• 12 types of salt… from most different origins and most different colors… Marin Rendic’s cuisine is a search of combining the taste with presentation, colors and forms… this is another part of Marin’s attention to details…

• I noted also the picture of Marin with the current Croatian President Mr. Ivo Josipović… although very young he already had the opportunity to cook for Global celebrities such as Angelina Jolie… but… from what I learned Marin’s passion for cooking is “more than celebrities”… to give you an idea I would use his words: ''When I cook, I always feel good.... MY HEART beats faster..... and when the food arrives at the guests' table, after the first mouthful, the FEELINGS surface..."

• The last thing, but not least, that took my attention on PEPENERO’s accessories table is Chef Marin Rendic on the cover of a book… WHY BOOK IN A RESTAURANT YOU MAY ASK?... In my opinion it is hard to be successful in the long run without knowledge… without knowledge you can’t totally develop your talent… and reading Marin’s articles on cuisine I noted his interest in various subjects combining cuisine and its elements with history, tradition, culture… In June 2005 Marin published his first book “Cuisine from the Depths of the Sea”… and he is currently working on his second book “The Pepenero Story”… the second book will be a creative cookery book with aim of merging music, food, wine and new cooking techniques in a sort of the “Soul Food” story… with basic desire to share with people what he has learned and experienced over the years…

Below the table I was attracted by another import element for PEPENERO restaurant… THE WINE…

The first thing I noted was bottles of PIQUENTUM Malmsey and Teran… PIQUENTUM is the brand name of the emerging and young Istrian wine maker Dimitri Brecevic...

I noted the bottles because of their characteristic and modern design… they fit PEPENERO in various elements… later on I learned that the bottles I noted were house wines… Piquentum Malvasia was the white (house) wine, while Piquentum Teran was the red (house) wine…

While writing Marin’s story I have to note that there is something in common between Marin Rendic, Dimitri Brecevic and Sandi Chiavalon I mentioned above… They are all around 30 years old and they are all totally dedicated in searching the excellence in what they do…

I was introduced to Dimitri Brecevic by a common friend Dean Milic – DEMIAN wine during last VINISTRA 2010 Exhibition held in Porec and I am pleased to share just a part of Dimitri’s story with Istria from Smrikve readers because I am sure if some of you visit PEPENERO you might have interest in discovering the taste of his wines…

Dimitri Brecevic was born in France. His mother is native from French Basque Country… a small town at the foothills of the Pyrenees - Jurançon which is also Dimitri’s native town. It is a region famous for white wines that got royal status back in the 16th century.

Dimitri’s origins from his father side are Istrian (Tinjan)… and this combination of his roots and realization that everything in Istria was perfect for quality viticulture attracted him to settle here.

In 2004 he founded his winery in Buzet (Pinguente) and currently he produces two wines that are PEPENERO’s home wines: Malvasia and Teran.

In 2006 he had his first vintage and the commercial name Piquentum derived from the old latin name of Buzet.

I was pleased to dedicate more words to Piquentum and Dimitri Brecevic but PEPENERO wine list includes around 100 wines selected with attention… among which I recognized several top ISTRIAN wine makers such as: Kozlovic, Coronica, Persuric, Matosevic, Polesina, Radovan, Kabola, Benvenuti, Cossetto, Clai, Cattunar, Degrassi, Pilato, Franc Arman, Kraljevic, Rossi… you will find also wines from Slavonia and Dalmatia, and wines from: Italy, France, Austria, Australia, Chile, Argentina and Portugal…