The Festival

“We love Lambrusco wine with pizza and want to expose Durham to this fun, grapey and fruity adult beverage from the region of Emilia-Romagna,” explains owner Seth Gross. “This is a festival focused on the joy of eating with wine and music and lots of families from all around the Triangle.” Lambrusco Fest features tastes of food and wine focused on the bounty of Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region. Festival goers can purchase a tasting punch card and then go around the festival tasting and trying authentic foods such as Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, real gelato (Italian ice-cream), Balsamic vinegar from Modena, various salumi (cured meats), olive oils and of course Pompieri’s Neapolitan-style pizza to name a few items. Adults can purchase a wine punch card to sample Lambrusco wines of all sorts. Food and wine will also be available to purchase as a meal during the festival.

The music at Lambrusco Fest is focused on A Cappella singers. A Cappella comes from the Italian “in the manner of the chapel” performed by a group of voices without instruments. The festival will have a stage with sound system to allow the various vocal groups to perform that afternoon. The music is free for everyone to enjoy.

The event is very much family-friendly featuring activities for kids and adults. There will be a children’s play area staffed by the Schoolhouse of Wonder. Everyone of all ages is welcome to enjoy the food, beverages and music.

Lambrusco Fest is partnered with Schoolhouse of Wonder (https://schoolhouseofwonder.org) and will donate a portion of the event’s proceeds to this 501(c)(3). Schoolhouse of Wonder creates kind, curious, and confident kids through nature-based outdoor adventures.

This is the very first Lambrusco Fest and we anticipate several hundred people to attend. This will be an annual event which will grow yearly and support non-profit local organizations.

About Pompieri Pizza

Pompieri Pizza focuses on true Neapolitan-style* pizza featuring dueling wood-fired ovens in open view of the dining room. The name Pompieri translates to “firemen” from Italian and the restaurant is inside Durham’s historic fire station #1, originally built in the 1890s, and now fire has come to the fire house. Pompieri Pizza is a back-to-scratch and farm-to-fork restaurant focused on making everything in-house including hand stretching the mozzarella cheese. “If it’s on the menu at Pompieri Pizza we most likely have made it from scratch or bought it locally,” said Gross. “We use only NC pasture-raised meats, we make things like our crust, the crackers and focaccia every day. We do not allow corn syrup, added hormones, or antibiotics and we focus on making the best pizza we can produce.” Pompieri Pizza works with local farmers to source as much of the produce as possible when in season.

The restaurant has several unique features such as the fire engine red fire fighter’s bar filled with memorabilia of Durham Fire Department’s history as well as an indoor aquaponic basil garden where fish tank water is feeding plants and plants are cleaning the water for the fish.

The restaurant, which opened in January 2014, is the second created by owner Seth Gross, who also started Bull City Burger and Brewery in Downtown Durham in 2011. “We have the tastiest corner in Durham,” said Mr. Gross, “and we are thrilled to be a part of the fabric of Downtown.” *The Neapolitan-style is a thin crust, 12 inch diameter pizza cooked at 800ºF with sparse toppings and black “leopard” charring on the bottom and edges. Originating from Naples, Italy, it is based on a low protein flour and each pizza is like a snow flake. No two are alike. This style of pizza is built for single person consumption.

For more information contact Seth Gross at mypie@pompieripizza.com