Some people find their true calling late in life, and Milena Cvek is one of them. She started her career as a laboratory technician, but she has always had a passion for cooking. Her sons were the ones who pushed her to pursue her dream and become a professional cook – they told her she cooked so well that it would be a pity not to share her talent with the world. She decided to heed their advice and successfully completed retraining for a cook. Milena also attended, inter alia, one of the most prestigious culinary schools in the world, Le Cordon Bleu in London.
She joined Maistra, one of the leading hotel companies in Croatia and the region, as a cook, and later as a shift manager at the then newly opened Lone Hotel in Rovinj. The Lone Hotel is a design hotel built with a synergy of functionality, harmony and elegance, offering a variety of culinary delights to its guests. After her job at the Lone Hotel, she moved to the Adriatic Hotel, a chic boutique hotel located in the heart of the historic center of the town of Rovinj. Inspired by art, every part of the hotel is decorated with works of art by Croatian contemporary artists, and the same applies to food. Milena still works in this hotel, as a chef. Her mission is to create art on a plate, by sourcing fresh and local ingredients and combining tradition and creativity.
Milena loves her job and enjoys every moment of it. For her, cooking is not only a profession, but also a way of expressing herself and making people happy. Still a chemist at heart, Milena believes that cooking is a form of alchemy, turning simple elements into something extraordinary. She experiments with flavors, textures, colors and shapes, creating her own kind of magic in the kitchen.