This spring is the third spring in a row for Birštonas to organise a cooking competition. Gastronomic experiences are very important for visitors of the resort, the popularity of which is rapidly growing; therefore, the aim of this competition is to familiarise visitors and residents of the resort with the novelties offered by local catering institutions and to encourage them to try these novelties.

“We continue our tradition of fostering exceptional gastronomic experiences and each year we search for new ways of presenting culinary novelties of Birštonas. Unlike in previous competitions, we have decided that this year the courses participating in the competition will be assessed by visitors of restaurants and coffee-houses, and not by a professional jury. This way we seek to create a closer connection with our guests, to hear their remarks, on the basis of which we could form our future culinary experiences,” says Rūta Kapačinskaitė, Director of Birštonas Tourist Information Centre.

Courses of 9 various categories participate in the competition

This year, 7 catering institutions will take part in the culinary competition: hotel-restaurant “Royal SPA Residence”, restaurant “MOON” of the complex “Vytautas Mineral SPA”, restaurant “Old Town Grill”, hotel-cafe “Audenis”, burger bar “Bir. Bur. Bar.”, cafes “Sušinė” and “Saulės terasa”.

The variety of 9 nine courses submitted for the competition evidence that visitors of Birštonas no longer have to search for places to eat in the resort. Visitors of restaurants and cafes are encouraged to try grilled beef tenderloin, smoke flavoured sea perch, lamb ham steak or beetroot sorbet. One of the conditions of the competition is that the price of one course cannot be more than EUR 16. It is expected that it will encourage even those people with sometimes insufficient funds for luxury restaurants to try the culinary novelties.

Gustatory experience not only in restaurants, but also during theme excursions

Culinary discoveries in Birštonas are fostered not only by restaurants and cafes of the resort, but also by organisers of leisure entertainment. For example, this spring “Čiulba ulba” encourages to experience gastronomic routes “Po gardų kasnelį” (Delicious bites), “Atradimų skoniai Birštone” (Taste of discoveries in Birštonas) or “Birštono gurmanai” (Gourmands of Birštonas). Excursions linked to food discoveries are also organised by the team of “Birštonas tours”.

“Participants of this cheerful excursions taste new meals and solve various tasks related to the culinary history of Birštonas, find out about gastronomic preferences of famous personalities of that period, for example, President Smetona, Balys Sruoga, Juzas-Tumas Vaižgantas, the then dietary catering and the principles of cooking applied by housewives in the intewar period. These cognitive excursions broaden visitors’ horizons and significantly enhance the map of Birštonas experiences,” intrigues Rūta Kapačinskaitė.

Birštonas gastronomic competition will last until May 23. All information and voting are available on the website of Birštonas Tourist Information Centre.