Chapter 5 – A Business Brunch

Browder tumbled out of bed late the next day, and by the time he shaved and showered, he was comfortably in time for the appointed lunch. A text from Stefan had informed him of the time and place, which luckily was also in central Belgrade, walking distance.

On his walk along the road, another text from Stefan was an apology that the owner, Lord, will be an hour late. No matter, thought Browder, I need a strong coffee.

He found the restaurant to be a trendy bistro offering omelettes and eggs Benedict. An attractive hostess greeted him delicately and walked him to his table. She was civil and soft spoken, but in place of eye contact and maybe even a welcoming smile, she looked blankly over Browder’s shoulder, almost making him turn around to see if something was happening behind. Browder wondered if everything is okay. After being seated, another waitress took his order for a large americano.

Browder sat and casually watched the other patrons. There was a sixty-year-old dressed neatly in the style of a professor, perhaps a law professor, with perfectly grey walrus moustache and a white shirt, and a belly, talking maybe to his daughter, an elegant cougar. Two businessmen were drinking beers with their espressos and talking with animation, in a language that Browder guessed was Albanian. 

Then, another elderly male walked in and sat on the small table next to him. The man wore a shabby coat and didn’t take it off, and as he talked briefly to the waitress who came to serve him, Browder could hear him say that he is friends with the owner. Then, despite looking rather unhealthy, he ordered a tropical fruit drink complete with an umbrella straw, slurped it to the bottom in under five minutes, and walked out without paying.

The coffee was good, and the interior was pleasant. One could watch a TV screen, which showed news of Novak Djokovic winning the Australian Open. The emotionally distant hostess sat on a chair above the few steps in front of the entrance of the café, her legs crossed in black faux-leather pants. She was comfortably lost in her iPhone. Browder sipped his coffee and smoked cigarettes. The cigarettes were not so pleasant, because for some reason his body was sensitive to them and after two packs he always began to feel sick. Nevertheless, the act of smoking indoors made him feel like a rebel, and this motivated him to smoke on, and watch on.

After some time, Browder’s eyes drifted to the outside, and at the same moment the glass door jingled and the familiar voice of Stefan broke into the restaurant, chatting with an imposing middle aged man. He was over six feet, with salt and pepper hairline combed back into a broad m-shape. He carried masculine Balkan features that included a large nose, a square jaw, and between them that moustache that reminds Americans of Stalin, or at least of a French chef. His forehead was deeply furrowed for his middle age, proving that he has done his fair time of long Balkan nights; however, his face was ruddy and his gait was strong, signs of stubborn health. His dark sunken eyes would turn out to be expressive and sensual, but at this moment they merely showed a certain lazy confidence, like the look one gets after overeating. He was quite fat, but his large shoulders and head distracted from the large gut, which was furthermore broadly distributed across a wide torso; in general, his bulk managed to fit into rather elegant clothes.

- So here’s our star entrepreneur! his voice boomed as he smiled and approached Browder with an outstretched hand. - Lord. Very pleased to meet you.

Browder stood up and responded graciously, and the arrivals unloaded their coats and all sat down.

- My people, I’m starving, claimed Lord, how about we order real quick and then talk business. 

Stefan and Browder obeyed, and all three consulted the menus. Lord flipped back and forth, then gave up.

- Stefan, just order me a rakija and some meat, I can’t fight my way through these brunch menus for dear life, Lord put ironic emphasis on the word “brunch”.

Stefan deferentially suggested options to Lord until one was accepted. Stefan ordered a goulash and a carrot juice, while Browder chose the house omelette.

The orders were taken by the ice-princess hostess in the faux leather pants, who to Browder’s wonder now showed up with a gracious smile, and upon leaving the table, even seemed to give some sort of courtesy from her knees.

-       Thank you for treating us last night; it was a bit too much, started Browder, with affected embarrassment.

-       Don’t mention it! Stefan here is my loyal servant, and I don’t pay him enough, so at least I can make him look good in company. Lord here smiled and grasped Stefan’s shoulder. As for you, when was the last time you came to Serbia? Ten years! After ten years you come home, and we have to welcome you properly. But, I must be honest, Stefan had told me about you, and I didn’t need to hear much to see that there is a great opportunity to do business together here. Stefan did you tell him about the Vilin Han? For the international tourists it is “The Fairy’s Inn”! pronounced Lord in English finally, but using exclusively Serbian phonemes.

The tone of the conversation then progressed through several keys of standard business talk. Browder summarised his entrepreneurial background in a well-drilled elevator pitch, then elaborated on a couple of follow up questions from Lord, who was impressed.

As the drinks came in, it was Lord’s term to tell about himself. He was born in Sarajevo and educated there as a chemical engineer, but a couple of years after graduation, his job took him to a pharmaceutical company near Belgrade, where he relocated with his wife and two young children. The war broke out soon, and Lord served as an officer in the army. As the economy was in shambles after the war, he scraped up some favours and opened up the kafana, which at first served as a gathering place for his wartime friends, a place where they drank down the trauma of war and planned a new life. Later, the government gave The Brass Hat a boost through a subsidy to promote unique cultural experiences such as the kafana to tourists. That came with a required hiring of business undergraduates as interns, and this is how Stefan came into the picture. Stefan was instrumental in making the Brass Hat known to general public and putting it on the itineraries of international tourists.

This was an exemplar of successful policy in the eyes of the government, and Lord became a trusted counterpart in a budding private-public relationship. When they launched another initiative to develop rural tourism, Lord was invited to the table. He won a large equity stake in the government-backed Fairy’s Han. Over the first two years of operation the village proved its viability, and now they have reached an inflection point where they are looking to expand.

The food arrived. The omelette looked disappointing. As far as Browder could tell, it was essentially a deep-fried pancake of scrambled eggs, riddled with feta cheese, tomatoes, and bacon to give it an artisanal twist. He dove in anyways as he was famished.

Stefan then began elaborated on the ethno-village project while Lord gave supportive nods and took minuscule sips of the plum brandy.

Ethno-villages are a mushrooming tourism sector in the Balkans. A developer selects a scenic pastoral location and builds a complex of buildings with architecture in the idyllic spirit of traditional Balkan life. Now, among the several negative stereotypes of the region, there still remains the positive notion of Balkans as home to the last vestiges of authentic pastoral Europe, and in fact the many hills in Serbia and Bosnia feature unpolluted nature and perfectly organic plants and livestock. There are micro-climates in the country that provide ideal conditions for vintners and craft brewers. The rugged, naturalistic architecture of the traditional Serbian mountain village has a unique charm, which comes through its rugged architecture, its arts and crafts, cuisine, traditional dress, and music. There are excellent locations for fishing, hunting, and bird watching, as well as skiing, kayaking and other outdoor sports. All this can be experienced by domestic and international tourists at affordable prices.

Sure, from an international perspective, staying in a country resort in the Balkans would be considered a risqué option compared to a typical beach vacation or urban tourism. However, thanks to the rapid globalisation, visiting the Eiffel Tower is becoming commonplace to millions of middle-class travellers all over the world. To make themselves look special on social media, many tourists are seeking out unique destinations, hidden gems. Given the Balkan’s unique image, the region is quite appealing to the increasing number of the ecologically conscious. The Chinese are curious about our communist past. They want to learn about NATO’s bombing of their embassy in Belgrade, or they buy tours to see shooting locations for Walter Defends Sarajevo. Then, there are also those fascinated with the region’s violent history or its peculiar culture, and there are simply the world’s vagrant souls looking to get off the G-20 grid for whatever reason.

Until around the second world war the majority of the country’s population lived in the countryside and relied at least partially on sustenance farming. Yet, genuine traditional villages today are practically non-existent. For one thing, there were never sufficient government resources nor private or public initiative for this form of cultural preservation. Between the high medieval times and mid-19th century, the territory of Serbia was comprised of wild frontiers of warring foreign empires. Then, several twentieth-century wars entailed a lot of destruction of property. On top of all that, there is the general population shift from rural to urban taking place all over the world.

This has meant that the touristic ethno-villages are developed from scratch. Different developers have different interpretations of the past, however. On one edge of the spectrum are kitschy compounds that juxtapose waterparks with a fusion of architectural elements of Orthodox cathedrals, the Disneyland, and perhaps the Game of Thrones. From there it gets more reasonable and at the good end of the spectrum one can currently find historically accurate developments, though of course adjusted for the conveniences of hospitality, and with unique offerings of food and entertainment prised by a modern tourist.

The Fairy’s Inn ethno-village is bringing that whole game to the next level. The village already boasts buildings designed by the country’s leading architects. Historians and art experts have been retained to maintain historical fidelity and deliver genuine Serbian aesthetic for interior design, painting and sculpture. Local farmers have been contracted to deliver fresh organic ingredients and products for the restaurants and a few retail stores. Fairy’s Inn features works of plastic arts and hosts top musical acts. Lord is in negotiation with several professional vintners, brewers, and agricultural businesses based in the vicinity of the village; they will provide their premium products to tourists. There is the prospect of broad business integration to create a trusted international brand and scale up all aspects of the business.

Stefan then produced a tablet and flipped through some promotional materials and basic finances. It looked legit. It was a good time for Browder to ask how he can help. Lord took that one. 

-       Within the country, we have everything covered. We have government support and connections to the best in business, in every business. Hospitality, food, drinks, music. How it’s time for us to show the world what we got. We need to bring two kinds of foreigners: customers, that is tourists, and investors. This is where you come in.

You must know people back in the US, but we don’t even know that. We already have a list of potential investors. We need you to go to them and make a pitch. Build trust.

Now, if you want to get into some equity, we can get you in a at a good price. We can also give you a retainer. This can be negotiated, no problem.

Browder was intrigued. The looks became serious. Lord advised Browder to take his time; Stefan will forward him files to review. Browder said that he has to go to Chapelton for few days, and he can look through the documents then. 

-       Oh great, then you must visit Fairy’s Han! it’s just a couple of hours drive up the river from there. Definitely, go. We’ll arrange a room for you if you want to stay overnight. You can also meet our staff there. Your American compatriot is stationed there, Milo. He’s our main tour guide for international tourists. Some Serb kid from Chicago. His Serbian is … well, he tries … but the foreigners find him charming. Funny guy.

Browder hesitated for a couple of minutes, looking out of the window. Then, he decided to say yes, and Lord gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder. The occasion was deemed worthy of celebratory shots, and Lord ordered a round of plum rakija. The three men cheered and emptied the glasses. Soon after, then went their own ways.