A good two years ago Peter Vogelnik opened the Moji štruklji Slovenije bistro under the Plečnik’s arcades at Adamič-Lundrovo nabrežje and started a wonderful culinary story of mixing tradition with the modern. Thus also a new Slovenian word was born – štrukljarnica. It refers to a bistro which mostly serves štruklji. On the regular menu, you can find a selection of about 20 different types, you can choose from traditional and classic flavours, fruit or chocolate fillings, or get your hands on some true gourmet štruklji.
It all started almost 20 years ago at the Kofce mountain hut where Peter, in his younger years, helped manage the hut and soon after took over the entire business. At Kofce, štruklji soon became a huge hit and for many, these delicious doughy rolls were the principal reason for climbing to the top. As the initial feedback was so good, Peter started inventing new types of štruklji and thus introduced new flavours, such as chocolate, blueberry, vegetable and many others.
Due to increased popularity, the idea of opening a place in Ljubljana slowly grew and was realised in 2017 when his štrukljarnica opened at the central market. Since then, Ljubljana locals and visitors from near and far can enjoy the various authentic Slovenian štruklji made from filo pastry, leavened dough, leavened puff pastry, or buckwheat dough without actually having to endure a strenuous ascent to Kofce. You can choose from about 20 different types of štruklji, from traditional to modern variations, with different fillings, icings and toppings, all of them prepared fresh every day from quality ingredients of mostly local origin.
The traditional variations include štruklji filled with curd cheese or tarragon, buckwheat štruklji with walnuts, apple štruklji, or the Ljubljana štruklji. The latter are made from leavened puff pastry and filled with apricot jam and candied oranges, carefully left to rise and then placed in the oven until golden brown. Savoury štruklji can be topped with home-made pork cracklings or toasted breadcrumbs which also pair well with the sweet varieties of štruklji.
Those of you who prefer savoury štruklji can, apart from the traditional flavours, also choose from the following fillings: chives, minced meat and caramelised onions, vegetarian štruklji with curd cheese and home-grown vegetables, or carrot-filled štruklji.
But if you have a sweet tooth, their large display holds the following flavours: strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and even mango, while chocoholics will certainly be impressed the most by different varieties of chocolate štruklji. The latter can be filled with chocolate ganache and drizzled with chocolate and hazelnut icing, with oranges and dark chocolate, banana-chocolate, or white chocolate with coconut. And last, but not least, try the honey-filled štruklji, štruklji with vanilla, or curd cheese with dried fruits or raisins.
The selection is so vast that you will not be able to try them all in just one go, but they are luckily open every day of the week during the summer season, so you will have plenty of opportunities to come back and try some more.
