The man behind the Rock Otočec festival, Franci Kek, and the Castle Zemono master chef Tomaž Kavčič, have taken into account the opinions of the critics (MMC’s review of the first Izbor festival had no flying marks either) and have announced that they will retake the test on the 18th of June. The location will be the same - the idyllic Land of the Hayracks in Šentrupert. Winemakers from the Alpe-Adria region and master chefs from the whole of Slovenia, including Michelin-starred guests from Italy, will come together under 16 hayracks in the Dolenjska region. Kavčič will once again be in charge of the culinary selection. According to Italian guides his Gostilna pri Lojzetu restaurant in Zemono is considered among the best.
Last year three weeks before the festival 2,000 tickets were already sold. The rain showers during the festival, which caused many problems for the organizers, did not disturb those who made the pilgrimage to the Dolenjska region. Fear that the rain would chase away the caterers and winemakers was unnecessary. However, there was a much bigger problem - the star chefs attracted so many visitors that many people left the festival with their thirst well quenched, but with empty bellies. Kek now admits they made a bad judgment and takes full responsibility for the wrong way the food had been given out. As a result visitors had to spend most of their energy standing in queues rather than tasting the specialties.

This time portions will be guaranteed
"It’s true that all the visitors weren’t entirely satisfied with the offer. We take responsibility for the way the food was given out and that is why we have introduced some changes," is what Kek told MMC. He maintains that there were not too many visitors last year, but that their system failed. "We didn’t expect that 10 out of the 25 master chefs - mostly foreign chefs - would bring with them less food than advised. This year there will be an precise agreement on the number of food portions. With the help of coupons we will also prevent the unsupervised taking of food, as last year some visitors, a very small part of them, came with the idea of "let’s eat as much as we can". At the same time we had around 200 visitors in the event area without tickets. We have already come up with an adequate measure for that problem as well."
Kek rejected our idea of raising the ticket prices in order to limit the number of visitors. Instead of that he says they have now decided to divide the tickets into three categories. "Every visitor will receive a special card which will include the kind of food he is entitled to, depending on the ticket he has. The master chefs will ensure a precise number of food portions. Every visit at a certain master chef will then be recorded in the card. That way our guests will without doubt get all the food from their menu," says Kek.
Three menus, three prices
The "Wine menu" which costs 22 euros (32 euros on the day of the festival) will allow you to taste all the wine and a starter. The "Alpe-Adria menu" at 33 euros (43 euros on the festival day) gives you wine tasting, a starter, and three meals from the culinary schools of Italy, Croatia and Slovenia under the guidance of Tomaž Kavčič. The most expensive "Chefs menu" is the menu which opens the doors to the world of stars. For a price of 66 euros, apart from the wine tasting and starter, you will also receive 12 meals prepared by master chefs. The number of these menu tickets is LIMITED - there will only be 250 of these available. "Every visitor will receive a certain number of coupons, each with the name of a separate meal, that go along with the corresponding ticket. There can be no fear that the meals to which you are entitled to will not wait for you at the stands," Kavčič is convinced.
The names of the master chefs that will take part at this year’s event will be published one month before the start of the festival, which will take place on the 18th of May. The Izbor - Gourmet and Fun festival will also feature thematic hayracks in which you will also be able to get coffee, desserts, buy food and purchase products made by Slovenian designers. There will also be an accompanying music program. On stage again will be an Italian band called Badabimbumband, which was well-received last year.
The festival venue will open at 12 p.m. and close at 1:30 a.m. There will be seven hours of wine tasting from 2:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. Culinary tastings will be available from 4:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m.