Zoran Lukić
Founder and President of the Association, main lecturer
He founded the Croatian Waiters and Bartender Association in 2003 with a great desire to raise the quality of hospitality and tourism in Croatia. With continuing education and training, he led the standard courses to an international level.
He participated in numerous national, international and world competitions. Since 2008, he organized many national and international competitions for bartenders in Croatia. Because of the international level of education at the school he leads, hotels and restaurants are beginning to recognize the quality of the bartenders coming from the Association and the demand for them increased. The gradual standardization of the bartender occupation pushed him to create additional training, and after successfully completing the master’s degree at the Faculty of Management in Hospitality and Tourism in Opatija, he additionally completed a training program as Specialist for work safety.
With further development and a desire to move forward, Zoran Lukić finished the training for various brands, and some of them are: Bols liqueur and cocktail training, Brugal, Famous Grouse, Jack Daniel’s Jeff Arnett Master Distiller, Macallan, Remy Martin, Finlandia, Metaxa, Southern Comfort, Cointreau, Havana Club master class, Hennessy, Ballantine’s, Chivas, Ramazzotti, De Kuyper liqueur, Wiborowa, Champagne and sparkling wines (Moet & Hennessy group and Vivat and partners), Graham’s Porto, Beer training Grolsch brewery, Illy coffee and latte art, and many others... He is eager to absorb new knowledge which is why he is always ready to respond to new training.
Since 2007, he became the president of the company Scorpio Ltd. which deals with consulting for restaurants turnkey and selling commercial bar equipment for catering as well as professional equipment for bartenders and baristas. In 2009, he became BOLS brand manager in Croatia (the world’s leading liqueurs for cocktails), and since 2010 he became an authorized WFA ambassador in Croatia.
In 2016. he went to BOLS academy and finished courses for Advanced bartending, Master bartender and International Barmanagement. He proved his knowledge and experience in all the aspects of hospitality as director for drinks for Suncani Hvar d.d. with excellent results.
His practical and theoretical knowledge was recognized by many newspapers for which he has written many articles as a collaborator in the field of hospitality business. Some of the magazines were HRB (Hotels, restaurants, bars), Tourism Info, Insider, and Gloria IN, Weddings Magazine, Teklic, Novi list, Professional and many others.
His many years of experience in a direct work with people as well as the constant work on personal and professional skills and knowledge, contribute to his quality and credibility as a lecturer in the the Association and trainings with partners.
Filip Sarilar
Trainer and coach for the bartending school
He has been active in the hospitality industry for fifteen years, specializing in bartending before eight years when he graduated from the bartender school in Rijeka. He worked at Maistra facilities such as Hotel Adriatic (over 100 whiskey labels), Hotel Lone (various events, bartender for Hennessy and Moet), Hotel Monte Mulini (chief bartender and Mulini Beach bar manager).
The main bartender of the most famous Rovinj cocktail bar Mediterraneo and currently the head lecturer at the bartender school. He represented brands like Highland Park, Famous Grouse, Macallan, Jameson, Scapa, Glenlivet, Chivas, Moet, Hennessy, Nardini and various others. Big fan of amaro, vermouth, whiskey, cocktails and old bar books.
Marko Jovanović
Main mentor and coach
He is the head coach and mentor for the Bartending school, Classic bartending coach and specialist for Cocktail Catering. Since 2010 he shares his knowledge with all the participants of the Bartending school as a mentor whose specialty includes the knowledge about basic drinks likes Gin, Rum, Whiskey and Vodka.
In addition to his lectures at the Bartending school, he continually attends further education and monitors the latest trends. Some of his completed education and trainings are: Havana Master Class, Absolut Vodka, Ballantine’s – 4 corners of Scoland, Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller Jeff Arnett, De Kuyper, Smirnoff, Monin, Freixenet and many others. Because of this education, he leads workshops for Coca-Cola HBC, cocktail card making and cocktail manufacturing, as well as education about brands for the Hennessy group.
As a young bartending entrepreneur, he opened a company for the organisation of events and wholesale of drinks in 2010. He started the trend of cocktail catering in Croatia. A year later, he enrolled in an additional specialisation course for independent business owners in Callegari, verified by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports.
Sergej Dedić
Main barista coach
He found his love and passion for coffee after gaining his education as a barmen in the Assocation in 2010, even thought he entered the catering world as a waiter.
e began his education for baristas in the individual course with the authorized SCAE coach Domagoj Trusi, and continued to educate himself at the renowned London School of Coffee in 2014.
He is the founder and chief mentor of the Barista course within the Association, and while conducting it, he also assists in the education of bartenders in the discipline – coffee and cocktails based on coffee.
Antonio Švob
Latte Art Trainer
After finishing the school that gave him the title of hotel and – tourism technician, he continued to work in the hospitality industry and to build his experience. He is very interested in coffee making and the art of latte art, and in 2016 he joined the Barmen.hr team as a Latte Art coach under the mentorship of Sergej Dedić, where he attended and graduated from the barista school. He continues to refine his knowledge of coffee, so in 2018 he competes in the FRANCK Regional Competition and wins 1st place, while in the same year he finishes 3rd in the final national competition.
In 2019 he further refines his coffee preparation skills, attending and completing "Barista Skills - Intermediate" coffee school, in Matulji (Rijeka) at the prestigious Hug & Punch SCA Specialty Campus under the guidance of Domagoj Trusić. Ends the year with a Level 1 Sommelier school.
He regularly conducts field coffee training and occasionally competes in latte art competitions and competes on his own. He actively visits coffee fairs and dynamically participates in every barista school on the premises of the Association of Waiters and Bartenders of Croatia.
