David Skoko was born on January 10, 1976, in Pula, as the middle child and only son of the Skoko family, which has been engaged in fishing for four generations. He completed primary school in Pula and secondary agricultural school in Poreč. After military service, he worked in fishing with his father. The story of Batelina began in 2000, when David, his mother Alda, and father Danilo opened a modest family tavern to sell fish they caught and prepared in the traditional family way. Alda, an excellent cook of traditional fishermen’s dishes, always had the final say in the kitchen. Their cuisine relies on family recipes and a long tradition of preparing their own catch. Batelina’s menu differs from most local restaurants, as it aims to showcase the entire catch—from premium fish to small blue fish, dried fish roe (bottarga), edible offal, bone marrow of large predators, and tiny crustaceans that help keep the sea clean. The Skoko family believes in valuing the entire catch for sustainable fishing and ecological balance, rather than consuming only selected species. Dishes like shark liver pâté and monkfish tripe were inspired by uncles, relatives, and old fishermen who ate them to prove their masculinity or fish expertise. Since 2010, David has regularly appeared on television as a professional chef, participated in projects as an expert consultant, and worked as a journalist for gastronomy magazines. He appeared as a guest chef on MasterChef (Nova TV), was chef and host on RTL’s Jezikova juha in 2014, and took part in HRT’s Kruške i jabuke from 2015 to 2016. He has also collaborated with international broadcasters including ARTE TV, RAI, Food Network, and Travel Channel, working with renowned chefs and presenters such as Adam Richman, Anthony Bourdain, Henry Cole, and Donal Skehan. As an expert associate of the Croatian Ministry of Tourism, he participated in the Croatia 365 Gastro project (2015–2016). In cooperation with the NGO Roda, he held cooking workshops on children’s nutrition in the women’s prison in Požega. Since 2015, he has contributed to the gastro magazine StoryGourmet and helped create two cookbooks: Hrvatska kuharica (2018) and Papa Quilometros Europa by Ljubomir Stanišić. In 2018, he represented Croatia at the fifth Terra Madre Balkans event in Brussels. He has long collaborated with the tourist boards of Medulin, Pula, Istria, and Croatia to promote eno-gastro tourism, local ingredients, and underappreciated fish species through publications and media appearances. In his private life, David Skoko is happily married to his wife Ana and they are proud parents of their son Anton and daughter Franka.
