Metropolitan

Where Belgrade's Wine Culture Gets Some Serious Architecture

Belgrade's dining scene has moved quickly over the past decade. The city that once ran almost entirely on grilled meats and domestic Prokupac now has a tier of internationally minded restaurants holding Michelin recognition and building wine lists that would draw no embarrassment in Vienna or Zagreb. Metropolitan, on Milentija Popovića, sits inside that shift, serving modern Serbian and international fine dining at the €€€ price tier, and the wine program runs to 350 selections backed by 1,000 bottles of physical inventory.

That inventory number matters more than it might first appear. In a city where most mid-range restaurants treat wine as an afterthought, a short domestic list plus a few international names sourced from a single importer, a cellar of 1,000 bottles implies active buying decisions, a storage commitment, and a wine director with a long view. Here that role belongs to Chris Arora, whose program stakes its identity on two axes: California and France. The pairing is not accidental. California's leading Cabernets and Chardonnays share a structural conversation with Burgundy and Bordeaux that rewards the kind of comparative tasting a list of this depth allows. A guest inclined toward a Napa Valley Cabernet and a guest drawn to a Côtes de Nuits red can sit at the same table and have that argument settled, or pleasantly prolonged, across several courses.

Reading the List: California, France, and What That Tells You

Wine lists reveal editorial choices as clearly as menus do. A program that anchors on California and France is making a statement about where it thinks fine wine credibility lives, in the dialogue between New World power and Old World structure, between fruit-forward ripeness and terroir-driven restraint. For Belgrade, where the default fine-dining wine move has historically been a German Riesling or a familiar Burgundy name, a list with genuine California depth is still a point of difference.

The pricing structure spans a range of bottles across price points rather than a list skewed entirely toward high-end allocations or entry-level pours. For context, corkage fees at this level in European capitals typically run between €30 and €50, putting Metropolitan's policy in a familiar bracket for internationally traveled diners.

With 350 selections, the list is large enough to require navigation but not so sprawling that it becomes a catalogue without a point of view. That distinction, between a wine list and a wine program, is what separates a room with serious drinking ambitions from one that simply wants to appear serious. The depth in California and France suggests the former. For guests planning a serious wine dinner in Belgrade, it's worth arriving with a general sense of which direction you want to go: the list rewards engagement rather than a quick scan.

The Kitchen: American and European, at a Mid-Range Price

The cuisine designation, modern Serbian and international fine dining, is broad enough to encompass a range of approaches, and at the €€€ tier, it places Metropolitan in Belgrade's middle ground rather than at the summit of its fine-dining ceiling. The Michelin Plate recognition for 2025 indicates the inspectors found the cooking consistent and worthy of notice. In Michelin's framework, the Plate signals a kitchen that cooks well; it is a floor of quality rather than a ceiling of ambition.

The kitchen operates within a structure that also includes General Manager Daniele Salamone overseeing the floor. That structure tends to produce reliable execution and consistent standards over the kind of chef-led experimentation that defines Belgrade's newer independent openings. For guests who want to know the kitchen will be firing at the same level on a Tuesday as on a Saturday, that consistency has real value.

Belgrade's broader restaurant scene offers useful reference points. Langouste sits at the €€€€ end of the spectrum with a modern cuisine focus, while The Square matches Metropolitan's €€ pricing with a Contemporary French and Modern Cuisine approach. At the more casual end, Bela Reka sits at the € tier. Metropolitan occupies a specific niche: Michelin-noted, mid-range in price, with a wine program that punches above the tier.

Location and the Milentija Popovića Corridor

The address on Milentija Popovića places Metropolitan in Belgrade's Novi Beograd district rather than the older city center. This is a commercially active zone, home to corporate offices, hotels, and a growing concentration of restaurants that cater to a business and international clientele. It is a different dining ecosystem from Skadarlija's bohemian cobblestones or the riverside floating restaurants of the Sava, and that difference shapes the room's character. The clientele skews toward business dinners and hotel guests rather than the younger crowd drawn to Savamala or Stari Grad. The upside is a more predictable booking window and a room designed for sustained conversation rather than spectacle.

For visitors building a broader Belgrade food and drink itinerary, the city's options extend well beyond this corridor. The SkyLounge and The Twenty Two represent the rooftop and cocktail-bar side of what Belgrade does with its skyline. Travelers who want to follow the wine thread beyond Metropolitan will find the full Belgrade wineries guide a useful companion, along with Belgrade's bar scene for post-dinner drinking. For a wider lens on where to stay while working through the city's restaurants, the Belgrade hotels guide maps the options by district and style.

Those interested in what International cuisine looks like at different price points and contexts across the region can cross-reference against Loumi in Berlin, Matthias in Berlin, Sahila in Cologne, Sommerfeld in Frankfurt, Haubentaucher in Rottach-Egern, Marcel von Winckelmann in Passau, and SoulFood in Auerbach, a diverse cohort that shows how wide the International designation runs across Central Europe. Closer to Belgrade, Fleur de Sel in Novi Slankamen offers a regional contrast worth the drive for serious diners.

The full Belgrade restaurants guide and the Belgrade experiences guide round out the city picture for first-time visitors and returning guests alike.

Planning a Visit

Metropolitan serves lunch and dinner, making it functional for a business lunch as well as a longer evening focused on working through the wine list. At the €€€ price tier, the bill will rise meaningfully for guests who engage seriously with the wine list. That is, frankly, the point.

What Should I Eat at Metropolitan?

Metropolitan's kitchen works across modern Serbian and international fine dining formats, and the Michelin Plate recognition in 2025 points to consistent execution across the menu rather than a single standout dish. Chef Sidney Semedo operates within a price bracket, two courses in the €40–€65 range, that rewards ordering across multiple courses rather than eating narrowly. Given that the wine program under Wine Director Chris Arora is the room's defining feature, the stronger play here is to treat the food as a serious accompaniment to the list rather than arriving with a single dish in mind: ask the floor team, led by General Manager Daniele Salamone, to match courses to whatever direction you're heading on the wine side.