About Us

The history of Rivica is a story of a generational devotion to hospitality and restaurant business. It is a story of passion, hard work, and persistence.

Rivica... A small port of grand hedonism

The story begins in 1934 with nona Mara and nono Ivo, when they decided to open a bed and breakfast in a small fishing village for elite guests from the former “k.u.k.” (kaiserlich und königlich – Austro – Hungarian Monarchy) and provide them with a hedonistic experience of Kvarner and the Island of Krk, two destinations that they began to uncover and which attracted them with their exotic and untouched nature and climate balance.

The story continues with father Ivica and mother Vera as the protagonists who, in the middle and second half of the previous century, brought the Rivica restaurant to the very top of the island and Kvarner and Croatian gastronomy.

Today Dražen and his wife, Nikolina, are the protagonists of the story with those same values that have been a part of the two previous generations.

Now in a more modern context and with the everlasting presence of Bodulij (the name of the Island of Krk in the Čakavian dialect) and Kvarner and with one eye set on the mountain Učka that surrounds both the arriving guests and the kitchen, thus influencing the cuisine that became one of the main characteristics of the Croatian gastronomy.

The cuisine still remains Mediterranean, but is first and foremost of Krk and Kvarner; at the same time it contains an air of the Monarchy and la cucina veneta as its essential cooking and serving guidelines.

At the shaded terrace with a view of the small port, nona Mara’s spirit is still present as a contemporary link between passion and dedication, as well as the spirit of gastronomy chosen primarily as a way of life, and secondly as a profession.

WINE PAIRING

CAREFULLY CHOSEN WINE WITH EVERY DISH FROM OUR WINE CELLAR

Igor Eržen

SOUS CHEF

BOOK A TABLE

Dražen Lesica

EXECUTIVE CHEF AND FOUNDER

BOOK A TABLE