In the organization and under the auspices of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the Government of Albania and the Republic of North Macedonia, and within the implementation of the Open Balkan initiative, the second event “Wine Vision by Open Balkan” was held from November 16 to 19, 2023.

As part of this event, the first competition of professional chefs and young chefs was held under the name “Food Vision by Open Balkan – Open Balkan Chef Culinary Challenge 2023”. The quality of the competition was strengthened by the renowned international judges, with exceptional culinary experience; Dragan Unić (president of the team of judges), Daniel Schade, Dominique Grandjean, Franciane Tartari, Daniel Ayton, Miroslav Kubec, Martina Events and Saso Dravinec.

From the Faculty of Sciences, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Chair of Gastronomy in the category “Best Young Chef” – preparation of a traditional dish in a modern way, 6 undergraduate and master students participated, who achieved outstanding results, entering the top nine and winning the following awards:

  • Milica Petrušić, gold medal, first place;
  • Saveta Bikić, silver medal, second place, and award for the most promising young chef;
  • Milana Čugalj, fourth place;
  • Filip Vitomirović, sixth place;
  • Mihailo Mlabaša, eighth place;
  • Andrija Kocić, ninth place.

The proud mentors of the students were: Dr Bojana Kalenjuk Pivarski and Goran Radivojević, with the assistance of colleagues Velibor Ivanović and Stefan Šmugović.