A story of music, cuisine, sport and wine: Višnja and Filip Vranešić with Dario Krešić and Tomislav Tuđen at Zagreb's Vinkl

In the 1990s, Dolores was the stage name of Višnja Vranešić, and recording songs and giving concerts was her life. She stepped back, choosing family and calm, and decades later she once again stood before an audience. Not on a stage, but in the Vinkl restaurant on Zagreb’s Cankareva Street. The energy remained the same; she simply carried it into a setting that is quieter, where one also creates, but cooks and breathes. In the kitchen is her son, chef Filip Vranešić. He inherited his mother’s creative streak, only he does not arrange verses and notes but marries aromas and flavours.

As a boy in the 1990s, Dario Krešić had to leave his native Vukovar. In Zagreb he began a football career; in 2001 he kept goal for Croatia’s under-17 side, which won bronze in England. In 2013 he also played for the senior national team, in the match against South Korea that the Vatreni won 2:1. Today, together with his father Franjo, he runs Podrumi Krešić in Šarengrad. They have 22 hectares of vineyards and make wines with character. Dario was brought together with Višnja by Tomislav Tuđen of the Croatia by Glass agency, which develops wine and gastronomy tourism.

At Vinkl, Višnja, Filip, Dario and Tomislav prepared a wonderful five-course dinner with six wines. Alongside a dessert in four versions they poured two.