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While Sofa Garden, the sophisticated avant garde should we say, COCKTAIL BAR RESTAURANT right in the middle of Naviglio on the Big Canal at 79 Ripa di Porta Ticinese and 02 8941 56 79 looks cool, expensive and elegant, it is really, "Just a place to come and feel comfortable with friends. Both me and Emanuele are happy with the guests showing respect to us and us respecting the guests. It is all about a passion for life, a committment to life and we built the Swanky Cocktail Bar on many levels that reflect our way of seeing life." says Federico as I interview him at the beautiful Garden bar and his much more loud and rambuctious Sports Bar named "Rookies".

Ripa di porta Ticinese, 79 - Milano

"I am at Rookies in the day and come to Sofa Garden at night, since Rookies has been here 5 years most people know that we show all kinds of sports from everywhere in the world, NFL, Major League Baseball, NBA, and of course Football European style!" says Federico. "The cool thing about Rookies is that you have a kitchen that is open til 2.00am. And we serve food til 2.00am, plus if you want to reserve a table at one of the three sports showings you can do that. If you love tennis, send a facebook request for a Wimbledon, say, game and a request for a table near that television and you can have it." says Federico.

"Here is the Brewing Company giving a taste of its beer...we have the actual brewmaster´s come and talk about their beer and invite everybody in to try. The students love it, the tourists love it, the Regensburger´s love it. When I went to America about 4 years ago, my wife and I went to Philadelphia, New York, Cape Cod, Boston, Washington D.C. etc and we tried the different beer and one person said to me that you know when you are in Germany it is difficult to try foreign beers. And I thought that is true. When I came back I went to the Wunder Bar down the alley and talked to the then owner Goose. We said alright lets try a Craft Beer Festival. 2 years ago we started our first Craft Beer Festival and last year opened the first Beer Store here. My advertising agency partner, Martin, and I said alright lets open the beer store, theonly one in Regensburg and see how it is..." says Thomas pictured sitting around the table with 3 people.

"The beer festival is in Regensburg in the center on May 4, 5 and 6. Last year we had 17 brewing companies and 10,000people! We all ran out of beer the last day! Seriously! Now we have 24 brewing companies coming and I hope 20,000 people. The only one of its kind that I know of in Bavaria. Yet the best is that when they come to the festival they all say O where can we buy that craft beer in Regensburg...and of course the only place is here!" he says with a totally big smile on his face:)"One of the people who works in the store is a 5 year Brew Master and one is a Biology student...we have a great team to make our own brand Birretta Beer in the future. Of course it is something that I thought of doing yet it is expensive...let´s see how it is doing...in the meantime! WE do drink much more beer now than when we didn´t own the Craft Beer Store, that I am honest about!" he says laughing.

When I visit the advertising agency down the alley from the Beer store his assistant Kristen is moving signs for the festival around the office! Does he give her beer? "No only the bosses drink the beer in here they make us work!" she says.

"Since me and my partner, Martin, the other two partners of the Birretta are another Martin and his wife Caroline, own a University of Regensburg Advertising Agency we let the students know we are here and we try to educate these students on the different types of brewing processes. It is about taste and flavor and hops and strength and the entire package. We hope they come in here and learn about trying something new. Life is about trying something that you don´t think you will like to try. Our motto is just try it you might like it!" says Thomas.

Like Night and Day is the two restaurants that Martin owns. He who "used to work in the banking system...until two to three years now I said alright I would love to open my own restaurant and start cooking! It is the first time I ever cooked! I LOVE IT. I cook great Bavarian traditional food here of course, yet in my new restaurant which is behind the Zum Goldenen Fass through the beer garden is the WILDERER´S and it is WILD and CRAZY and FUN!" says the young enthusiastic yet very serious owner.

reservations: 0941 209 14 44 9

"I am a huge believer in Facebook. I use it all the time to promote the restaurants. When the people started booking events and parties in the Wilderer they booked from Facebook. Last night we had the Women´s Day Equality Party with a live band celebrating the equal pay of men and women in Germany. Tonight a retiring party! It is a upperclass chic restaurant that is perfect for private functions...and I get to be creative and show off my cooking techniques!" he laughs and says he has to run! He is a very busy person with the running of two totally different restaurants and two totally differnt kitchens. "I love his food," says the bartender. "We of course as students can´t really afford the prime rib but we eat just about all the other food and it is really good." I say I love the french fries and both the bartender and Martin scoff at me. French fries! they say. Yes yet they´re really good french fries..."That is because we peel the potatoes here...they aren´t frozen...you know we have high quality in the restaurant." he says!

Above the upper class restaurant WILDERER´S..."I love to try new things and to organize at first doing two restaurants that are totally different from each other in the same kitchen was a challenge yet now the routine is down and we are in a little bit of a thought of now that it is summer how do we combine the beer garden between the two...is it the Zum Goldenen´s beer garden or the Wilderer´s garden and I thought that maybe let the two meet each other! We cook on the smokers outside and they can share beers with each other...both of course Augustiner since they own the building and since it is a great beer!"
Reservierungen unter 0941 / 209 14 44 9 oder info@augustiner-goldenes-fass.de
Sitting at the bar at Zum Goldenen you will meet real cool Germans...one named Raineeer Thuroff is from the eastern Block of Germany during the Soviet Occupation of the 70s...he says with tthe help of the bartender translating that he tried to escape and tthe soldiers caught him as he was climbing the wall and he served 2 years in the East Germany Communist Prison with 12 others. That when the wall went down it was a mistake of the government who said that everybody is allowed to travel from tthat day on yet they were supposed to check ids and see who was traveling where. There were so many people zooming to the other side to Germany that they just let everybody in! It was a wild and real story and we spent 1hr hearing it and eating his ccake!

When I ask Martin which restaurant is more fun for him he says, "They are both very important to me. Each one. At first it is a big risk to open the second restaurant that is connected through the beer garden. It is a totally new concept in Regensburg. You know the other is a high-end meat restaurant with Filets, Rib-Eyes, New York Strip Steaks and I cook these in a indoor Manhatten style Beefer. The grill types here is with Smokers technique. I cook the Prime Rib for 12 hrs and the Pulled Pork for 9 hrs. It is very tender and it is unique to Regensburg and to all around Bavaria. That is why people love it. I own three Smokers and it is a unique technique to most people. Yes it is more expensive than the typical Bavarian Restaurant here. People can come in here as a couple and with a nice bottle of wine spend 80to100Euros on the dinner. Steaks and Fish and Spare Ribs are more expensive than a bratwurst! "