Meet a Local: Blanka Supe

In our column Meet a local we present interesting individuals from different professional fields living in Belgrade. The idea is to get to know some locals and their favorite neighborhoods and venues in the city.

Please introduce yourself to our readers:

Hi, I am Blanka Supe. I am currently a startup advisor and founder of Haos Community Space, an invite-only Coworking focusing on building a community of startups, IT professionals, and creatives in Serbia.

I was born in Belgrade, raised in Moscow, and spent the last 10 years in San Francisco where I worked as a marketer and later on as a startup founder. I moved back to Belgrade during the pandemic and surprisingly I decided to stay here.

Has there been a new project lately?

I launched Haos Community Space in September of 2022 so that is my newest project although there are a few exciting things coming up this year.

Haos was born out of the idea to connect the Serbian startup/IT community with expat and growing Russian community. This is something I believe is needed and something I can really help with.

What do you like about Belgrade?

I love people, food, the sunny weather, and the general warm atmosphere. It is the first place where I feel like everyone is welcome and the city doesn’t expect you to be a certain way. I feel really free in Belgrade.

Where do you like to go out?

I am not really going out clubbing, but I do like going to restaurants or bars with live music as it is something quite unique about Belgrade (compared to both Russia and the US). I do like different kinds of those places: Temperament, Blues & Pivo, and Monkey Bar. On a rare occasions that I’m looking for a more of a DJ music kind of place, I really like Pavilion and parties at Silosi (this is also the only non-smoking place which is a huge draw for me). For special occasions or whenever I have foreign friends visiting I think Lafayette is a really cool experience. It is not cheap, but I feel like it is also not something most people expect when they come to Serbia.

Name 3 of your favorite restaurants in the city.

My everyday go-to would be Smokvica as it has healthy food options, consistent quality, good value for money, and a nice ambiance.

My favorite pasta place (and who doesn’t like pasta) is Gallo Nero. It is on the fancier side, but it has the most delicious hand-made pasta ever.

For a special occasion, I would probably say Homa cuz I love their tasting sets with wine pairings, although recently Tisa New Balkan Cuisine also really impressed me.

Where do you drink coffee?

Valentina and Karanfil are my go-tos not just because they’ve opened a location inside Haos, but also because they have the best coffee and most delicious hand-made chocolates. Hotel Beograd has great coffee and the best croissants in the city.

The best new addition is Artist Coffee, a small specialty coffee just around the corner from my place. Great vibes, awesome coffee, and super friendly staff.

Where do you spend your leisure time?

Recently I’ve been mostly spending my time at events and social gatherings put together at Haos. It takes care of a lot of my social life since we have wine tastings, happy hours, and movie and game nights. Outside of that, I like hiking and doing pilates at Studio 23.

Name your 3 favorite locations in Belgrade and justify your choice.

Kalemegdan — it is a little bit of a cliche, I know, but I have this early Sunday morning tradition, where I take my two dogs Gemma and Cookie to walk around Kalemegdan while I drink coffee and eat a croissant for breakfast. If I manage to find the time to do it more often it is the best part of my day.

Kalenic Pijaca — I love this area. I feel like I am in a French movie when I go to buy cheeses and a baguette in Francuske tajne, then grab flowers from grandma’s and fresh produce from the market.

Ada Ciganlija — It is the only option for hot summer days in the city. I like to take a walk with my dogs there as there are no cars and it is nice to be able to sit by the water and pretend like you are on the beach =)