A story that has been written since 1985

Some restaurants are born out of a business idea. Ours was born out of courage, a love of hospitality and the desire for a new beginning.

The story of Gostišča Sobočan began long before 1985, far away from home.

My parents, Franc and Pavla Sobočan, were living in Germany at the time, running not one but two restaurants on the most prestigious street in Stuttgart.

Despite the life they had built abroad, their hearts kept pulling them home. In 1985 they made a bold decision: they left Germany, returned to Slovenia and began looking for a place where they could continue what they knew best.

They found it here.

The beginnings were far from easy. Behind everything the guests saw on the table were long hours of work, sleepless nights, many sacrifices and a great deal of perseverance.

My parents believed in simple things: well-prepared food, an honest attitude towards every guest, and doors that were always open to everyone.

Slowly, the restaurant became more than their occupation. It became their way of life.

In 1995 they took the next big step and extended the inn with a hall that can seat up to 100 people. At the same time they furnished rooms and apartments, offering guests the option of an overnight stay.

It is a special feeling to watch how our guests grew up alongside our restaurant. Some first crossed our threshold as children, later celebrated their weddings with us, and today return with their grandchildren. In moments like these I realise that Gostišča Sobočan was never just a place where they came for lunch or a celebration — it was a place they returned to through different periods of their lives. Just as they became part of our story, we became a small part of theirs.

In 2016 our family and our restaurant were marked by a painful loss.

My father Franc passed away.

With his death I did not lose only my father. I lost the man I grew up beside and learned from. A man who showed me what hard work, perseverance and a sincere love for people truly mean.

Father Franc had a special love for people. He was always smiling, open and sociable.

I believe I inherited my sociability, my love of people and my joy in hospitality right from my father. I too like to stop by the tables, chat with guests and laugh with them. Growing up beside him, I came to understand that hospitality is not only about what you put on the table. Even more important are the kind words, the honest smile and the feeling of warmth that a guest carries home when they leave.

That was when I took over Gostišča Sobočan, along with everything my parents had built over more than thirty years.

Taking over a family restaurant does not mean taking over only the spaces, the kitchen and the daily work. It means taking over a history. A name. Memories. Expectations. Above all, the responsibility to continue something into which your parents invested almost their entire lives.

It was one of the hardest periods of my life. There was hardly any time to pause. The restaurant had to live on. The doors had to open again just days later, welcome guests and continue the path my parents had begun.

I was not alone. My mother Pavla was by my side — she had stood by my father all those years and remained an important pillar of our family and our inn after his passing. Her help, calm and perseverance made it possible for me to take on the responsibility and continue the work they had started together.

Two years after my father's death, I fulfilled a long-held wish of mine and created the summer Piknik PLAC behind the restaurant. On the large, until-then unused meadow behind our guest rooms, right beside the walking path along the Drava, I saw a space with great potential — a place where people could gather and celebrate a little differently: relaxed, in the embrace of nature.

Today the Piknik PLAC is available for hire, and from early spring to late autumn we host all kinds of celebrations there every weekend.

What was once an empty meadow has become another place where people meet, celebrate and create memories.

Over these years, my own family has grown as well. My wife Anja and I were blessed with Liam and Flora, and with them a new chapter began — the third generation of our family is now growing up at Gostišča Sobočan.

Their presence and laughter fill the same spaces in which their grandmother Pavla and grandfather Franc once began building their dreams. Perhaps they do not yet fully understand how much work, courage, love — and also difficult moments — are hidden within these walls. But one day they will know that they have been part of the story since childhood, a story that began with their grandparents and is being written onward with them today.

Gostišča Sobočan was never just an ordinary restaurant to me. Nor merely a job.

Here I see my mother and father, who believed in their dreams.

I see long working days and countless moments that slowly turned the restaurant into our home as well.

I see a place where we preserve tradition — not because we fear change, but because we know how precious the foundations are on which we build the future.

And I see generations of guests who entrusted us with their celebrations and the most important moments of their lives.

Amid everything our family has invested in Gostišča Sobočan over the years, I am also aware that a restaurant is not created by its walls, its food or the people who work in it alone. A restaurant truly comes to life through its guests.

That is why I am grateful from the bottom of my heart to each of you who has crossed our threshold over all these years, sat at our tables, celebrated with us, returned time and again and recommended us to others. It is you who gave Gostišča Sobočan its life and made it possible for our family story to still be written today. Without you, it would be just a house with a long history. Because of you, it has become a place full of life, beautiful moments and unforgettable memories.

Since 1985 we have welcomed you with the same wish with which my parents first opened the doors: that you eat well with us, feel welcome, and leave with a beautiful memory and the desire to return soon.

At our table there will always be a place for you.

A place for conversation, celebration, memory and a new story.

And, if you like, for a decilitre of house wine as well.

Welcome to Gostišča Sobočan.