“What a ‘fest!” “Terrific food!” “Delicious!”

These were just some of the superlatives overheard at the 1st Annual RI Kitchen & Bath Oktoberfest. In the new RIKB Showroom, a beautiful kitchen complete with fully functioning Viking appliances was the scene for visiting Executive Chef Dan Osella of Jacob Wirth Restaurant in Boston to work his magic. Assisted by the restaurant’s General Manager Johnny Blass, he cooked up a feast of German fare including weiner schnitzel and chicken schnitzel, homemade dill spaetzel with lemon butter sauce, potato pancakes with roasted apples and cinnamon crème fraiche, and warm, fresh-from-the-oven apple strudel with toasted almonds and cherries – all to the delight of the crowd.

Local wine and beer expert Marc ‘the wine guy’ Guillotte of People’s Liquor Warehouse brought along several Oktoberfest beers from Paulaner, Spaten, and Hacker-Pschorr, and also paired several wines including Reisling, Gewurztraminer, and even a rare German red wine.

To round out the day’s activities, a pumpkin decorating contest and a kids’ coloring contest were held. The event was well -attended and Chef Dan had so much fun, he has promised to come back for the event again in 2009.