San Rocco

Stone walls, a wooden ceiling, and a terrace that fills up when the weather cooperates: this hotel restaurant in a quiet Istrian village a few kilometers from the coast has the kind of room that does the decorating for you. The chef plates a modern take on Istrian cooking, moving between the hinterland and the sea as the seasons shift. Dinner begins with house-baked bread and a tasting of four estate olive oils, which tells you more or less everything about the priorities here.