Restaurants on the Edge

We've been invited by restaurants

on the edge of the most beautiful views imaginable.

Who really need some help keeping their business from going under.

There is nothing more inspiring

than celebrating a community on the plate.

But far too often, the better the view, the worse the food.

This is about reviving not only the restaurants...

Everything's at stake for us.

For us, this is life.

...but also the owners' belief in themselves.

This means the world to me.

Oh, my God!

It's like a part of us here.

So, together, we're traveling the world in search of inspiration

to transform these restaurants into authentic hot spots

that paint a picture not just of that restaurant,

not just of that chef, but of that community.

I'm telling you, my brother, you all changed my life.

I've been really fortunate to travel all over Europe,

but I've never been to Slovenia.

Now that I'm here, I don't know why I hadn't come earlier.

The capital, Ljubljana, is picture-perfect.

Along the river, you can see cobblestone streets

and people sitting at outdoor cafes.

It's got a real artsy vibe.

This is amazing. I'm on a bicycle,

riding to a restaurant in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

We're on our way to Žmauc,

a family-run business that has been a staple

in the historic district since Slovenia got their independence in the early '90s.

They've had a good run over the years, but recently, the business has taken a hit.

Growing competition in the neighborhood

is leaving them severely overlooked.

They've been left stuck in the past.

If they can't find a way to compete quickly, they will fail.

Owners Matjaz and Ksenja and their son, Luka,

feel a makeover is long overdue,

except they don't want to completely lose the restaurant's old-world charm.

Žmauc has been coasting on the reputation

as the late-night spot with a relaxed vibe,

but their menu needs to be kicked up a notch if they want to stay relevant.

Pulling up to the restaurant, you immediately notice the cool artwork.

You notice the patio.

It's got a little bit of a street vibe.

There's this cafe-bar-type situation.

And then you walk down a corridor into the restaurant

and the vibe changes instantly.

It's simple and it feels definitely European.

There's arches everywhere.

It doesn't feel like a restaurant in and of itself,

other than there's a bar and some tables,

but it needs a little love.

Hey.

Luka, nice to meet you.

So, I'm really happy to have you here in Slovenia,

in the most beautiful country in Europe or in the world.

I kind of thought these guys are super cool.

They're super chic, super European. They're a little hippie.

I'm trying to feel the owners out. What are they like?

Are they excited we're about to do a transformation?

Or are they nervous that we're gonna take it over

and change it to something they don't want?

Žmauc, it was my grandfather's place

but, basically, we got it back in 1995, after de-nationalization.

Because in Ljubljana, before, the restaurants

were mostly in hands of the state.

You didn't have these private-hand bars.

So, we were like the first ones to have imported draft beer.

So, it was totally different stuff.

We're in this business 23 years.

It's like our child, you know?

Like our second child, yeah.

One is Luka and the other one is this restaurant.

We own the whole ground floor of this building,

where we have bar and restaurant connected.

The plan for the future is to maybe let this business to Luka,

to our son, but we are still in the game,

and we just don't want to leave him alone in this.

Lately, the business is not going as good as we want it,

so we hope that the place could be much better than now.

We will help him as much as we can.

We just love our restaurant, but now we need some new direction.

And I think that you just came in the perfect time for us

to make something newer.

- Oh! - Serving the soup now.

- Wow! - And then, the boys.

Slovenian kitchen, at its best.

- Definitely. - Perfect. Perfect.

It's pumpkin soup from northern part of Slovenia

called muškatna buča.

When we sat down at the table, I was pretty surprised.

Honestly, the food was pretty elevated.

The restaurant itself, not so elevated.

Did the restaurant always look like this?

Actually, we just got the restaurant pretty much in this shape.

We were renting it for one year, and then we bought the place.

We got a bank loan.

We got into some problems,

and now we're pretty much struggling now, but--

- No, we are good. We are the best. - Yeah.

No, no struggling.

- We are the best. - We are good, yeah.

So, let's go for the food and show them what we have here.

Luka is having a tough time admitting they're struggling,

but you have to face facts in the restaurant business.

You always have to stay one step ahead of the competition

and take your vision to the next level.

This is the sea bass, and they're also the flowers

from my mother's that she's picking up from our garden,

so you can eat it all.

Apparently, the menu changes all the time.

But without consistent dishes, you don't build a strong identity.

And that's how the restaurant will stand out amongst the competition.

So, the flowers, you foraged these? You picked these yourself?

Yes, yes. My passion.

- It's your passion. - Yeah.

Is foraging a big part of Slovenian culture?

Oh, yes.

The moment that Ksenja said she was interested in foraging

and that's a huge part of her life, I was excited,

so I knew that that had to be a part of the dishes that we created,

but beyond that, the biggest thing that is lacking right now is consistency.

What's the demographic? Who's coming here?

We are in this university area, so a lot of teachers--

- Open-minded people. - Open... Creative-minded people.

Creative, like actors.

On Tuesday, we have these size bites.

On Thursday, we have, like, jazz or funk.

On Fridays, we have DJs.

Their heart, their soul, everything's in this business.

But sometimes, when you're facing competition,

you try a bunch of different things to bring in guests,

but that's also how you can lose focus,

and it'll show in the food, the decor, and the overall vibe.

That's our main dish. Roast beef.

Here's also white asparagus and two different sauces.

Welcome here. Bon appétit.

- Beautiful. - That's it.

I have to say, I'm really interested in this orange wine.

I've had rose, cabernet, sauvignon blanc,

every color wine you could possibly imagine,

but I've never had orange wine.

It's made from red wine or even white wine,

just you macerate a little bit more than usually.

How important is this space to you guys?

We are all three in this business,

so we don't have any other jobs.

So, it's pretty important.

We breathe with this place.

You know what?

He and she, the heart, they put it in this restaurant,

you can feel it in the food, you can feel it in the wine,

you can feel it in the water.

We want to prolong this and make something out of this place.

- It is such an interesting space. - Yeah.

Such an interesting space, and there's so many things about this room

that I really, really love.

But you know that I want to come and add to it.

Yeah, we know that. We are really excited about it.

The cool thing about this restaurant,

it's a place you can have a late-night dinner, and they throw parties here.

I mean, it's got a vibe that it's a late-night place.

So, what this really needs to be is a really awesome supper club.

So, let's make this happen.

For us, it's life.

For us, it's so important to have you here, guys.

And thank you very much.

I've come here, down to the heart of Ljubljana,

to go over the online reviews with the family from Žmauc.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

I wanted to pick a peaceful environment

in this time of the day where we're able to go through

some things that aren't as pleasant.

And it's online reviews of your business.

- And you brought them? - And I brought them, of course.

Yeah, nice. But only the good ones, yeah?

Only the good ones. The first one I wanted to touch on was,

"Forty minutes waiting for a burger and still not there.

After 41 minutes, we left."

- How do you feel about that? - Yeah, not very good, but--

To be left alone is a terrible feeling, as a guest.

If food is late making it to the table,

you and your staff need to be on top of it,

and apologize in the moment.

- It's all about the guest experience. - Definitely.

The reviews are online for everyone to see

and it's a way that everyone judges businesses nowadays.

Before they even go into places nowadays, they're going online.

For instance, "The staff was very friendly.

Food was okay, but I cannot get over the fact

that this place is somehow stuck in the past."

"Stuck in the past."

We are not stuck in the past, you know? That is a bad review.

Maybe he's crazy, or something like that.

But he could also be true because we had better times.

That's true.

We are of 23 years on the market in this business,

and we were 23 years younger with more energy,

- but we are still trying to do our best. - Very energetic.

Yeah, definitely.