head." "For an ox to eat it," Iva replied.

Although it has got a new owner, the chef is still the same as in the famous Buda's time. The food for which Klub Knjizevnika is famous has remained unchanged, while the menu has been enriched with light, international specialties and various salads, Elizabeta Milosevic, director of Klub Knjizevnika, says to eKapija.

At the tables where Andric, Kapor and Olja Ivanjicki were once sitting, you can still enjoy eating a cold or hot goose liver (a specialty that has made this restaurant famous among gourmets), smoked ham with quince, chitterlings, mushroom risotto, grilled lamb...

In the end, no matter how full you are, do not miss to try a widely famous creampie, which used to be an inevitable dessert for lovers after a spring walk around the Kalemegdan fortress.

Among those who tasted Buda's roast beef and Iva's Dalmatian "przalica" are also Italian writer Alberto Moravia, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean Paul Sartre, Matija Beckovic, Dobrica Cosic, Zoran Radmilovic...

The wine card lists carefully selected bottles, but some things never change, so that one can still order a "bottle of white wine and a syphon of soda" at this restaurant. Famous heartbreaker Richard Barton used to come to Buda's place for a drink when he was shooting "Sutjeska" in our country. Today, a glass of wine from wine cellars Aleksandrovic, Radovanovic, Radenkovic and some old wineries will satisfy even those with the most refined taste.

The restaurant has about 110 seats and another 150 in the open-air section, which has recently obtained a specially designed eaves. The plan is to build glass walls around that section to make it possible for guests to enjoy sitting there during winter too.

Klub Knjizevnika opens every day at 12 noon, except on Sunday during winter, when it is closed. Although it is suitable for birthday parties, small weddings and other celebrations, only certain parts of this restaurant can be rented because its door must always stay open to regular guests.

(the open-air section will soon get glass walls)

At the same table

How loyal guests this restaurant has is best seen from an anecdote we've heard from waiter Bane.

- When he was leaving Belgrade in the 1960s, former Norwegian Ambassador to Yugoslavia Thorvald Stoltenberg threw a party at Klub Knjizevnika. On his way out, he greeted some guests who were sitting at the table No. 1. Thirty years later Stoltenberg came back to Belgrade, now as one of the participants in peace talks. He entered the restaurant and saw the same people sitting at the same table.

Thanks to the restaurant renovation project, the kitchen now meets HACCP standards, there is a venting system that the restaurant lacked, tiles and floors are brand new, and so are toilets... Of course, the staff has remained the same and some new people have been hired. Although they are proud of their tradition, people at Klub Knjizevnika also use all the advantages of modern technologies, so that one can read a daily menu on their Facebook page every day, and they also plan to soon launch an application allowing guests to make reservations online.

- Every guest will be able to choose table and to see it using this app - says Elizabeta Milosevic.

Milica Stevuljevic