After the big success in Rome (photos) are around 20 best Slovenian wine makers and some of the best Slovenian chefs on Sunday 5th January at 20.30 inviting their colleagues and friends chefs, food & beverage managers, other food & wine professionals and journalists for an evening in Milano, at the Westin Palace hotel where you will be able to spend some wonderful moments with your friends and colleagues, get to know some of the best Slovenian wines and enjoy in wonderful creations of some of the best Slovenian chefs.

5 Slovenian chefs (Ana Roš, Bine Volčič, Igor Jagodic, Janez Bratovž e Matej Tomažič) will prepare 15 different creations (finger food), 20 wine makers will present all together 80 wines.

Batič http://www.batic.si/,
Čotar http://cotar.si/,
Frešer http://freser.si/,
Guerila http://guerila.si/,
Kmetija Štekar http://www.kmetijastekar.si/,
Kocjančič Zanut http://www.zanut.si/,
Korenika Moškon http://www.korenikamoskon.si/,
Kupljen http://www.vino-kupljen.com/,
Marjan Simčič http://simcic.si/,
Marof http://www.marof.eu/,
Movia http://www.movia.si/,
Nando,
Rodica http://www.rodica.si/,
Steyer http://www.steyer.si/,
Ščurek http://www.scurek.com/,
Širca Kodrič,
Šibav http://www.vino-sibav.si/,
Štoka http://www.stoka.si/,
Valdhuber http://www.valdhuber.si/,
Vinska klet Goriška brda http://www.klet-brda.com/

Free entrance for invited guests. For invitation and further information contact: andreja.lajh.cdc@gmail.com

We are looking forward to spend a wonderful evening together.

photos from the event in Rome: http://carpediemclub.wordpress.com/2011/11/05/dalla-slovenia-con-amore-slovenian-winemakers-and-chefs-in-rome/

Event is organized by Andreja Lajh in collaboration with partner for Milano: “Per tutti i gusti”.

No one is forced to produce pure, vital wine. Everyone is free to make their own decisions; it is simply a matter of each individual’s conscience and culture.

We have come to the realization that the taste of wine is of secondary importance, while the feeling left after a sip of wine is of primary importance.

Our desire for healthier grapes did not originate from searching for new means of suppressing the disease, but from searching for an answer to the question of how grapevines can live together with the organisms that we call diseases.

In order to achieve this, we have attempted to copy what nature does. Realizations regarding how successful vineyards are in providing self-protection against diseases have led us over and over again to the elements of fire and air.

The beneficial effects of   wind and heat in nature provide us with better grapevine vegetation.

The impact that the elements of fire and air have on plants led to the development of the Physics-based Cropping System (PCS) and Batič is the first winery in Europe that is using this system.

The purpose of the PCS is to protect the grapevines. It is used in a way similar to that of classic pesticide sprinklers, in weekly intervals. However, unlike pesticide sprinklers that get rid of pests and diseases by using toxic pesticides, the PCS is operated exclusively by wind energy and is 100% healthy for grapevines and nature.

In contrast to other means of combating disease, the PCS does not operate by killing or getting rid of harmful pests. The PCS acts like homeopathic medicine, it does not suppress pests, but it strengthens the grapevine’s immune system.

By supplying this warm wind at a speed of 150 km/ h and at a temperature of 75 degrees, the grapevines develop more resilient, thick fleshy leaves and the resveratrol content in the grapes increases.

The high resveratrol content helps the grapes maintain a higher level of self-protection and consequently reduces the need to use sulphur or other antioxidants in the wine later on.

The reinforced leaves act as a physical barrier to harmful pests, consequently enabling us to reduce or even completely eliminate the amount of highly toxic pesticides used to protect the grapevines.

Since the PCS runs exclusively on the basis of warm wind (without using pesticides), the vineyards are able to maintain a large number of their own yeasts/fungi, which later assist in the spontaneous fermentation of grape must after the grapes are harvested.

Using a PCS at the time of pollination will result in a more homogeneous pollination of the vineyards. This is because well-pollinated vineyards are more resistant and less inclined to rot during the harvest. Since the amount of pesticide used is reduced, the grapes are better able to preserve their aroma.

The PCS signifies a new milestone in organic or biodynamic farming since regular use of a PCS can help us greatly reduce (and, in some regions, even completely abandon) the use of preparations to combat grapevine diseases.

Wine made this way is a true balm for your body and soul.

PR article by http://www.batic.si/

Photos: Batič archive

I can, therefore I am. (Simone Weil)

We can, that’s why I’m looking forward to a sparkling, happy and successful coming year. Daring dreams, heartfelt smiles, warm hugs, creative minds, helping hands and open hearts are my wishes for you for a merry Christmas and wonderful 2012.

Andreja Lajh

“Whether needing to quickly replenish after a workout or wanting to toast the perfect sunset, 15-Minute Room Service provides quick and delicious meals for those who want it right away,” says Christopher Hunsberger, executive vice president, global product and innovation at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. “It’s also ideal for those who are on the go. Ideally, every meal would be enjoyed at leisure, but at times we really just need to grab a bite quickly– and there’s no reason that it can’t be freshly-made with quality ingredients, and entirely delicious.”

EachFour Seasons has created its own gourmet menu based on local tastes and ingredients. Menu choices are creative and flavourful, and designed for top speed delivery to one’s room in just 15 minutes.* Some hotels suggest full meal options, and others offer à la carte choices to mix and match. Many choices are available “to go,” are airline security-friendly, and can even be delivered to the front drive as guests jump in a car on the way to catch a flight.

Fast and Fresh: Examples from Four Seasons 15-Minute Room Service Menus

At Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North,* there’s no need to give up the gourmet, even if tee-time is imminent: one meal option includes local cheese, olives and sliced chorizo accompanied by an Arizona wine, while another portable lunch is a tequila-lime chicken wrap with slaw, kettle chips, iced tea and a chocolate chip cookie.

Jetsetters staying at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong choose from international menu items such as wonton noodle soup with Chinese greens, cold mezzah, and burrata cheese and heirloom tomatoes on a baguette. Among a broad selection of breakfast dishes, salads, soups, sandwiches and pastas, Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at Nile Plaza offers its signature salad of crisp lettuce, asparagus, cucumber and tomato with lemon dressing; and a variety of mezzah, includingfatoush salad, hummus topped with olive oil, and stuffed vine leaves.

On the tranquil atolls of Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giravaaru,* it’s hard to imagine anyone being in a hurry to do anything –except perhaps toasting a surprise engagement with a selection of sparkling wines and gourmet nibbles ranging from handmade chocolate truffles to chilled shrimp with Marie Rose sauce, and fatayer sabanekh (Arabian spinach pastries).

A traditional ploughman’s lunch and English-style nachos with Winchester cheese and chive crème fraiche are among the selections at Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire, England, and the country estate property will happily deliver pain au chocolat, tomato soup with warm garlic bread or other tasty choices to the stables or creekside as well.

“AtFour Seasons, we’re constantly looking for new ways to make the most of our guest’s time and enhance their experience. By putting ourselves in the place of our guests and imagining what could make their lives easier, we’re able to come up with new services, amenities and approaches to doing business on a regular basis. Putting guests first and delivering good quality food quickly is just the latest in a long history of innovations,” Hunsberger added.

^{*Note, in some resort destinations, delivery is guaranteed in 20 minutes to allow for greater distances between kitchens and accommodations.}

Source: http://www.hospitalitynet.org/

Caviar is said to be the most exciting and expensive meal to enjoy in the world. Even when it comes to caviar, you can opt for lavishness beyond comprehension. And now it’s time to look at higher levels of luxury that the exotic food can take to. And that is exactly what first Swiss caviar “Oona” (Celtic for “extraordinary”) is all set to be. Created by Peter Hufschmied, the engineer used “mountain stream that tumbles out of the North end of the Loetschberg railway tunnel with a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius to breed fish that thrive in warm water”.

Six years in the making, about 35,000 Siberian sturgeon were let loose in the water that produced 300 kg of caviar for the Winter 2011/2012 season.

Priced at 1,275 Swiss francs ($1,400) for 250 grams this is quite a rare feast to have for the festive season. “It’s a bit like washing gold, only its black,” said Felix, Switzerland’s only Caviar-Meister, who says he never tires of sampling the delicacy. “It’s great. I get paid to eat caviar every day.”

The caviar Oona is sold in four grades. The best of the lot No. 101 features handpicked eggs that sport a minimum diameter of 2.6 mm. this grade is just five percent of the total caviar produced. A 30 gram tin is priced at 215 Swiss francs ($225).

Source. http://www.luxurylaunches.com/

A French restaurant where diners cannot see what they are eating, often spill their wine and must conduct conversations while staring into pitch darkness has proved such a success in Europe that it is making a foray into the Americas.

After expanding from Paris into London, Moscow, Barcelona and St. Petersburg, the “Dans Le Noir” chain, staffed by blind waiters, will open an outlet in the neon-lit tourist hub of New York’s Times Square this month.

What seemed at the outset to be just a bizarre fad, has proved surprisingly popular, as patrons who have often never encountered a visually impaired person before discover what it is like to be blind and realize how skillfully the blind adapt.

“When I started this business, everyone thought I was crazy, from my bankers to my mother,” Edouard de Broglie, 49, CEO of the chain’s owner, Ethik Investment, and founder of the restaurant chain, told Reuters.

“I wanted to show that a company where 50 percent of staff are very heavily handicapped can perfectly well be profitable, thrive each year and become international like any other one.”

Dans Le Noir, French for “In the Dark,” is not the first restaurant of its kind, although it has spread the fastest, having served more than a million people at its restaurants and temporary venues in Warsaw, Geneva and Bangkok.

Pioneer Blindekuh, German for “Blind Cow,” opened in 1999 in Zurich, starting a blind-dining trend that spread to France with de Broglie’s eatery and has spawned a series of copycat venues in cities around the world including Berlin, Shanghai, Montreal and San Francisco.

Dans Le Noir uses visually impaired waiters to guide patrons past heavy black curtains into a pitch-dark dining room where they are served a surprise two or three-course menu.

“It’s quite brutal. You have no idea what’s on your plate, your senses are completely confused. You speak louder, it’s very surprising,” said Jerome Linyer, 40, after a birthday dinner with friends at the Paris restaurant.

The first permanent Dans Le Noir restaurant opened in Paris in 2004, followed by London in 2006. At the time, the British tabloids were harsh, Edouard de Broglie recalls.

“They said it was a gimmick, that the food wasn’t good. But, as the British say, bad advertising is advertising. Today it’s our most profitable restaurant, and constantly packed,” he said.

He said that Prince William and Kate Middleton had come several times to the London restaurant, noting that it may be one of the few “where they can escape from paparazzi.”

As in London, the restaurant in New York will offer four surprise menus, one entirely secret and the others tailored for meat eaters, vegetarians or fish and seafood lovers. A three-course dinner with wine starts at $56 a head.

Slightly larger than its predecessors, the restaurant can accommodate 72 guests. It is betting on steady traffic from the neighboring theatres of Times Square and will offer several services a night. It will also feature a Sunday gospel brunch.

De Broglie said the restaurant, which he sees as being a bigger success than the Paris one, was fully booked for its first three weeks.

Dans le Noir is now eyeing South America and Asia, De Broglie said, mentioning Brazil, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul as possible target cities. De Broglie quipped that he may already be the world’s biggest employer of blind people.

Ethik Investment, which also runs in-the-dark spas, donates 10 percent of its profits to charity, mainly to groups focused on helping disabled people integrate into society. It also runs corporate events to raise awareness about physical handicaps and advises companies on hiring disabled people.

“We tell people: stop hiring handicapped people to fill quotas, but try instead to see how they can be productive within your business,” de Broglie said.

Mohand Touat, 46, found his first job at Dans le Noir’s Paris restaurant four years ago. He heads to work cautiously, holding a white cane, but once inside he flits from table to table as diners shout for him to come and help them, “I dropped my fork” being a frequent cry.

“In the dark, we’re the ones serving as guides, so we’re sort of switching roles,” Touat said. “I feel good here.”

source: http://pursuitist.com/

As research has proved, guests will steal plenty of things from hotels given the chance — but most would draw the line at a piece of art valued in the thousands.

One hotel, however, is inviting guests to steal art, in a clever promotion drawn up by Art Series Hotels, an Australian chain, for the summer.

Guests who book a room at the chain’s properties between December 15 and January 15 are being challenged to ‘steal’ a Banksy print worth AU$15,000, with the promise that they can keep it if they successfully pull off the heist.

The print, “No Ball Games,” has been authenticated and signed by Banksy and will be circulating through Art Series’ three Melbourne hotels — The Olsen, The Cullen and The Blackman — during the month.

Any guest that manages to make off with the piece will be allowed to keep it, the hotel says, but those caught in the act will have to return it to be hung on the wall..

The promotion is a clever twist on Banksy’s own statements on art — the Britain-based artist has been known to sneak into galleries and hang his work alongside the curated works — and also pokes fun at several thieves who have attempted to remove the graffitied art from streets to sell.

‘No Ball Games’ is part of a series of historical note. In 2007 a group of bandits removed a section of a wall with an angle grinder because Banksy had stencilled around the ‘No Ball Games’ sign on it. The wall was later found on ebay for sale for 20,000 pounds. The lengths some people go to…

Art has a history of theft and heist, one which Melbourne features in. In 1986 Picasso’s Weeping Woman was stolen from the NGVand held for ransom. It was later found in a locker at Spencer Street Station – ransom unpaid. Banksy, being Banksy has also done the reverse, and has actually snuck his work into famous galleries to hang alongside more traditionalcurated art.

So now it’s your turn. Art Series Hotels want to see if you can steal Banksy. They highly recommend against an angle grinder, but you will need plenty of guile and cunning.

Find the art and try and steal it. If you don’t get caught it’s yours to keep. If you do get caught then back up on the wall it goes.

No Ball Games will hang from 15 December. Book to stay at Art Series Hotels between 15 Dec and 15 Jan, follow them on Twitter and Facebook for hints on its whereabouts, and let the games begin.

http://www.artserieshotels.com.au/stealbanksy

20 Slovenian winemakers and some of the best Slovenian chefs were on Monday 28th November  presenting themselves to their colleagues and friends: chefs, food & beverage managers, other food & wine professionals and journalists for an evening in the heart of Rome, at Palazzetto, right at the Trinita dei Monti, where they had possibility to get to know some of the best Slovenian wines + enjoy in wonderful creations of some of the best Slovenian chefs. Guests had also possibility to taste the magnificent micro-vegetables by Koppert Cress.

Winemakers:

Čotar http://www.cotar.si/
Edi Simčič http://www.edisimcic.si/
Emeran Reya http://www.reya.eu/
Ferdinand http://www.ferdinand.si/
Joannes http://www.joannes.si/
Kmetija Brandulin
Kmetija Prinčič http://www.princic.si/
Kocijančič Zanut http://www.zanut.si/
Montemoro http://www.montemoro.si/
Movia http://www.movia.si/
M-vino www.m-vina.si
Nando
Simčič http://www.simcic.si/
Steyer http://www.steyer.si/
Šibav http://www.vino-sibav.si/
Valter Sirk http://www.valtersirk.com/
Vina Bregar
Vina Ronk http://www.vinaronk.si/
Vina Štoka http://www.stoka.si/
Vinska klet Goriška Brda http://www.klet-brda.si/

Chefs:

Tomaž Kavčič (Zemono),

Jure Tomič (Debeluh)

Uroš Fakuč (Dam)

Igor Peresson (Etna)

Bine Volčič (Promenada)

Event was organized by Andreja Lajh with support of the Embassy of Republic of Slovenia in Rome, all photos are by Dean Dubokovič (http://www.foto-dd.com/). Location of the event: http://www.ilpalazzettoroma.com/

Aleš Kristančič (Movia), guest, Tomaž Kavčič (Zemono) and Enrico Zallot (Koppert Cress)

Danilo Steyer (Steyer)

Boštjan Protner (Joannes)

Borut Kocjančič (Kocjančič Zanut)

Matjaž Četrtič (Ferdinand)

Tomaž Kavčič (Zemono) with the great staff of Palazzetto/Hassler

Vasja Čotar (Čotar) with his girlfriend Andreja

Matjaž Babič (Montemoro)

Tomaž Kavčič (Zemono) with Enrico Zallot (Koppert Cress)

Igor Peresson (Etna) and Bine Volčič (Promenada)

Uroš Fakuč (Dam)

Edvard Reya (Emeran Reya)

Guests tasting Štoka wines

Tomaž Kavčič (Zemono) offering his panini with foie gras

Aleš Kristančič (Movia) and Tomaž Kavčič (Zemono) with Bosnian and Slovenian ambassador

Chef Jure Tomič (Ošterija Debeluh)

Winemakers Šibav and wine cellar Goriška brda

Boštjan Protner (Joannes) offering his Riesling

Gregor Mikuž (M-vina) with his wife

The great pizzaioli Franco Pepe and Gino Sorbillo with Andreja Lajh

Martina Simčič explaining the Edi Simčič wines

The great Alessandro Scorsone with two glasses. Left from him Boris Antolič and Andreja Lajh

Aleš Kristančič (Movia) and his Puro spectacle

Tasting the Marjan Simčič wines

Slovenian chefs after the successful evening

View from "Il Palazzetto", the location of "Dalla Slovenia con amore" evening

Articles about the event:

http://raccontidegustazioni.blogspot.com/2011/11/28-11-2011-roma-dalla-slovenia-con.html

For further informations please contact: andreja.lajh.cdc@gmail.com

On Friday, 11.11.2011, at 19.00 you’re warmly invited by the team of a nice hotel from Bled – Hotel Triglav Bled - for an exciting celebration of St. Martin’s with excellent cuisine created by the chef Uroš Štefelin and with wines of the legendary Stanko Radikon.

Price of the dinner with wines: 59,00 €/person
(5 courses + wines)

Price of the dinner with wines + bed & breakfast: 89,00 €/person
(5 courses + wines, hotel room, breakfast, usage of swimming pool, sauna, late check-out – till 16.00)

We will be there and are looking forward to see you.

Info & reservations:

Uroš Štefelin