Meet the world’s best female chef: Ana Ros of Hisa Franko in Slovenia
Ana Ros had no intention of becoming a chef – and now she’s the best in the business
On a chilly evening in late September, Ana Roš emerged from the dining room carrying a tray of tortellini filled with sheep’s cheese, and her cheeks flushed and eyes misty. While she is unfazed by the day-to-day pressure of running Hiša Franko, Slovenia’s most famous restaurant, a brief but heartfelt exchange with a diner had moved her to tears: after months saving up for the journey, the guest had travelled from a small town in Britain specifically to meet Roš and try her food.
“When she told me this, she started crying, and then I cried, too,” Roš explains, pushing a loose golden curl behind her ear. “It’s a big pleasure but also a big responsibility.”
Such outpourings of emotion are common at Hiša Franko. Roš, a 44-year-old self-taught cook and mother of two, speaks with candour and exudes empathy. Last year, her life story was the focus of an episode of Chef’s Table, the popular Netflix documentary series produced by David Gelb, of Jiro Dreams of Sushi fame. Since the programme aired, food lovers from around the globe have trekked to the remote mountain village of Kobarid, th3ree kilometres from the western border with Italy, to experience her innovative cuisine.
In January, Roš received the 2017 World’s Best Female Chef award from the influential World’s 50 Best Restaurants, an honour that she describes as “motivation to stay in the kitchen and not to forget who
I am”.
Unlike many of the major figures in gastronomy today, she had never planned on becoming a chef. A former skiing champion with a proclivity for languages, she had been pursing a career in diplomacy when she met her future husband, the charismatic sommelier Valter Kramer, whose family owned Hiša Franko. Kramer introduced Roš to the world of food and wine, and the two travelled frequently to tour vineyards and dine at Michelin-starred restaurants.
When Kramer’s parents decided to retire in 2000, Roš unexpectedly found herself in charge of the kitchen while her husband managed the front of house. “I was terrified,” she says, recalling the suffocating feeling of dread on her first day of service. Three months pregnant and with no formal culinary training, she panicked when she saw the orders lined up on the wall. Her debut was fraught with mistakes. The bread refused to rise; the meat was dry. But Roš persevered despite the setbacks.
“Failure is an engine for life. If you accept that you can fail, it makes you fight harder,” she says.
