Our story was born out of our long romance and passion for a wine perfectly paired with extraordinary bites
Our story was born out of our long romance and passion for a wine perfectly paired with extraordinary bites
The idea was to create an oasis inside of City walls, a hidden place surrounded with greenery, where you can plan a day ahead with a morning cup of roasted coffee, enjoy your after-lunch glass of wine in the shade of plane trees once you get tired from strolling crowded streets or simply wait for the night lights to switch on with exquisite bites while tasting some of the best wines Croatia has to offer. Each time you come back, our carefully curated garden, will surprise you with something you haven’t noticed before…
1 - Stradun 2 - Široka ulica 3 - Ulica od Domina 4 - M’arden
We base our philosophy on sustainability. Not only on the wine and food we serve, but also up on the respect of the UNESCO protected space where we created M’arden.
We use our own aromatic herbs and spices, and always make sure not to leave our carbon footprint in our environment. Our main ingredients on the menu are always the highest quality and come from good Croatian farm practices. If you are looking to explore some of the best wines Croatia has to offer and learn about different regions, you came to the right place. For the real hedonistic journey, our guided wine tasting is available upon request. At our Mediterranean garden, you are not just our costumer, you are our guest, our family, and we want to be sure that you know that it’s our pleasure to cater to you.
Ana Bitanga
Face Behind m’arden - Ana Bitanga is a local entrepreneur, born and raised in Dubrovnik. As a local child, Ana was brought up with wine on the table, organic but simple food, passionate conversations and everything you can think of when you imagine a typical hot-blooded Dalmatian family. Love for food and wine came to her naturally, Ana basically grew up in a family-owned restaurant, where she started working when she was 14 years old. As a continuation of the family business, and the legacy, her family saw the passion for the wine as well as the food and gaveher an opportunity to share what she enjoys the most, but this time with wine as the focus and food as a supporting role, but not any less important. Her knowledge about wine has progressed ever since she started her wine education classes almost 10 years ago. She reached Level 3 certificate at WSET, became a sommelier, and today she teaches restaurant management and sommelier courses at University of Dubrovnik and Rochester Institute of technology in Dubrovnik. As one of the youngest women in restaurant business, which is still predominately male oriented, especially in Croatia, Ana beats all stereotypes. Whether you are looking for a guided wine tasting or just a quick glass of conversation about Dubrovnik’s culture, food or popular sites don’t hesitate to ask, she is most probably somewhere around M’arden and will be delighted to meet you.
Niko Grubusic
sommelier / Ana’s right hand - spent his whole career in the food and beverage industry since enrolling into high school to become a waiter, and simply fell in love with sharing experiences and knowledge as he gained it through his work. As the time progressed, he as well became a sommelier and gained Level 2 certificate at WSET. His work experience is vast and exciting, from working at hotel Palace from age 19, going to work on cruise ship at age 23, all the way French style restaurants in Dublin to ski destinations in Austria. The knowledge and experiencehe brings to the table and the team is immeasurable and we are so happy to have him on board, no pun intended.
Ante Dropuljic
chef – Ante and Niko went to school together and Ante met Ana when he was her trainer, since Ante was a professional handball player and was a coach. In a conversation with Ana he shared his love of food and his desire to change his career. He took a leap of faith and went to work at different places, starting at Bugenvila restaurant, Michelin recommended, learning and sharpening his tools and craft, while staying in touch with both Ana and Niko. At some point, it all came together, our passion made a strong connection, and the team was created.Ante, is an excellent chef, always scribbling and putting his ideas on the paper to recreate them in reality, tasting and testing, adopting the recipes to make them more enjoyable to accompany the wines.
Anni, amori e bicchieri di
vino, non si contano mai
years, lovers and glasses of wine,
these things must not be counted
