Senad Hadzifejzovic, the chef of the kitchen of hotel “Europa” has been preparing delicacies for famous people coming to the Sarajevo Film Festival for decades.
So far, numerous famous actresses, directors, politicians, singers, athletes and many others have had the opportunity to try his delicacies.
So far, many famous persons tried Senad’s dishes, including former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, actors Angelina Jolie, Robert de Niro, Penelope Cruz, Emir Hadzihafizbegovic, Mirjana Karanovic, director Oliver Stone, presidents of states such as Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia … members of the Presidency of BiH, Bakir Izetbegovic, Dragan Covic, Mladen Ivanic… American football team, singers Oliver Dragojevic, Arsen Dedic…
He revealed that he had to prepare a lighter meal for Angelina Jolie, mostly salad with salmon and octopus, and filet mignon for Robert De Niro. They had to buy a sweet potato – batat to please Penelope Cruz.
“We have people coming from all over the world, and it is not unusual that they ask for unusual foods, meals, dressings… That is why you always have to be prepared for surprises. We recently hosted a group of 30 people from Finland who simply enjoyed the taste of our food. We also hosted a group of Americans, and we had to go to Visoko to bring 120 identical gourds, which we prepared and served the soup in them. When we put them on a table, they were enchanted.
Although he has 39 years of work behind him, Senad never stops learning. And he learns in different ways, through social networks, by going through old and new cookbooks, by reading culinary magazines, watching foreign shows that feature some of the greatest chefs in the world, and he also visits local hotels and restaurants and try different dishes prepared by their colleagues.
Of course, the best feeling is when the guest calls you and praises your meal. I had a lot of moments like that, but I will reveal one of the recent ones. A foreign businessman came to our restaurant and ordered a fish stew. When he ate it, he asked the waiter to invite me to come to the salon. He told me that he has hotel chain, but he never tried such a good fish stew.
(Source: faktor.ba, Photo: M.Zivojevic)
