The paper deals with the presentation of the gastronomic offer of the Prigorje region of Križevci and Kalnik and the potential of rural tourism development through the use of the traditional cultural heritage, the Legend of plum brandy of Kalnik. It is based on the results of independently conducted research using available literature. The topic of the paper is defined in the form of hypothesis of the untapped potential of the gastronomic offer for the promotion of rural tourism development. The basis of this study is to investigate the awareness of local caterers and experts on the utilization of the potential of the Legend of the plum brandy of Kalnik within the gastronomic offer. A secondary method of data collection was to research and study the available literature on tourism and economic development in the country of that region. By means of conducting interviews with the owners and representatives of catering establishments, family farms and experts in the field of cooking, tourism, management, economy and education data necessary for the preparation of this thesis was collected, analysed and interpreted. It is concluded that gastronomy has a great potential in the Kalnik-Križevci area, which should be exploited by establishing cooperation between caterers and producers and linking the entire gastronomic offer with the Legend of šljivari.