Marin Pleše is a young Croatian chef from the island of Krk who built his culinary career on local tradition and top restaurant experiences. Born and raised in Malinska on the island of Krk, he was surrounded by the island’s heritage from a young age. After finishing high school, he started studying geodesy in Zagreb, but quickly discovered his passion for cooking. In parallel with the faculty, he attended courses and workshops, and in 2018 he sent a CV to the Pelegrini restaurant in Šibenik. With almost no professional experience, he was admitted to the kitchen of chef Rudolf Štefan, where he spent two years learning the basic knowledge of top gastronomy.
culinary journey and experience
Marin Pleše built his professional career in renowned Croatian restaurants. During work in Pelegrinia Under the mentorship of Rudolf Štefan, he adopted an important lesson: taste must come first. After two years, he returned to Zagreb as a sous-chef in a restaurant mano with chef Matija Bogdan, where he worked for the next three years. At the end of 2022, when the Mano restaurant closed due to renovations, Pleše accepted the challenge of returning to the native island of Krk. In the summer of 2023, he took over the kitchen of the restaurant Villa Rova in Malinska, the Krnčević family hotel, which started a new phase in his career.
The key milestones in Marin Pleše’s career include:
- 2018 – Getting started in the restaurant Pelegrini (Šibenik) under the leadership of chef Rudolf Štefan.
- 2020. – transfer to restaurant mano (Zagreb) as a sous-chef with Matija Bogdan.
- 2023. – returns to Krk and becomes the head chef of the restaurant Villa Rova (Malinska).
- 2023/2024. – Due to excellent results, he goes to a Spanish restaurant for his professional internship El Celler de Can Roca in Girona (three Michelin stars).
While working in Plegrini and Manu, Pleše worked from morning to night to perfect the technique and understanding of taste. In El Celler, according to him, he tested the limits of cooking, and he brings this knowledge into the dishes in the trench villa. From these top restaurants, he brought experiences that today combines with the indigenous food of Krka.
Kitchen and inspiration
Chef Marin Pleše bases his kitchen on the authentic flavors of the island of Krk and seasonal, local ingredients. Restaurant Vila Rova He points out that the goal of their kitchen is to “transfer the wealth of the island of Krk to a plate”. For this, they use their own olive oil, wild herbs and make the most of local foods. In his dishes, he often uses ingredients characteristic of Krk – from fresh fish and shrimp to lamb meat, figs, acorns and rosemary. In this way, he tries to “transfer the story of Krk soil, the sea and tradition” through delicious and creative creations.
Pleše is known for tasting menus named after local motifs. The longest seven-tiered menu is called The Bridge (an allusion to the bridge that connects Krk to the mainland), and it is joined by shorter four-he success menus vala (sea) and Drmun (meat). Each sequence of these menus was created by presenting the island’s flavors in a modern way – for example, using acorn dough or preparing shrimp on vines. Through such creations, Pleše tries to preserve and reinterpret Krk’s gastronomic heritage for contemporary guests.
The Gault&Millau guide describes Pleše as a chef who “significantly improved the culinary scene of Krka” thanks to his experience in top kitchens around the world. Pleše, awarded the title of young talent in 2024, with his enthusiasm dedicatedly improves island gastronomy, and every new dish is a combination of innovation and tradition for him.
Prizes and awards
The quality of Marin Pleše’s work is recognized by numerous awards:
- Gault&Millau – “Young Talent of the Year” (2024). Pleše received a trophy for the best young chef in Croatia at the Gault&Millau guide award ceremony.
- “Best chef Kvarner” award (2024). Kvarner The Tourist Board declared him the best chef of the entire Kvarner region.
In addition, under Plešeja’s guidance Villa Rova was included in the latest edition of the Gault&Millau Guide for Croatia for the first time in 2024, among 300 top restaurants that stand out for their innovation and quality. The Gault&Millau rating for the Rova villa is 14.5/20, with a particularly prominent Marian dedication to indigenous foods. These are all recognitions that confirm Pleše’s contribution to raising the standards of fine dining on Krk.
Conclusion
Marin Pleše is an example of a young chef whose professional path combines his passion for his homeland with international experience. With his philosophy of transferring the wealth of Krka to the plate, as well as the superb recognition “Mladi Talent 2024”, he in a short time became one of the key figures of the Kvarner gastronomic scene. His dishes emphasize the authenticity of the island’s food and the innovative approach to cooking, and restaurants like Villa Rove have become an indispensable destination for lovers of good food.
For anyone who wants to try Pleše’s kitchen, we recommend booking a table in a restaurant Villa Rova in Malinska or following his work on social networks. By visiting the island of Krk and tasting local specialties from the pen of Marin Pleše, you can experience the fullness of the island’s gastronomy and explore why this small destination is increasingly prominent on the culinary map of the world.
Sources: Information about Marin Pleše and his achievements was taken from the chef’s JRE profile, interviews in the media such as Gloria and Dnevnik (Punkufer), and from the descriptions of the restaurant Vila Rova and Gault&Millau guides to Croatia. Quotes are derived from these sources and adapted for display in text.
