The whole truth about GASTREET International Restaurant Show
For me, GASTREET is …
The main event of the restaurant industry in Russia. It sounds pathetic, but it’s true. For three years, we were able to grow out of the festival “for our own people” into a large event that is really waiting for. And I advise you to join. Of course, if you are no longer with us.
We position GASTREET as an educational platform. But at the same time we have really fun. Our format is more reminiscent of the famous international shows, where lectures are combined with communication and held in a fairly informal setting. The value of such events in the horizontal exchange of information. And this exchange takes place due to the opportunity to share their experience, thoughts on the topic and ask for advice from those involved in similar business. Therefore, GASTREET is a communication with speakers not only at smart seminars, but also behind the scenes during an informal entertainment program. Of course, if you look at it from the side, it seems that people just have fun, hang out and give a lot of money for it. But if the ultimate goal would be just that, it would be unlikely that the owners of a successful business would fly to our show in Sochi for the third year in a row! It’s just time to grow up from the “dry” conferences, where people stupidly listen to one smart person. Understand that the most valuable events take place not in large halls, but in small spaces where people get to know each other and enthusiastically communicate with each other.
We always say that we are closing the whole city for GASTREET. This is essentially a metaphor, but there is some truth to this. We completely close the all-season resort town “Gorki Gorod” in Krasnaya Polyana, or rather its elevations of 540 and 960 meters above sea level. 3 thousand people come to us and their accommodation requires a large scale. Of course, 3 thousand is not quite a city, but rather a village or urban-type settlement. But everything will be very serious with us. Entrance to GASTREET City will be allowed only to the participants of the show and our city will be closed to the rest of the world. The best restaurateurs and restaurant specialists will gather to exchange experiences and communicate in one place. Therefore, we designate the GASTREET location in this way. Who are the speakers?
For us, every year it becomes increasingly difficult to select speakers at GASTREET. I am doing this and the consulting specialist of HURMA Management Group Georgy Karpenko. When we did GASTREET for the first time, we just gathered people who are personally interesting to us. But now we have a huge responsibility. The participants of the GASTREET International Restaurant Show are people from different regions, cities and even countries. How to amaze everyone and give everyone useful knowledge? Of course, now not only our interests are priority, but also what excites people from the restaurant industry of other cities and countries. Who they want to see, what their needs are and how much knowledge they expect to receive. And most importantly, it should be useful for restaurateurs at any stage of business development. Many try to give people the “top”, most successful people in their industry. Yes, all this will be interesting to the chef of a small restaurant in the Urals. But what of this can he apply in his work in the kitchen? It’s the same as telling a fourth-year student of a fourth-year student! Therefore, we try to be closer to restaurateurs and bring speakers that everyone understands. And those who just fry burgers, and those who make ragout from mugs, and workers of street food tents, and the leaders of large restaurant chains. This year, we gathered speakers from various regions to share their personal experiences. And yes, this time with most of the speakers we are still unfamiliar personally.
The name GASTREET is complete nonsense!
The third year has already gone, as I encounter such disturbances. And you know what? I do not care! People outside the industry will never understand us. But we do not have a goal to be understood by those who are not involved in the restaurant business. Talk about the name GASTREET will never subside, we just put up with it. When we did the first show, we did not think at all that from a home event for graduates of the HURMA Management Group, GASTREET would turn into the main restaurant event of the country. In general, it was just banter over the now fashionable word “gastro” – gastropubs, gastro-dinners, gastro-menu, gastro ALL! It’s easier to be!
I don’t know how much salad we buried. They say it was about 12 kilograms. We just bought the most low-quality products and made them one of the most popular salads. The main idea of these theatrical funerals was to encourage our chefs to be more creative and stop cooking the same salad for years. Indeed, in our country there are so many good and high-quality products that to cook from them only Caesar is complete nonsense. This is simply disrespect for your profession!