Catering Tradition Spans 170 Years

For 170 years, the Stari Puntijar restaurant has kept its rich family catering tradition alive. Through its offer of specialties based on home cooking and wild game dishes, it tells the story of the wealth of the Zagreb and Croatian cuisines.

In January, the cult restaurant Stari Puntijar, located on the main road leading from Zagreb to the summit of the Zagreb Hills (Sljeme) marked the 170th anniversary of its successful work. The restaurant was opened way back in 1838 by Ivan Pintijer I whose successors have continued to pass on the impressive legacy of food preparing to the next five generations. In addition to the restaurant, whose claim to fame are exquisite specialties based on home cooking and signature wild game dishes, there is also a wine cellar with a separate room for wine tasting. The current owner, Zlatko Puntijar, owns the largest private collection of cookbooks in Europe with over 1,700 books.

The Stari Puntijar Restaurant is a many-time laureate of various awards. It has also been the proud venue of events which involved ambassadors and other international high officials posted to Croatia. They have all learned about the richness of the Zagreb and Croatian gastronomies while attending to their business here. The owners and the staff are particularly proud that the restaurant’s kitchen was in charge of preparing delicacies for the two visits by his Holiness Pope John Paul II, of whom they have the fondest memories.