Apetit Festival 2014 - Scorpions, Cappuccino Nitro, New Culinary Competition and much more

More restaurants, breweries, a broader selection of  delicious food and higher  quality of services. The organizers of the  4^th year of Apetit Festival have taken good care to ensure all of the above as well as the participation  of the  best chefs,  a broad selection  of delicious food, great drinks and superb entertainment.

“Last year’s record number of 32 000 visitors has motivated us to make more improvements. Cooking demonstrations will be presented by the real top chefs. You will get a chance to see Zdeněk Pohlreich, who has been involved since the first year of the festival. Other star guests include Roman Paulus thanks to whom  Alcron restaurant has been awarded the Michelin Star for the third time; Dalibor Navrátil, the knight of the French Order  of the Chaine des Rotisseurs;  and  also Veronika KOKO Kokešová, FOODblogger of the year  2013.  Visitors can also look forward to Italian cuisine as prepared by Riccardo  Lucque, an Italian chef, who has gained  a lot of experience abroad and is the owner of several prestigious Italian restaurants in Prague,” says Petr  Jirásek of  Pigs Production, the festival organizer.  

Visitors will  be able to vote for the "West-Bohemian Restaurant of the Year 2014“ out of a careful selection of  15 TOP quality restaurants and also for  the   “Beer of the Apetit Festival Plzeň 2014“ out of 20 competing breweries and microbreweries. In 2013,  Saloon Roudná won the award of the West-Bohemian Restaurant of the Year 2013 and Pašák brewery won in the brewery section of the competition. Apart from the menus offered by the competing restaurants, there will be other restaurants, cafés, bars, and wine sellers offering their products to food lovers. “This year we will have 5 new restaurants and 3 breweries to participate. Food cup Czech Specials is a new competition  section that will be launched. Its goal is to present the culinary wealth of the Czech Republic and the following restaurants will take part in it: U Salzmannů, Švejk and  Stará Sladovna. Each of these  restaurants will prepare a dish inspired by one of the typical local ingredients from the West Bohemia region,“ Petr Jirásek explains.

Those of you who have already been to Apetit Festival before are familiar with the concept of  molecular gastronomy  and molecular gastronomy chef  Petr Koukolíček. And this  year molecular cuisine will be here  again. Here is  just a sample of the  menu: cappuccino nitro with apple strudel or  Parma ham served in a caviar-like shape. “Rare ingredients used by some of the restaurants  will undoubtedly  tempt many visitor. To name just a few examples, Fresh Bistro will be offerring  fresh, edible flowers and  Šach Mat restaurant will be serving insect specialties such as scorpions or fried cockroaches with chutney, “Jirásek adds.

Since the festival’s   beginnings, “Cooking with a local ingredient” , a high school competition, has been its integral part. This year the final round of the competition  will take place on Saturday, May 17 and students of the selected high schools will perform their culinary art. The jury  headed by Zdeněk Pohlreich, Petr Cuřín, Václav Pach and František Eger will assess the prepared dishes and select a winner. This cooking competition is organized by the Plzeň Region and high schools located  in  the Plzeň Region can take  part in it.

A wide range  of drinks to pair with your food.  This year both  beer lovers  and wine connoisseurs  will  definitely not be disappointed. Wine lovers will have a chance to taste local and foreign wines. You will find cafés, bars serving mixed drinks, farmers selling local products and a varied programme of   entertainment.  The music stage will host  YOYO band  or Vltava, legendary music group and fun lovers will enjoy  stand up comedy performances. The organizers promise that this year’s festival  will be bigger and  the visitors will be able to  enjoy their food and drink purchases  at enlarged relax zones. Kids Corner  and  a baby station with a diaper changing table will be available as usual.