In the summers between 2015 and 2019, my friends would gather in a courtyard garden that ran between three of our residences. The garden was created by Chris Schwartz and her friend Gary. Chris was responsible for preparing most of the food we consumed there. The food, friends, and the environment made my time there memorable. I was last in the garden in October of 2019, before the border to the Czech Republic was closed, and I have not been back for almost two years.
Chris makes food that is a fusion of many different traditions, particularly Serbian, but her over-arching theme is on healthy food, organic, unprocessed, and fresh.
I am designing this blog page in tribute to Chris, her garden, her cooking, and for all the friends in our circle
Zuzana Krajcovicova and Chris
Zuzana Holancova, Zuzana Krajcovicova, Lex Thompson, Teresa Kuhnova, Andrea Schaffer
Lex Thompson and Marcela Burdova
There were many meals in that garden. We used what the garden produced, vegetables and herbs. Chris used the opportunity to experiment with many different ways to prepare healthy food, always looking for new ways to do things. She is a terrific cook and we were terrific eaters.
Peter Coreth and Tomas Heczko
Chris and Lex have both moved away from Slavonice, onto greater adventures. We lost our beloved Zuzana Holancoa in March. I plan on returning in the winter. The stones in the courtyard will be empty and that world will be dark. I never realized that the summer of 2019 would be the end of a cycle in so many ways.
But new cyles begin in the dark.