?

Famous ? on King Peter Street in December 2006

Bistro as it was in 1996.

? is Belgrade's oldest traditional restaurant or tavern (kafana). Located at 6 Kralja Petra Street, the building along with a bistro is nearly 200 years old, and as such has become one of the city's landmarks. The cuisine served is traditional, and starogradska music is played.

History

The ? was built in 1823 as a property of Miloš Obrenović I, Prince of Serbia, based on the designs of an unnamed Greek architect. Originally, the building was used by Macedonian diplomat and merchant Naum Ičko, however Prince Miloš later gifted it to his personal doctor widely known as Ećim Toma (ećim is a Turkish word for doctor) for his contribution in the Second Serbian Uprising. Realizing its favourable location, Ećim Toma soon converted it into a kafana that was known around town as Ećim Toma's kafana.

In 1878 it changed its name to Kod pastira (Shepherd's). It got its present unusual name in 1892, during a dispute with the Serbian Orthodox Church authorities over the owner's intention to change its name to Kod Saborne crkve (By the Saborna Crkva). Seeing it inappropriate to use a cathedral's name in the name of a kafana, church authorities vehemently protested. So, as a temporary solution, the owner of the tavern put a question mark on the door, and it soon became the official name of the place.^[1]

In the post World War II period, the bistro was owned by Ivan Pavlović, but communist Yugoslav authorities nationalized the property in 1959. Sometime during the next thirty years ? was declared as the heritage spot and placed under protection of City of Belgrade landmark office (Zavod za zaštitu spomenika grada Beograda).

The talk of privatizing ? first started in 2003.^[2] Then the tender auction of state-owned company UTP Varoš Kapija, which administered ? among other things was set for November 25, 2004. The starting value of ? was set at €2,500 per square meter,^[3] but ultimately the tender was canceled.

Strong resistance both from the tavern's employees, as well as from various public figures (mostly journalists who frequent the bistro) and even some civil groups, paid of in February 2007 when the Government of Serbia finally decided to exempt the restaurant from the privatization process and signed it over to city administration as a heritage spot. Exactly 2,563 individuals signed a petition that called for the privatization to be stopped.^[4]

References

External links

• (Inter)National restaurants — list of traditional restaurants by Tourist Organization of Belgrade
• "?" nije pod znakom pitanja — article on privatization of restaurant (Serbian)

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