Vesna Jelovac, CEO, Belgrade Design Week

The Insider's Guide to Belgrade

Design Week CEO Vesna Jelovac on her favourite places featured in our downloadable Wallpaper* City Guide

A former model who now oversees Belgrade’s Design Week, Vesna Jelovac lives and works in Dorćol. She likes to start her day with a macchiato at Pastis (Strahinjića Bana 52b) or a fresh juice from Elixir (Kralja Petra 42, T 262 7213). Browsing Distante (Kralja Petra 50, T 328 5462), further up the street, she keeps tabs on Dušan Reljin, the New York-based photographer and designer who is known for his chic shades and is a cult hit with fashion insiders. Bajloni Farmers’ Market (Džordža Vašingtona 55) is on every Belgrader’s daily schedule, and Jelovac also visits Šarlo (Dobračina 59b, T 262 6687) to buy bread with raisins, berries and nuts.

Madera (Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra 43, T 323 1332) is a fabled lunch spot, where Jelovac likes to order from the ‘Daily Ready Meals’ menu of home-style dishes. She pops into DJ (Svetozara Markovića 36, T 323 5678), one of Belgrade’s oldest artisanal confectionery shops, to pick from its selection of classic Viennese- and Turkish-influenced treats, such as slices of kitnikez, a sweet cake-like jelly, which locals enjoy with an ice-cold boza

Sunset cocktails? Jelovac heads to the rooftop of Square Nine (Trg Studentski 9, T 333 3500). Afterwards, she may catch a screening, perhaps a classic with Jean-Paul Belmondo or Alain Delon, at nearby venue Kinoteka, home to the Yugoslav Film Archive. The collection that grew out of Tito’s film-a-day habit is extensive.