Round table in St. Petersburg and Leningrad region in the framework of the “Tasty Dimensions of the Province “project.

On January 16-17, a two-day round table was held as part of the Tasty Dimensions of the Province project. The event was attended by chefs from the Republic of Karelia (restaurants “Pauliner”, “Solo Burger Bar”, “Corsair”) and Norway (restaurant “Old Major”, Resthon AS), as well as experts in the field of gastronomic tourism.

On the first day at the round table "Gastronomic tourism - as a factor in the development of border areas", the participants discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the province in terms of gastronomy and the peculiarities of the national cuisines of Karelia and the Nordic countries of Europe, and also presented projects that are currently being implemented in the gastronomic sphere. The event was held at the Office of St. Petersburg International Business Association, which is a partner of the project.

Then the participants visited the Hotel, Restaurant and Culinary Art institute of SWISSAM, where they were met by academic director Kostas Sillignakis and alternate director Olga Lyubenkova. They told about the training of chefs and pastry chefs. The training is based on the methods of classical French cuisine with elements of Asian, Italian and other world culinary schools. In addition, participants visited the kitchen, where students led by Indian chef Jimmy Singh prepared Indian dishes. After there was a tasting of dishes and a discussion of the characteristics of Indian cuisine. In November 2018, the head of the SWISSAM school culinary department, Josef Fleißner, took part as a jury member in the “Best in Profession” competition among chefs in Petrozavodsk.

On the same day, a visit to the Baltika Brewery Company took place, which included a tour of the plant with a story about the company's history and the full brewing process, as well as tasting.

On January 17, the experts went to the Leningrad region, where they got acquainted with the food of the region, visiting the village of Izvara, the settlement of Begunitsy and Kaikino. On the way to the village of Izvara, the participants were told about Leningrad and the Izhora Forts, the program began with a greeting at the cafe of Indian-Russian cuisine "Izvara 15". Moreover, in the framework of the visit it was possible to visit the museum-estate of the outstanding Russian artist Nicholas Roerich, part of whose life was spent in India, and that is why such a cafe appeared next to the museum.

In the village of Begunitsy, a visits to the Gosti cafe were organized, where the dinner was prepared from traditional dishes and using farm products, the Bread House estate and the Temple of the Archangel Michael, where the Christmas drink was tasting.

In the Art Estate "Kaikino 10" the participants met with the experts of the gastronomic sphere of Leningrad region and entrepreneurs who work in this region. The roundtable were discussed such topics as fashionable pastry shop in the village and bread for cafes and restaurants on the example of one of the best bakeries in the Leningrad region, Bread House, impressions economy and gastro-projects, ideas for their implementation in the provinces, the development of gastronomic tourism in the Leningrad region, the effect of gastronomic events on the development of territories on the example of the festival “Grain Place”, which is held by the

Autonomous Non-Profit Organization “Kaikino Creative Projects”. After the round, participants were able to try out farm products, including cheese, pastries, and honey. The organizer of the event in the Leningrad region was the Autonomous Non-Profit Creative Projects Kaikino.

The next project event is a study visit to Finland and Sweden, which will take place from April 8-12.