The festival was held for the first time in St.Petersburg as part of the international project launched in 2013.
The opening ceremony of Russian-Spanish Gastronomy Seasons took place in the Stroganoff Steak House on April 6th, 2014.The festival was held for the first time in St.Petersburg as part of the international project launched in 2013.
During this week ‘les maîtres de la gastronomie’ exchanged their experience, gave master classes, created unique joint sets. The project will be continued in Spain next July. The project is implemented by the International Centre for Development of Russian Culture (Olga Romashchenko, St.Petersburg) and the Russian Alliance in the Canary Islands Association (Olga Shuvalova, Tenerife) with the support of the Committees for External Relations of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, the Government of Canary Islands, Russian Embassy in Spain, Rossotrudnichestvo, Consulate General of Spain in St.Petersburg, Gastrocanarias, Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers. Guests and participants of the Festival tasted Russian and Spanish dishes, learning similarities and differences of national gastronomic cultures.
Among the participants of the projects were the chefs of St.Petersburg: Ivan Berezutskiy (PMI bar), Andrey Vlasov (Russian Vodka Room No.1), Maxim Shalavin (Stroganoff Steak House), Vyacheslav Vasiliev (Victoria, Talion Imperial Hotel), as well as Spanish gastrologists: Lazaro Rodriguez (Jardín Tropical), Francisco Coke (Hotel Botanico 5* & The Oriental Spa Garden), Erica Sanchez and Vicente Munios (Gran Sol and Sugarri). The opening of the festival was attended by Ricardo Peydro Conde, Consul General of Spain in St. Petersburg; Igor Lonsky, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg; Andrey Minin, Chairman of the Committee for External Relations of the Leningrad region; Elgis Kachaev, Chairman of the Committee for Entrepreneurship and Consumer Market Development; famous restaurateurs, heads of enterprises, representatives of tourism industry and journalists. The guests were greeted by the students of the St.Petersburg Ballet School and soloists of St.Petersburg theaters who performed Spanish and Russian dances.
Consul General of Spain in St.Petersburg thanked the founders for organizing the festival at such a high level. He also expressed gratitude to all the participants and organizations that helped to arrange this important event. “Gastronomy is an integral element of the country`s culture. In addition to the desire to show Russian gastronomy in a new light and introduce the Spanish one, the project involves promotion of the modern Russian culture abroad. I am sure that Russia will pay attention to its gastronomic culture. One can extend his or her knowledge of the country`s traditions and culture and to discover its new elements by learning what people eat and how they do it. Russian art, music, literature, painting, ballet are known all over the world, why don’t we explore another facet of the great culture - the modern Russian cuisine, tell about unique products, gastronomy,” - said Olga Romashchenko, the organizer of the Gastronomy Seasons, Head of the International Centre for Development of Russian Culture.