Ana Roš Stojan (born 1972) is a chef from Slovenia. A self-taught cook, she helms Hiša Franko restaurant in Kobarid, Slovenia and other projects. She is considered one of the world's most prominent chefs.

Born to distinctly ambitious parents, she trained in contemporary dance (Cunningham technique), and alpine skiing as a child, earning a place in the Yugoslavian youth national team, but later decided she didn't want to pursue a career as a professional skier. After attending linguistic high school, she studied diplomacy at the University of Trieste, facoltà di Gorizia. After graduating, she met her  former partner Valter Kramar, with whom they share two adult children. Valter's parents owned Hiša Franko, an already established home-style restaurant in the Slovenian far west. With them retiring, she gave up her career as a diplomat to take over the family restaurant (against her parents wishes). After a few years of working in the front of house team, in 2002, as a completely self-taught chef, she took over the kitchen of the restaurant we now know as Hiša Franko. 

Her beginnings in the kitchen were non-stop studying, learning, and experimenting. She developed her own unique style that does not fit into any culinary school. Ana tends to say her cooking is a patchwork of her wild character, the expression of the land, and the season.

Her wildness and uniqueness quickly brought the attention of foodies in the wider region and food journalists.

She first appeared on the international stage in 2007 in  Toulouse in southern France, at the conference Les rencontres internationales de la gastronomie, which was dedicated to the future stars of the world of gastronomy.  In 2010, she was featured in the Italian culinary magazine Identità Golose, and in 2012 she was discovered by French-Italian food journalist Andrea Petrini who brought her centre stage among the World's best chefs.

She was the first woman ever to attend the environmental event Cook it raw, which was later on transformed to Gelinaz.

In 2014, Ana was a guest chef  in Hangar-7 in Salzburg, Austria, In 2016, she was featured in the second season of the Netflix documentary Chef's Table, and in early 2017, she was named the world's best female chef by The World's 50 Best Restaurants academy.

In 2020 Michelin guide finally landed in Slovenia and Ana was immediately awarded with 2 stars and a green star for sustainability. 

In 2020, she also published her book Sun and rain, released by Phaidon USA. The book received a lot of attention, the Times named it book of the week, and the Wall Street Journal one of the most beautiful objects of the year.

Throughout her career, she was dedicated to what we call today a micro-local approach. All ingredients without compromises are sourced in a local environment, and in season, which makes Hiša Franko an important economic and social partner for the local environment. 

Case study of Harvard University on Resilience of Ana Roš and Hiša Franko in times of Covid-19; Dilemma for Students whether to engage in the project with the chain of Grocery stores is soon to be released.

Recognition 
2015 Talent of the year by JRE

2016, Roš was featured in the Netflix documentary Chef's Table.

2016 “Jabolko navdiha”-recognition of Slovenian president for individuals who motivate and inspire other people

2017, she was named world's best female chef by The World's 50 Best Restaurants academy.

2019 Travel + Leisure named Hiša Franko one of the world's 30 best restaurants.

2019 Awarded with a title for ambassador for gastronomic tourism by UNWTO

2019 Slovenian chef of the year by Gault & Millau

2020 - 2023 Hiša Franko was awarded two Michelin stars as Michelin Guide presented its first ever rating for Slovenia in 2020. In addition, her restaurant was specially noted for sustainability.

2020 Elle style award in a category woman

2020 Chef internazionale dell'anno for Food and travel Italia

2022 The Best Chef Pristine chef for The Best Chef Awards

2022 AmCham female business leader of the year in Slovenia

2022 Sferic award by Science and Cooking World Congress and the institutional collaborations of the Universities of Barcelona and Parma, the Generalitat de Catalunya, Parc a Taula, the Ajuntament and the special collaboration of Science and Cooking Harvard for her scientific contribution to gastronomy

2022 President of honor for Bocuse d'or

2023 Named as Bermeo Tuna Forum ambassador with a mission to commit and call for sustainable fishing

2023 Named Membre d'Honneur by JRE

Personal life 
Ana Roš Stojan and Valter Kramar have two children. Married Urban Stojan Roš on 31.12.2022. Apart from her native Slovene, she speaks English, Italian, French, Croatian, Spanish fluently and some German.

References 

1972 births
Living people
Slovenian chefs
Women chefs
Head chefs of Michelin starred restaurants