Omnivore, the hip food festival with a cocktail component, runs from 4 to 6 March at the Maison du Mutalite.
The brainchild of journalist Luc Dubanchet, the festival’s roots begin with the 2003 publication of the monthly review of the same name geared to freshening up the face of gastronomy. For the past twelve years, they’ve been taking things on the road with the Omnivore World Tour, visiting major cities around the globe to champion young chefs and encourage global culinary collaboration and education.
Basically, curious foodies, young newbies and old school pros can mix it all up for a few days with master classes, presentations, popups, parties, exhibitions and Fucking Dinners (not totally clear on why they’re called as such). Each tour includes a savory, sweet, artisanal, avant-guard and coffee component…and for the last five years, cocktails!
For three days, bartenders and industry personalities will be sharing new techniques, mixing up drinks and elaborating on the links between cocktails and cuisine. The program includes bars and presenters from Belgium, Greece, Scotland, Canada, Italy and Spain and a whole lotta Frenchies. Some of the biggies representing the Paris scene are Hyacinthe Lescoët of Les Grands Verres, Aurélie Panhelleux, Julien Lopez and Elfi Fabritius of CopperBay, Sebastien Gans and Thomas Girard of Carbon, and Margot Lecarpentier of Combat.
Monin is a sponsor so each day, they’ll be doing their bit on the cocktail stage. Their Sunday Sparkling Cocktails doesn’t sound super inspired (though I could be surprised), but the Monday’s spicy and Tuesday’s vegetal presentations could be interesting. There will be plenty of food stands for tasting plus boozy exponents including Bourgoin Cognac, Diplomatico, Folle Envie, Hine Cognac, Mezcal Brothers, Sassy cider, and William Grant (probably with something fun and Monkey Shoulder related).
With women in the industry being a hot topic at the moment, it would be cool to see more females in the cocktail presenter lineup. (and the food side, although they are bringing in Anne Sophie-Pic.) Noteably, it’s not quite as man-centric as, say, the more traditional Taste Paris. (What is that? Politics? Circumstance? Personal choice?)
Bonjour Paris summed up the entire Omnivore experience nicely in their coverage last year: “It’s organized chaos, a riot of a festival rocking young cuisine – read the Glastonbury or Coachella of gastronomy.” If you want to join in the fun, festival tickets are 39 Euros for a day or 99 Euros for the full three days. More information about ticket prices for the popups and party can be found on their website.
Omnivore
Maison de la Mutualité
4 – 6 March 2018
