Once to Frankfurt and back...

We were certainly not the only ones who were a little disappointed that the presentation of Thomas' new cookbook "Meine Lieblingsrezepte... #schmecktanders" at this year's Frankfurt Book Fair on 19 October was reserved for the trade public. But since the book fair overlapped with the Schlagerbooom in Dortmund, this scheduling decision was understandable.

We admit that when we heard about the date in Frankfurt, we briefly asked if there was a "loophole" for us fans. But we had to realise relatively quickly that participation would probably not be possible. 

At least that's what we thought until we discovered a short article on Facebock from "smago" on 18.10. with the headline "Before the Schlagerbooom 2023 is cooked". Here, attention was drawn to the possibility of not only coming to the book fair on 19 October and attending Thomas' book presentation, but also taking part in a dinner with Thomas in the evening as part of a Mastercard promotion. 

We couldn't say no to that. The event was quickly booked and the short trip to Frankfurt organised. By the way, booking a hotel for the same day in Frankfurt during the book fair, as close to the fair as possible, was a challenge...With the tickets from Mastercard, we got to the book fair without any problems and headed straight to the Tretorri stand. Thomas, who had appointments at the book fair all day, was already there and greeted us briefly. We were then welcomed by a nice Tretorri employee, given a copy of Thomas' cookbook and immediately took our place for the book presentation .... Once again in the front row. 

Besides Thomas, Ralf Frenzel, the publisher of the cookbook, was also present and we learned a few details about the cookbook, about the quality of food, but also about the relationship between Thomas and Ralf Frenzel.

Thomas' reaction to the description of when Ralf Frenzel met him for the first time led to a few laughs from the audience.

Ralf Frenzel: "Oh, the first time I saw Thomas. That was in Koblenz. He had just bought a big pile of daily newspapers. That impressed me very much".

Thomas: "Yes, I could actually already read back then...".

After the talk, which lasted about 30 minutes, we had the opportunity to have our copy of the cookbook signed by Thomas and Ralf Frenzel.In the evening we went to the "Steigenberger Icon Frankfurter Hof". Here, together with 13 other guests who had also booked the event via Mastercard, we were welcomed and led to our table. We enjoyed a delicious 4-course menu with good wine... of course, a special Pinot Gris from the St. Antony winery was not to be missed as an aperitif.

After dinner, the guests had the opportunity to take a photo with Thomas as a small memento.

At around 10.30 p.m., the event was over for us and we set off on our 4-hour journey home, after all, we had to be at work at 6 a.m. the next morning.