The Restaurant at Maslina Resort

Where the Adriatic Sets the Table

On the northern coast of Hvar island, the approach to Maslina Resort along Uvala Maslinica already signals what kind of dining lies ahead. Olive groves press close, the bay opens gradually, and the architecture — low, stone-anchored, oriented toward water — makes it clear that the resort was designed around its landscape rather than imposed upon it. The Restaurant operates inside this logic: sea views frame every table, the Adriatic is not background decoration but a constant editorial presence, and the meal is structured to feel continuous with the surroundings rather than separate from them.

That orientation matters when assessing what The Restaurant is doing within Croatian fine dining. A growing number of the country's serious kitchens , Pelegrini in Sibenik, Restaurant 360 in Dubrovnik, Agli Amici Rovinj in Rovinj , have moved toward menus that treat Dalmatian ingredients as the foundation rather than the garnish. The Restaurant at Maslina fits that cohort, while adding the specific discipline of a Relais & Châteaux property: provenance documentation, ecodesign principles, and a kitchen architecture that runs in close dialogue with the resort's sustainability commitments.

Mediterranean Sharing Culture on the Dalmatian Coast

The Mediterranean tradition of communal eating , small plates, shared bowls, a table that stays active across several courses , has deep roots on this coastline. Dalmatian food culture has always favoured the table as a social space: peka dishes pulled from embers, platters of cured fish, bread torn and passed, wine poured without ceremony. The Restaurant at Maslina works within that tradition at a finer register, where the sharing format carries the same cultural logic but the sourcing and preparation operate at a different level of precision.

Chef Christopher Kostow , whose reputation was built at The Restaurant at Meadowood in Napa Valley, where the kitchen held three Michelin stars , brings a California-inflected approach to ingredient-driven cooking that translates coherently to the Adriatic context. In this setting, the relevant point is not his biography but what his presence signals about the kitchen's ambitions: the property recruited at the leading of the international market, and the 2024 Michelin Plate acknowledges that the program has the technical foundation to warrant that level of attention. For comparison, LD Restaurant in Korčula and Krug in Split occupy a similar tier on the Dalmatian island circuit, though each with distinct identities.

The ecodesign framework is not incidental to the food. Maslina's Mediterranean ecodesign designation reflects sourcing choices that run through the kitchen: local fishing communities, island agriculture, herbs and vegetables tied to the resort's own productive land. In a sharing-plate format, that provenance becomes legible across the table , what arrives is a cumulative portrait of a specific place rather than a generic Mediterranean menu assembled from international supply chains.

The Broader Hvar and Stari Grad Context

Stari Grad is the quieter counterpart to Hvar Town's summer intensity. One of the oldest cities in Europe, it occupies the long inlet at the northern end of the island and has historically attracted visitors more interested in the plain , the UNESCO-listed Stari Grad Plain, an ancient Greek agricultural grid still in agricultural use , than in the marina scene to the south. Dining here has never been volume-driven, which makes it a coherent setting for a destination restaurant that requires commitment to reach.

The island's wine culture reinforces the table. Hvar's Plavac Mali vineyards produce structured reds that have found serious international audiences, and the island's white wine tradition, while less documented, pairs tightly with the fish-heavy Dalmatian table. A restaurant at this price point and positioning should be read alongside the region's wine identity: this is not a backdrop for a generic Mediterranean menu but a specific Adriatic terroir. Readers building a Hvar itinerary around food and wine should consult our full Stari Grad wineries guide alongside the dining options.

Within Croatia's wider fine dining circuit, The Restaurant at Maslina sits in a peer group that also includes Boskinac in Novalja, Alfred Keller in Mali Lošinj, Nebo by Deni Srdoč in Rijeka, Dubravkin Put in Zagreb, and Korak in Jastrebarsko. What distinguishes the Maslina positioning is its resort integration: the meal is designed to anchor a stay rather than justify a standalone reservation, and the sea-view dining room is explicitly part of the offer. For Mediterranean cuisine operating at this register beyond Croatia, La Brezza in Ascona and Arnaud Donckele & Maxime Frédéric at Louis Vuitton in Saint-Tropez provide useful reference points for how the Mediterranean fine dining category operates at its upper end.

The resort also operates Terra Restaurant by Maslina Resort, a secondary dining format on the property. The two kitchens are positioned differently, and guests making a multi-night stay will find that the formats are designed to complement rather than duplicate each other.

Planning a Visit

The Restaurant at Maslina Resort sits within a Relais & Châteaux property at the €€€€ price tier, placing it at the upper end of Dalmatian dining. Reservations are reachable through the resort directly at maslina@relaischateaux.com or by phone at +38 52 18 88 700, with the full property information at maslinaresort.com. The island-resort location means forward planning is necessary in the summer months: Hvar sees its highest visitor density between June and August, and demand for resort dining at this tier typically outpaces walk-in availability during peak season. Guests not staying at the resort should contact the property in advance to confirm non-resident dining availability. The property is family-friendly by designation, which places it in a different social register than the more formal Michelin-starred rooms on the mainland.

For a full picture of dining, drinking, and staying in the area, our full Stari Grad restaurants guide, hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide cover the broader island offer beyond the resort gates.