A two-star Viennese chef, the daredevils of the Korean, Russian and Albanian cuisine, and the best Italian sparkling-wine will be presented at OTP Bank Gourmet Festival between May 16-19. This is the 9th year we will meet alongside the country’s best chefs, winegrowers, confectioners, and gastronomy lovers.
OTP Bank Gourmet Festival chefs will win inspiration from paprika, bread end and beer this year. Organizers came up with keywords to help inspire the over 50 restaurant exhibitors. Besides offering their favorite dishes, there will also be special courses designed for the festival.
“We want to present the best of the country as well as raise the international standards each year: this year’s line-up is the strongest so far. We do not only focus on quality, but also on interesting concepts that restaurants bring with them and their chefs who have interesting stories and personalities, as these are what make the gastronomic experience unforgettable” – says Richárd Nemes, organizer.
Why bread ends? Zsófi Mautner’s answer: “This will be Gourmet Festival’s 9th year. It has developed into a mass attraction over the years where basic principles no longer need to be explained to the public. We think it’s time to choose a mission for the theme. We thought about things relevant that interest us, which is how we got to using leftovers, and waste-free cooking. Within this category, we chose bread, which is sacred, and symbolic throughout gastronomy. From old Hungarian cuisine to Italian and French the end of bread has often been used in poor and folk kitchens. This includes breading, fried foods, bread salads and soups, stuffed bread, bread pudding, and many others. Many inspiring keywords come to mind, and we believe these will also inspire chefs.”
“We found paprika important because we are known for it worldwide” – states András Jókuti, the other host of Gourmet Festival. “Paprika also has a bit of a bitter smell: we have not paid enough attention to changing it up a bit and renewing it to show the world that it’s not only worth coming to Hungary for beef stew and goulash. We hope restaurants won’t stick to traditional foods and are inspired to show guests what can be made with paprika in 2019 that they can be proud of and is unique.”
The third topic, beer will not only be found as an ingredient in marinades and sauces but will also be highlighted among exhibitors: alongside classic Belgian and Czech beers, Hungarian craft beers will also be on tap.
The most exciting international line-up
Gastronomy lovers can attend numerous exclusive dinners hosted by the best Hungarian and international chefs at Central Europe’s largest gastro festival. The two Michelin star Viennese, Konstantin Filippou will offer a fusion between Austrian and Mediterranean cuisines, the one-star Lee Jong-kuk from Seoul will have soy sauce aged for decades and marinades, twin chefs Ivan and Sergej Berezutszkij of Twins Garden will bring several authentic ingredients from Russia to Millenaris.
The best Italian sparkling-wine, Ferrari, will be coming to Millenaris. There will be a lunch pairing with their specially selected sparkling wines, hosted by Strand, chosen as Hungary’s best restaurant and headed by Tamás Széll and Szabina Szulló, who will be preparing an unforgettable lunch menu. Bledar Kola will take the stage. He worked at Noma, one of the world’s best restaurants, in Copenhagen where he gained inspiration that he toke back with him to his native Albania and used it to reinterpret the country’s Balkan and Mediterranean traditions. Max Stiegl will be there too. He is known for renewing the Burgenland cuisine with guts and steam dumplings, in his restaurant beside Fertő Lake.