Taste the Cosines of Renesansa

In a very right center of Prishtina opposite Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK) tall building close to a Fidanpharm pharmacy there is a very unnoticeable tight alley. In the end of this alley you will meet a house with beautifully wooden entrance door, which is not a residential house but a traditional restaurant called “Renesansa”. These large doors usually are not open, so in order to get in you should knock as you do in any inhabited home you want to visit. As you walk in this restaurant, first, you need to adjust your sight, because to get there is pretty dark at night, and when you enter the restaurant is a very low lighting, too.
The owner Ilir Zhubi, a Gjakova man who had moved to Prishtina 37 years ago. He has been in catering business for 20 years. Earlier he had owned one of few cafés in Prishtina. He joined gastronomy in 1993, by opening Renesansa restaurant first in Gjakova. Then he moved this activity in Prishtina in 1997. He started with the restaurant named it Tifani and since 2001 he decided to name this restaurant Renesansa. Basically now he has three, one in Gjakova and two in Prishtina.
“I named it Renesansa (as in Renaissance) because traditional food should be served in restaurants too, not just in our homes” he says. “Through this I try to revive the quality of our traditional food, which I find very delicious”.

Walking in one is greeted by a hostess and in what might be an uncommon experience in Kosovo she would immediately ask you: “do you know the menu?” In asking so she checks whether one is there for the first time or is already familiar with the restaurant’s policies. And since restaurant has no menu, they change their specialties on daily basis. Immediately after sitting a home made raki in a mini jug and still water is brought to you, without ordering it. After that, the waitress brings red house wine produced in the region of Gjakova. And she starts delivering starters which consist of: three types of dips, cheese, pickled beetroot, deep fried aubergine (eggplants) with a touch of parsley, green olives, beans and a basket of brown integral bread.
The restaurant has over 40 seats and approximately 30 guests dine as light jazz music plays in the background but amazingly so it all seems so quiet. In what is probably one of great things about it - somehow this place calms down people after they have had a long busy day in this dynamic lifestyle.

Renesansa is made of wood and stone. The floor, the walls, the two bars are made by the combination of stone quadrates. The ceilings are all wooden and make you feel like as being on a mountain cottages. Also the frames of the windows are thick wooden pieces, and they look like roof girders similar to some ancient mansions or castles in United Kingdom or France. Also tables and chairs are pure wood, made by a local woodcrafter. It has a black shiny piano where sometimes even guests can play and sing. It has two bars, one is bigger than the other.? The big one is for food only, so you can see your dish being cooked, you can also see and smell the ember. The small bar is for drinks only. In general the atmosphere is elegant and warm.

After you have some wine and some food, comes the salad which is usually mixed but on top of the salad they also serve melon, which is not very common for Kosovo. After the waitress explained the four choices on main courses she took the order of our selection and decision on our main dishes. I go for a steak and my friend’s bet is on the baked chicken.

Each morning and early afternoon Ilir is out in the green markets after organic food, even though, he says that sometimes it is difficult to find them fresh. “I have to research the market thoroughly, until I find quality vegetables,” he says. He also pays a lot of attention not only to fresh but also hygienic food, and that’s what makes the work even harder, “but accomplishable” as he would note.

Renesansa team is constituted by women, only waitresses no waiters. Ilir says ladies are just better, much more gentle, subtle, and fine towards guests.

The steak is just perfectly cooked and as a garnish had grilled courgettes (zucchini) in a sauce of fresh mushrooms….all are very tasty.

Presentation of the food in this restaurant does not differ from an Albanian mahogany, and in case you do not have an Albanian friend you should definitely visit the Renesansa restaurant, and you’ll definitely savor the Albanian cuisine.

High quality of food, wine, and home made raki, fast and pleasant service makes this place really unique. Service is professional and in the level of classy restaurants elsewhere in the region. Waitresses are exemplary and polite, friendly enough and not annoying.

One feature that makes the place unique is that they set the standard fixed price per person in the amount of 15 euros —all included. Ilir also mentioned that his restaurant is mostly visited by middle class citizens and he prefers to keep this clientele because he want to offer to his guests quality in all aspects, comfort, content with the food and service. “This way, they always come back,” he says.

It is worth mentioning that this restaurant has been recently visited by famous actress Rebecca Romijn-Stamos from the movie Femme Fatale and Pjer Žalica a Bosnian internationally known film director.

Renesansa has done a marvelous job of offering authentic Albanian cooking to the heart of Kosovo capital Prishtina. Recommended highly!!!