This Weekend, Eat and Eat Some More

This weekend Vokrug Sveta magazine and its youngest offspring Pervoye, Vtoroye, Tretye invite readers to the Hermitage Garden to sample gastronomical treats from all over the globe.

The World Food Festival, celebrating the 150th anniversary of Vokrug Sveta, will take place both Saturday and Sunday from noon to 10 p.m.

“The food is organized by a dozen Moscow-based restaurants, and prices range from 50 to 250 rubles,” said Svetlana Kolosnitsyna, PR manager of Vokrug Sveta. “The idea is to make this city more European, more cozy, and we would like the festival to take place annually.”

But the festival will not entertain guests exclusively on a gastronomical level. Master classes on tango and yoga, as well as spice and souvenir markets, are also foreseen.

The Hermitage Garden will be open to spontaneous picnics in a family atmosphere, with children’s television mascots Smeshariki to entertain the crowd. Kolosnitsyna estimates that “10,000 to 16,000 people will visit the festival.”

For another dining opportunity, the Fashion Food Festival lends a completely different interpretation of the concept of “food” and “festival” — and it lasts for the entire month of June.

Forty Moscow restaurants are participating, offering special menu items with fashionable attention to the presentation.

“You will be able to convince yourself to what extent food can be beautiful and unusual when a ‘meal’ becomes ‘fashion,’” claims the festival’s web site, FashionFood.ru.

Fashion Food was created nine years ago in Brussels and arrived last year in Moscow. This year it commenced locally on June 1 at Tatler Club.

“If you can’t believe that sushi can rival the beauty of jewelry or that a cocktail can evoke fairy-tale-like feelings, then you should absolutely attend Fashion Food,” the web site recommends.