Entrance of Restaurant Roata
The Story of the Traditional Restaurant Roata
Welcome to Romania! We know you want to try the delicious Romanian food so we made your job easy. We selected the best traditional restaurant in town, Roata, and we interview the manager to discover a few of its secrets.
What is the concept of your traditional restaurant? How did you come up with the idea?
I didn’t come up with the concept of the traditional restaurant myself, it was actually the grandmother (and her ancestors!) of the owner that I was working for. She inspired the Romanian food recipes in Roata restaurant. The traditional restaurant was in the family house – the front of the house was the restaurant and the back was where they lived.
I started working there when I was very young. I was ” adopted” by the Roata family who taught me every aspect of the business from washing the dishes to managing the place. After a few years, I decided to take over the restaurant and continue his tradition.
The Garden
I kept the name of the restaurant from the previous owners. The inspiration came from a medieval fair in Brasov, where The Spining Wheel was one of the main attraction. Known in Romanian as ” Roata Norocului ” ( Wheel of Luck ), is considered a symbol of prosperity.
Can you describe your main clientele?
Most of the clients that we have are either tourists that are looking for traditional cuisine, or companies who organize events here, or the academic staff from the universities around the city. The ideal client is who has a taste for traditional Romanian food.
What is it about your restaurant that makes it unique?
Our food has the power to recreate the tradition family dinner cooked by the grandma.
What is your specialty food that you can only be found here?
Chicken Roata is our specialty dish, which is a secret recipe that has been handed down through generations. We also are making our own drinks like “visinata” which is like a sour brandy cherry. And for dessert, the taste of our “papanasi” is a taste that you want to remember, trust me!
Do you or anyone on your team have backpacking experience?
I am food traveler. I travel to different countries to taste different traditional food. But I also do extreme sports.
Guests Enjoying their Dinner at Roata
What do you think about the guest who come from Transylvania Hostel?
The guests of Transylvania Hostel are relaxed people who enjoy the traditional food and the company of each other. I like them because they are always smiling and they have funny stories to share.
For more information, check their Facebook page