GRAND RESTAURANT FESTIVAL to take place in 12 regions of the Czech Republic

Baked eel with beet-root ravioli accompanied by hazelnut vinaigrette, beef cheeks with morel mushroom sauce braised for 12 hours in a strong sauce and served with heart shaped puréed violet potatoes and celeriac, sirloin of venison with cream sauce complemented by traditional Karlovy Vary dumpling with pumpkin seeds and fresh cranberries… This is just a small taster from the festival menu which the participating restaurants have prepared for the third edition of the Grand Restaurant Festival.

The following 12 regions of the Czech Republic are involved:

Prague, Central Bohemia, South Bohemia, Pilsen Region, Karlovy Vary Region, Liberec Region, Pardubice Region, Vysočina Region, South Moravia, Olomouc Region, Moravian-Silesian Region, and Zlín Region.

The main partner of this year´s festival is the CzechTourism agency. The ultimate goal behind the festival programme is to support outstanding Czech gastronomy, which is the main focus of the “Czech Specials: Taste the Czech Republic” project. Together we will stress the importance of traditional recipes as well as of using local and seasonal produce. The chefs involved in the festival will face three tasks: to cook a meal according to mum´s recipe, prepare their own chef´s special as well as take on the challenge of a Czech Special and make a regional speciality.

Apart from top class cuisine the GRAND RESTAURANT FESTIVAL will also offer an authentic experience of the interior, atmosphere and customer service provided in the selected festival restaurants. “Quite a few gastronomy festivals have appeared on the scene this year. However, for us the programme remains  the focal point of the event and that is why only the  tried and tested restaurants featuring in Maurer´s Guide take part in the event. The Grand Restaurant Festival is an ideal opportunity for anyone who is interested in outstanding gastronomy to visit the best and often the more expensive restaurants of this country while paying token prices,” explains Pavel Maurer, the publisher of Maurer´s Guide and the founder of the The Grand Restaurant Festival.

And what is new compared to the last edition of the festival? “The gourmet bus tour called Yummy Bus proved to be a real hit last year. We will be offering four different tours this year available to the festival guests on Saturday and Sunday. Every tour will take the visitors to three restaurants, offer six meal tastings as well as a meeting with one of the top Czech chefs. This will be the first time we take the Yummy Bus out of the capital and send it from Prague to Pilsen,” says Dominika Vrkotova, festival´s spokesperson. 

In order to be able to participate in the GRAND RESTAURANT FESTIVAL guests will have to buy a festival tasting ticket valid at the restaurant of their choice on a particular day and at a particular time. The advanced ticket sales start on December 1, 2012 at www.grandrestaurantfestival.cz. The tasting tickets cost between CZK 200 and 600 and there are many different options on offer. Visitors will also be able to purchase special gift vouchers again this year.

CzechTourism is a state-funded agency of the Ministry for Regional Development. Its main activity is to promote the Czech Republic as an attractive tourist destination. More information is available at http://scandinavia.czechtourism.com.