urban gastronomy Lounge back in the limelight:

ProWein Düsseldorf, Pressrelease

curtains up for the wine & gastronomy dream team

Also back on the menu again at the forthcoming ProWein from 19 to 21 March will be the “urban gastronomy by #asktoni & ProWein” Lounge. The hip urban restaurant scene from Germany and abroad will be in for a line-up of the finest. The special highlight this year: top chefs and hip restaurateurs will let visitors “look over the shoulders” and provide first-hand tips. And all of this will be done in the form of relaxed, entertaining workshops – hosted by Toni Askitis, himself a restaurateur, wine sommelier and influencer. Here, wines will always be centre stage. In the four daily workshops he will raise the awareness of food service staff, be they beginners or professionals, about the right handling of wine. The following international restaurateurs/chefs, vintners and wine guides will be taking part:   

• Anestis Haitidis, Greece’s wine guide and discoverer of new wine talents specifically for the international gastronomy scene (Sunday, 12 noon).
• Tim Tegtmeier, Pâtissier of the Year 2015 and owner of “Pure Pastry” on Düsseldorf’s Carlsplatz, & food pairing with Champagne (Sunday, 16 pm).
• Saman Khoshgbari aka Flourboy, skater, creative & pizza sculpture maker from Maastricht (Monday, 12 noon).
• Tibor Werzl, Bochum’s only sommelier & chef at the small, refined “Five” will discuss food pairing with Demeter vintner Stefan Bietighöfer/Pfalz (Monday, 4 pm) .
• Nikolaus Alexander Pitlik, pop-up restaurateur, rock ‘n’ roller & wine freak from Austria (Tuesday, 12 noon)
• Starred chef Benjamin Kriegel from the recently opened “Pink Pepper” in Düsseldorf will discuss food pairing with three Greek wine-growing estates (Tuesday, 4 pm)

Four tailormade workshops a day

Every day four workshops are offered tailored to the participants’ different knowledge levels on the one hand – but also reflecting the multi-faceted, international world of food and wine. The workshop “How to ProWein?! One Wine Three Glasses!” kicks off the series at 10 am – a workshop targeting trade fair newbies. Toni Askitis explains to participants how to best find their way around ProWein. The second part deals with wine tasting: using three different glasses Askitis explains which glass is best suited to which wine.  

At 12 noon the “Pro to Pro” workshop follows. Talking to European food service professionals, this will pick up on current trends in wine and gastronomy. The informal conversation will be framed by a joint tasting. Already proving a real eye-catcher last year was the workshop “Music in a Glass” – a purely subjective and very popular event (daily at 2 pm). Toni Askitis selects three songs and with a vintner allocates these to three of his wines. Last but not least, the fourth workshop will focus on the classic theme of “Food Pairing” – one central in food service. Jointly with chefs, restaurateurs and wine producers Toni Askitis will explain how wine and food are matched every day at 4 pm.  

The workshops will also be streamed across the world. The special urban twist of the Lounge in Hall 4 (Stand A 19) comes care of DJ Rafik, 6-times DJ world champion and graffiti artist Hoker One. Registrations are not required so it will be a case of “first come – first served”.