Kanevche: A 10-Year Story That Defines Me

If you go to Ohrid and ask the locals if they know Dimche Kanevche, there’s hardly anyone who hasn’t heard of "Kaj Kanevche." A local restaurant that perfectly blends ethnicity, tradition, and modernity. For the host, Dimche, this is a story that has been written for a full 10 years.

The Kajak.mk team took a walk along the Ohrid Lake promenade with Dimche, who shared his authentic story about life in Ohrid and the development of the hospitality industry in the city.

Dimche says that the story of "Kaj Kanevche" began 10 years ago, and this year, they celebrated their 10th anniversary.

Dimche recalls that at that time, Ohrid was lacking something new and modern, so together with his brother, they decided to enrich the offerings with a bar where guests could enjoy modern drinks and food. However, after two years, he chose to fully transform the establishment into one that would offer a menu that would make guests want to return.

They prepared a menu with traditional Macedonian food, a variety of hot and cold appetizers, and homemade dishes that showcase Macedonian tradition.

He recalls the food he prepared with great care, focusing on making everything perfect. He started with sarma, stuffed peppers, and moussaka, until he created the ideal menu filled with traditional dishes and fish.

Today, his menu includes stuffed peppers, sarma, moussaka with zucchini and black eggplant, and the traditional Macedonian tavče gravče with homemade sausage or Macedonian pleskavica. To encourage guests to return, the offering is enriched with meat and fish specialities upon request, for which guests must book three hours in advance, or they can choose a dish to be prepared for the next day, either for lunch or dinner.

Dimche doesn’t overlook specialties such as Ohrid’s chomplek, Ohrid’s turli tava, Ohrid’s meatball tava, fish tava, eel prepared in the Ohrid style, smoked trout, and many other specialties that are prepared along the Ohrid Lake promenade.

Hospitality professionals and managers adore all the specialties offered on the menu, but we asked Dimche to highlight one dish that every guest must try.

From him, we received the answer that it is "Ohrid’s chomplek." Whether made with meat or as a vegetarian option, this specialty is an extraordinary combination of flavors and ingredients. Chomplek is made with produce found in Macedonian gardens, starting with small onions, garlic, meat (beef and pork, or mushrooms for the vegetarian version), dried plums, white wine, and spices, where it is inevitable to add a lot of LOVE.

In addition to chomplek, he also highlights the "Sofia" salad, an extraordinary combination that impresses everyone. The salad gets its name from his granddaughter Sofia, who used to eat certain ingredients every day. He made sure to use those same ingredients in the salad, which for him is something simple, unique, refreshing, and delicious.

It includes grated cabbage, chopped tomato, walnuts, crumbled cheese, grated yellow cheese, spices, olive oil, salt, basil, and oregano. For decoration, as well as an ingredient, he adds broccoli. For Dimche, this salad represents Sofia and her hair.

Kanevche says that he is a vegetarian, and therefore, the most important thing is to offer a menu for people like him. With the enriched menu, he says that foreigners are impressed by what Macedonian cuisine can offer for vegetarians.

The restaurant "Kaj KANEVCHE" is unique primarily because of its location, as it is situated in the Kaneo neighborhood, which is the Macedonian part of paradise. It is unique for its menu, which is a blend of the traditional and the modern. According to Dimche, there has to be something that Instagrammers would post on their profiles, and he adds that sarma and stuffed peppers, in their traditional serving style, are unfortunately still not attractive for social media, but he claims they are undoubtedly the most delicious.

The surname Kanevche is well known to the local population. It belongs to an old urban family where mutual respect predominates, but above all, respect for others who deserve it, says Dimche.

He is just part of a family lineage recognized by the community for its good deeds for the city, the local population, and people with fewer opportunities. Dimche often finds himself part of some formal or informal groups of people who want to improve the quality of life.

Dimche says that "Kaj KANEVCHE" is easy to find if you rent a boat from the Ohrid port, and within just five minutes, you’ll be in front of the restaurant. Alternatively, if you walk, you need to pass through the well-known old fishing neighborhood and the Church of St. John the Theologian.

If you want to make a reservation with Dimche, click HERE.