WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2017

Dinner at Konoba Cigale on Cikat Bay: Perfectly
grilled sea bass on a bed of light pesto risotto -
with a berry strudel dessert.
a day: We visited an herbs distillery run for 33 years by
Gverino and Irena Kucic – tasting everything from olive
oils to lemoncello and local honey. We bought small jars
of immortelle face cream, hoping to recreate the glow that
emanated from the faces of so many island women.
In the ancient village of Lubenice, perched on a bluff
high above the Adriatic, we counted six Roman Catholic
churches among the rocky ruins – and only five full-time
residents. Natives Marta and Maria Kuljanic presented soft
white sheep skins for sale. Nearby, we tried on woolen
hats offered by the man who made them from scratch
– starting with spinning the wool. A few miles away, at
a small restaurant called TRS, we sat outdoors under awnings
shaded by an enormous fig tree. Owner/chef/waiter
Ante Muzic fed us lamb from his own farm, prepared three
traditional ways. When we told him how much we enjoyed
the feast, his homemade wine and olive oil, he sprinted to
his cellar and honored us by bringing out his really, really
good stuff.
“Zivjeli,” we toasted our host. Pronounced jee-via-lee, it
means “Cheers, life is beautiful.”
At days end, while we waited for the rotating bridge to
span the canal separating Cres and Losinj, we roamed the
cobblestone historic heart of Osor. We walked medieval
Roman ruins as bells chimed from a 15th century cathedral.
At the town’s archaeology museum, we inspected myriad
household artifacts dating back 4,000 years through the
Middle Ages, all unearthed on the island. At the small
café out front, locals focused on more immediate fare: the
town’s annual summer classic music festival.
Jadranka, for 70 years the leading tourism company on
Losinj, operates everything from campgrounds to private
luxury villas. It owns eight hotels, seven restaurants, 15
120 WDT MAGAZINE SPRING 2017