There are people who are simply born for a certain job. These people can be recognized among others not only by the fact that they are doing the job more successfully but with a life commitment as well.
Veso Djorem is keeping a secret on how to make a brand from catering facility, which will carry the title of a cult.
It was like that in the eighties in Sarajevo, when Djorem founded and managed Red Gallery (Crvena Galerija) in the former CEDUS, and then the House of Writers (Dom pisaca) in Kranjceviceva Street, and it is still like that today when his restaurant Luka Lu in Prague is ranked among the most famous in the Czech capital.
Luka Lu, located on the “Small side” of the city, can boast with a long list of famous people who enjoyed specialties and original atmosphere – from the late President Vaclav Havel, great Czech artists and celebrities, and all the stars from the former Yugoslavia who came in this restaurant: Goran Bregovic, Kusturica, Zdravko Colic and others. However, the restaurant hosts a number of daily travelers and passersby who do not save words of praise for the offer and concept behind which stands the former boy from Ilidza.
I had a different approach to work from my colleagues, after all, and I’m not a caterer. I think the key for the success of the Red Gallery and the House of Writers was a concept. And this concept was to promote the ‘club’ through culture. The late Dario Dzamonja wrote text “Cultural Mission in a tavern in Oslobodjenje” back then, in which he claims that: ‘Red Gallery by Veso Djorem did for the culture of the city on the Miljacka in a year more than many institutions in forty years. Back then, I organized and financed a hundred programs annually in Titova and later in Kranjceviceva Street. We held exhibitions of photographs and paintings, various concerts, book promotions and gramophone records, film and fashion shows, newspapers, oral and other programs. It also means that my work was not inspired solely by profit, I felt the need to give something to my city, so I did. Thus, all people recognized something beautiful and useful in all of this and became part of the story. I was not the Red Gallery, all artists, and guests who went there made this club. I also played a little bit and up to date – I remained the boy from Ilidza “says Djorem.
“The club is difficult to build – easy to destroy. I have to admit that the business is a little bit boring for me. For thirty years I have never counted the earned money. That’s why, I guess, my waiters bought cars before me. The most important associate is my wife, Tijana, who is responsible for the serious part of business, finances etc. My part of the job is that the inn is beautiful, that it contains a lot of things going on and to be crowded. In this business, every worker is important because the restaurant is a collective work. That is the reason why family restaurants are usually most successful,” said Djorem.
The overall image of the restaurant is based on the story of the former Yugoslavia, a country that the Czechs loved and appreciated.
“Yugoslavia is a smart and beautiful story. If you saved a beautiful piece of this story/country and you share it with someone in the big city, you have a chance for business success as well. Prague and the Czech Republic are a serious city and country. Czechs know us and like us a lot, and still come to holiday in Croatia. The story of Yugoslavia is beautiful and of course – sad,” concluded Djorem.
(Source: Radiosarajevo.ba)
