Valguma Pausale-Smarde (Latvia)
Summary
It’s a coup de coeur because I thought that the food was really excellent, which wasn’t always the case on this journey when it came to finding average/ fine dining food, but this place is bucolic, and everything stems from there, the bosses are artists in spirit, and put all their heart in what they do.
Careful: it’s located 12 km away from Tukums, so it might be a bit complicated without a car.
The venue
Valguma Pausale is located in an exceptional setting, right in the middle of nature, in the middle of a forest, by a lake. It’s a hotel and restaurant, they also do wedding receptions. It’s funny, a Japanese guy got married here the week before my visit; funny because it’s hard to imagine that there are actually quite a bit of Japanese people that come to visit Latvia. Eating in a room surrounded by glass windows isn’t bad at all:). It’ll cost you 60 euros a night for a double, and a shared bathroom.
The team
The boss and his wife are real characters, he’s an old sports photographer who authored and published numerous books with his wife, and he also did the editing I believe. There’s a large table with all their books in the entrance, he told me about all of them, but between his English, my fatigue, and the crazy story itself, let’s just say I didn’t understand everything:). Either way, he showed us a book of Latvian landscapes that he put together, very pretty.
The meal
The food was a treat, they only use local and seasonal ingredients.
Main
Grilled beet salad, goat cheese and chestnuts
Dessert
You’ll have to forgive me, I forgot a few of the elements, but I know it was a meringue with a berry ice cream
The verdict
Latvia needs more places like this one: excellent, refined local food, with spirit, quality service, and all of it in a magical setting, there are so many out there, just perfect.
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