Specialty coffee arrived in Split a few years ago, and the top-notch roastery and café Kava Family quickly became a popular spot for good reason. Today, Split, as the second largest Croatian city, already has a rich specialty coffee scene.
Last summer, the situation got even better when a new specialty café opened—not as competition to the existing ones, but as a logical continuation of the specialty coffee culture in the city. Stow by Matej Šerer has been running at full speed for a year now and is rightfully the hottest spot for specialty coffee in Split.
Matej Šerer, a well-known barista from Slovenia, built his professional path through major European cities. After high school, he started studying economics because he was interested in the world of entrepreneurship. During his studies, he came into contact with gastronomy and met Sebastijan Pirc, the first professional barista in Slovenia, from whom he started learning everything about coffee, from theory to practice.
When he felt he could no longer progress in Slovenia, he went to Austria and then to Switzerland, where he spent several years perfecting his knowledge. In Switzerland, he met his future wife, who is originally from Split, and after five years, they decided to continue their life together in Croatia. Šerer says Split was a logical choice because locals have always loved coffee, the city has an excellent tourist season, and it was also a logical return because he knew he wanted to open his own specialty café.
Šerer explains that he told his wife he was fed up with bosses who wouldn‘t let him work the way he could, and he felt he could give much more. That‘s why he decided to take the plunge and open his own café, where he could fully express his passion for coffee and the expertise he had built up over the years across Europe.
When they finally found the perfect location, he immediately contacted Aleš Turšič, the owner of the Slovenian roastery Stow, with a proposal for collaboration. Šerer explains that people in Split already know him from the specialty coffee scene, which made starting out much easier for him.
He created a shop with a system that works like a Swiss watch. Everything is carefully planned, from the water filtration system and automatic tamper to the grinder, which is set to perfection. Šerer says he set up his staff and team training so that the whole system runs flawlessly. After a year, he feels he completely trusts his team and says most of them can make coffee almost as well as he can.
What makes Stow special is also the fact that it‘s one of the cheapest in Split. Šerer explains that he didn‘t want to raise coffee prices because his goal was to make specialty coffee accessible to everyone.
"This business is not a sprint, but a marathon," says Šerer, emphasizing a long-term vision over quick profits.
When it comes to food, they make everything themselves, except for the pastries. Šerer says they make their own sandwiches, including special creations like the Wimbledon toast with pea and hazelnut pesto, and the funky bit toast for which they make their own beetroot spread. The entire menu was created for him by vegan chef Antea Piplica, a well-known cook currently working at Zagreb‘s Zrno. Piplica is also one of the initiators of this week‘s food and wine festival, about which you can read more here.
The café currently offers a Brazilian coffee processed with anaerobic fermentation, which gives a chocolate aftertaste and a hint of tropical fruit. Šerer explains that this is a coffee he loves working with because he thinks it‘s a great first choice for those who haven‘t tried specialty coffee yet—it‘s ideal as an introduction to the world of quality coffee thanks to its approachable chocolate notes.
Guests can also try other coffees, such as Colombian Caturra with 200-hour anaerobic fermentation, which brings a complex flavor profile of green apple, white grape, and exotic lychee fruit. For those looking for an even more intense experience, there‘s Sidra Typica from Colombia, which stands out for its pronounced fruity notes characteristic of this prestigious coffee variety.
Whenever someone orders an espresso, Šerer asks the guest: "Do you want a regular espresso, or a completely new experience?"
When he asks them that, he says, most people opt for the experience, through which he can show people the magic of coffee roasting and the specialty world.
Šerer explains that he loves his job and doesn‘t find it stressful. For him, it‘s an opportunity to create special moments and emotions for his guests every day. He emphasizes that he is extremely happy and proud of his entire team and the results they‘ve achieved, and his main goal remains the same—to bring the world of specialty coffee closer to everyone, without elitism and with an approach that is accessible to all.
Ultimately, although they‘ve only been operating for a year, it‘s clear that this is a place doing big things on the Croatian specialty scene.
Šerer‘s formula for success lies in the combination of European experience and understanding of local needs. Instead of creating an elitist place for a narrow circle of connoisseurs, he created a space where everyone can discover the magic of specialty coffee. More affordable prices in the city, an educational approach to guests, and complete dedication to quality have made Stow the place Split truly needed.
When a man who has been through the biggest European cities can call Split his home, and his café becomes a favorite spot for locals and tourists, it shows that specialty coffee in Croatia has reached a new level of maturity. And that deserves applause and an invitation for everyone to join in creating an even better specialty culture scene in Croatia, which is now surely growing, day by day.
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