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At the end of the summer, a pilot event with a fitting name – “The taste of experience” was organised for our guests in the area of Kosodrevina. Let us tell you how the evening looked like.
The gastronomy event began with a fresh welcome drink on the southern side of Mt Chopok at the Summer bar in Krupová, from where we took a cable car to Kosodrevina. It could be joined also by clients coming from the northern side, but they had to travel with three cable cars in total – at first to Priehyba, then to Mt Chopok and from there to the final destination – Kosodrevina. Before the feast, we could enjoy breathtaking views of the valley from a wooden terrace, with the sun setting in the background. Then we entered the restaurant decorated with natural elements including tree branches, shrubs with bilberries and cranberries. Cutlery and glasses arranged with precision didn’t stay untouched for long and after a short welcoming speech, we could taste the first course in a cosy atmosphere and with nice background music playing.
A touch of tradition…
A smiling waitress brought us small bowls with bryndza (sheep cheese product) soup, a mini roasted pepper salad, a slice of potato bread and smoked bacon pieces. After a short while, Erb beer was added to our tables and introduced by an expert from the brewery itself. And after the presenter wished us to enjoy our meals, we took our spoons and started eating the soup. Its gentle taste and beautiful light orange colour fascinated me so much that I left an etirely empty bowl for the waiters to collect.
… as well as modern gastronomy
We continued with a second course that was quite unusual. A trout appeared in front of us but without a body. Because that was hidden in a sliced pancake that was swimming in fermented garlic-horseradish sauce. And all this was sprinkled with various herbs and sprouts dominated by dill. We moved from a gentle flavour to a more intensive one that another glass of beer was adapted to.
Between individual courses, there was enough time for short discussions so that we could find out something about each other apart from enjoying great food. We were looking forward to the middle course and learned that it would be lamb. But its modern form was really surprising. Our plate was full of meat balls and small sausages served with grilled cabbage, a traditional “lokša” potato pancake and smoked bacon pieces covered with fragrant green top leaves.
Despite the tasting portion sizes, our stomachs were slowly filling up and since there were still two courses ahead of us, we were curious whether we would make it. After the fish and the domestic animal meat, it was time for venison, i.e. soft backstrap with bread dumplings. There was much more on the plate, though! The very original version with berries and herbs resulted in a refreshing and sweet flavour. Dark meat was matched with dark Erb beer, of course. We were told that coffee and other natural fruit are used to add colour to the beer.
A sweet finish couldn’t be missing, of course, i.e. oil-fried cakes with curd cheese cream and warm bilberries. The dessert was delicious and the guests enjoyed it with a smile on their faces and small glasses of steam beer. Meanwhile, it got dark outside. The silent jingle of plates and cutlery didn’t last long and after the 5-course dinner, we were invited to a Von Roll Chairlift museum tour by the event presenter.
A bit of chairlift history at the end
A staircase lit by candles took us to a former chairlift station. Passengers had been sitting sideways, not facing forward then, which was very interesting. Everybody had had enough time to get on safely and had been helped by the chairlift staff. After a short explanation how this chairlift type worked, the room changed to a small cinema. Old black & white scenes were alternated with modern ones on a projection screen and we couldn’t help but admire human work while watching a gripping documentary about the construction of cable cars on the southern and northern side of Mt Chopok. After a few minutes, we took a look at the museum exposition and the chairlift construction itself. Some people even tried how it felt to sit on one of the old 2-person chairs. Then we slowly returned to the room where we had experienced the tastes and aromas of the Horehronie region. Bottled beer that had been served to taste for dinner was sold there if we wanted to buy some. And after that, we took the cable car to the lower station where we said goodbye to each other.
