Pädaste moves to the city and becomes NEH

I've blogged about Pädaste, a luxurious manor house/boutique hotel on MUHU island, on Nami-Nami before - back in January 2007, when we spent a romantic winter night there. Since then I've been back for a quick visit couple of times on our way to Saaremaa. We also spent a very charming and delicious two days there back in August - sorry, never got around to blogging about it, but suffice to say that the food blew me away - it was extremely delicious and full of positive surprises.

However, the number of local and international tourists to MUHU island during the winter season drops considerably, and it's simply not financially viable to keep the manor house fully functional throughout the winter. So this season the chefs and staff of the Pädaste restaurant moved to the harbour area of the capital, Tallinn, and opened a charming little restaurant called NEH. They're placed in a little house on Lootsi 4, which also houses a small art gallery:


Photo courtesy of Pädaste Manor. Of course, at the moment the house is surrounded and covered by snow and illuminated by fairylights - the winter came early this year:



K. and I were kindly invited to an opening dinner at NEH last Friday, where we had a chance to explore the venue, peek into the kitchen and enjoy a 4-course meal (amuse bouche, starter. main course and dessert) with matching drinks.

First, we had a chance to explore the ground floor, which has more of a casual feel:



then the first floor, which feels slightly more cosy and romantic:



and peek into the kitchen (NB! there's a chef's table for up to 5 guests just opposite the kitchen):



The meal we were served was delicious and we're certainly hoping to go again with friends very soon. For the first course we enjoyed a 62 C free-range egg with spiced Baltic sprats and salt-baked potatoes.


The main course was a meltingly soft veal's cheek with juniper-seasoned red cabbage and apple and celeriac cream:


The dessert - a custard with bilberry compote, cookie crumbs and thyme ice cream - all very delicious (I especially liked the subtle herbal notes of the ice cream):

(Apologies for not taking any pictures of the food - we were really enjoying chatting to the other couple at our table, Ede & Sten, and simply forgot about the pictures. The restaurant staff has generously allowed us to use some of their photos).

If you are in Tallinn and looking for a place to enjoy a romantic and delicious gourmet meal, then I'd definitely recommend paying NEH a visit. After all, they are only opened till March, when they move back to their real home on Muhu island :)

You can check out the menu options here (price excl. drinks are indicated):
lunch
dinner
Chef's table
Sunday brunch
drinks/wine list

NEH
Lootsi 4
10151 Tallinn
Estonia
T +372 60 22 222
E-mail: info@neh.ee

Nami-Nami cookbook

Some of you may have been wondering about the irregularity and lack of posts on Nami-nami over the last few months. Yes, I've finally returned back to work after a long maternity leave, and that's drastically reduced the time I have for cooking and taking photos and blogging.

But that's not the reason behind the small number of blog posts.

The reason is that gorgeous-looking cookbook above that's out later this month in Estonia. It's called "Nami-Nami kokaraamat" ("Nami-Nami cookbook" in English, but the book is published in Estonian, of course) and it has 218 beautiful recipes that could be grouped under the general title "food for casual entertaining". All recipes are illustrated by lovely photos taken by myself and my dear K, and all the chapters - and the gorgeous cover - are done by the extremely talented and wonderful Ximena Maier (yes, Lobstersquad's Ximena), whom I have the honour to call a dear friend.

The book is published by a major local publisher, Varrak, and there's a small introduction of the book in Estonian on their website here. I'm very excited - hope that you're as well :D

So, that's what's kept me so immensely busy over the last few months and weeks. All I have to do now is wait and see - the book's out on November 25th or so, and the official book launch event is on December 1st here in Tallinn. More details to follow!

Supelsaksad Café @ Pärnu, Estonia

A short photo essay of a wonderful café in Pärnu. Definitely worth a visit, if you happen to be at the Summer Capital of Estonia, Pärnu. You'll find Supelsaksad at the corner of Supeluse & Nikolai street.



















Our daughter thoroughly approves:



:)

Forageing for cloudberries, pictures

Early last month I shared a picture of our cloudberry bounty. This weekend K's mum gave us some photos of that forageing trip, and I thought you might want to see how it works with a baby on your back.

Oh, did you spot our daughter on the first picture? :)

Here's a better view:



She's just over 6 months on the photos here, weighing 7.5 kilograms. But we managed, as she spent half of the time on my back, half of the time on her dad's back.



Photos are taken on August 2, 2009, in a bog in Rapla county, Estonia.

The new LONELY PLANET guide to Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania

If you're travelling to Estonia, Latvia and/or Lithuania any time soon, then I can recommend the 2009 edition of the famous Lonely Planet guide. Carolyn Bain, the coordinating author of the book, has thoroughly revised the current edition - 5th already! And as an extra bonus, you can read an interview with yours truly on pages 60-61, where I share some tips re: Estonian food in general, best places to eat out in Tallinn, what to eat when visiting and what to bring back home to your friends and family. :)

You can order a copy of the book either from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk or directly from the Lonely Planet website.

Read also my recommendations for eating out in Tallinn in 2009 here.

Yesterday

We spent couple of hours in our favourite forest and bog yesterday, taking home:

Two litres of beautiful cloudberries (1.2 kg of berries after cleaning!!). That's going to make plenty of delicious cloudberry jam:


Enough chantarelle mushrooms for 2, perhaps even three pies and quiches:


... and enough other wild mushrooms (edible Russula mushrooms) for today's mushroom sauce:


We're pleased :)

Nami-Nami recommends: Eating Out in Tallinn and beyond in Summer 2009

NOTE that I'll be updating this post during the summer, as I get to frequent places again myself. I'll put a handy link to the right hand side of this blog, so you can find the post easily.

I've received numerous emails during the last few months asking for café and restaurant recommendations in Tallinn and elsewhere in Estonia. I've outlined my favourites before - Tallinn: Culinary City Snapshot - was published on my friend Johanna's blog back in February 2007. I also did an eGullet foodblog in September that year that included lots of restaurant suggestions. But things have changed since then, so it's definitely time for an updated review. However, instead of replying individually to each of you, I've put together a list of suggestions, explaining what and where alongside. Hope at least some of you will find it useful. If you do have any further questions, please leave it in a comment section and I'll reply as soon as possible.

Note that I gave birth to a gorgeous baby girl in January 2009 and as you can imagine, I've had to reduce the occasions of eating out over the last six months considerably. However, I've still been out and about, especially in cafés, so it's not totally out of date :)

GOURMET RESTAURANTS
If you are looking for a special gourmet night out in Tallinn, then my two top recommendations are the award-winning Ö (Chef Roman Zaštšerinski, Mere pst 6E, +372-6616150; Mon-Thu 12noon-11pm, Fri-Sat 12noon-midnight, Sun 1pm-10pm) and STENHUS (Chef Tõnis Siigur; Pühavaimu 13/15, Tel +372-6997780; Open for lunch and dinner, Courtyard Garden open during the summer months). I've written about Stenhus twice before, in October 2007 and February 2007, but I've been there on numerous occasions since then, most recently in November and December 2008.

VEGETARIAN
Being a vegetarian AND eating out is not easy in Estonia. Although most restaurants and cafés would have something on the menu to suit your diet, the choice is often limited and much less creative and interesting than the non-vegetarian menu. However, there's a restaurant in the Old Town, called AED ('garden'; Rataskaevu 8, tel 6269088, Open Mon-Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 11am-6pm) that's taken its vegetarian menu seriously (they also highlight gluten-free and lactose-free dishes on their menu).

There is also a new vegetarian diner Maitsev ja Tervislik ('tasty and healthy; Narva mnt 6; Open 10am-9pm), but I must admit I haven't had a chance to check this place out yet. It seems to be the only place in Tallinn serving vegan food, for example.

LUNCH
There are several places I can recommend for a quick lunch.
Bestseller & Boulangerie (Viru Keskus, 3rd & 4th floor) are part of the Imre Kose Emporium. Nice salads and pastries, special offers during lunchtime, and as both cafés (with slightly different menus) are part of a bookstore, then I've had lunch there often. Ask for sea-buchthorn juice!!
Bonaparte Bistro has recently opened in the Foorum Keskus (Narva mnt 5), and the food is excellent.
Vertigo (Chef Imre Kose, Rävala pst 4, 9th floor) is known as one of the more expensive restaurants in Tallinn, but their lunch deals are good value. My partner K. heartily recommends them, and as he works in the adjacent building, he knows what he's talking about.
Vapiano (Hobujaama 10) serves Italian food (pizzas, pastas, salads - I like their pizzas more than their pastas).

CAFĒ
If it's a good cup of coffee and a slice of cake that you're after, then in the Old Town try any of these cafés:
Matilda (Lühike jalg, Open Mon-Sat 9am-7pm, Sun 9am-6pm; their Pavlova is great)
Bonaparte (Pikk tn 45, Open Mon-Fri 8am-10pm, Sat 9am-10pm, Sun 10am-6pm; they also run the Tristan & Isolde Café under Raekoda aka Town Hall)
Anneli Viik (Pikk tn 30, Open Mon-Sat 11am-11pm, Sun 11am-7pm).



Chocolats de Pierre (above) has a great courtyard, good choice of cakes and hand-made truffles (Vene tn 6, Open daily; see my previous post).
Kehrwieder is a chain of cafés dotted across the city centre. They're coffee is of varying quality, but the venues themselves are rather nice.

KADRIORG
Kadriorg is a beautiful park area within walking distance from the Old Town (or take Tram no 1). It's definitely worth a visit because of the new National Art Gallery, KUMU. While in Kadriorg, there are several places where you could stop for a pastry or lunch. Here are some of my favourites:
NOP (Köleri 1, Open 8am-8pm) is a great place for breakfast or lunch, and they've also got a small deli shop next to the café, where you can buy a range of organic and/or local food items. Before having the baby, I visited them several times a week. (Oh, they've got a children's area as well).



Park Café (above, Weizenbergi st 22, Open Tue-Sun 10am-8pm) has a German-trained baker on premise, making their cakes slightly different from the usual offerings in Tallinn. I love their outdoor seating area (below) just next to the lake in the Kadrioru Park. Another good place to visit when you've got kids.



TIGU seafood bistro (Vilmsi 45, Open Tue-Fri 12 noon-10 pm) is a cosy seafood-oriented and French bistro style establishment in the outskirts of Kadriorg. They're small and popular with local and loyal customers, so make sure to book a table in advance if you want to have dinner (+372-56668493). However, they've got a summer terrace where you can quickly order lunch and don't need to book in advance, so you may want to try that.
KUMU kohvik (Weizenbergi 34; Open Mon-Sat 11am-8pm, Sun 11am-6pm) is located on the ground floor of the KUMU Art Museum. You can enjoy your coffee outdoors if the weather is nice.
Creperie Kristjan & Kristiine (Vase 14, +372-6448462; Open Mon-Sat 12 noon-10pm, Sun 12noon-6pm, currently closed until early August) is a small restaurant specialising in salads, crepes and pancakes with sweet and savory fillings.

ESTONIAN FOOD
This is actually trickier than you think. There are some restaurants that heavily advertise themselves as Estonian, but neither I or my friends have really enjoyed the food. So I skip that bit. However, there are couple worth trying in Tallinn:
VANAEMA JUURES ('At grandma's place'; Rataskaevu 10/12, +372-6269080; Open Mon-Sat 12noon-10pm, Sun 12noon-6pm) serves unpretentious, but really tasty food.
KULDSE NOTSU KÕRTS (Dunkri tn 8, +372 628 6567; Open daily from 12noon-midnight) also serves Estonian food, including famous items like sült (headcheese/meat jelly/brawn), Estonian pea soup and Kama, of course.
KOLU KÕRTS (Kolu Tavern) is slightly out of town, at the Open Air Museum (Vabaõhumuuseum; Bus nr 21). They serve old peasant dishes, including kama (again :)), soups, mushroom salads. The menu is limited, but it's a beautiful open air museum, so if you're going on a (half)day trip, there's no need to bring your own sandwich.

RUSSIAN FOOD
If you're keen to try some Russian food, then there are quite a few restaurants in Tallinn.
Troika (Raekoja plats 15, +372-6276245) - I like their pelmeny dumplings, cold soups and pickles, honey and sour cream starter. They've got two outdoor seating areas on the Town Hall Square.
Nevskij is a slightly more upmarket Russian restaurant on the ground floor of Hotel St Petersbourg (Rataskaevu 7, +372-6286560, Open Tue-Sat 12 noon-11pm)

SUNDAY BRUNCH
Sunday Brunch is a concept only now becoming a feature in local restaurants. The only two places I know of (and although I've eaten there, I haven't tried their brunch yet) are:
MUSEUM (Chef Nikita Tšunihhin, Vana-Viru 14). Brunch is served on Sundays from noon till 4pm, a la carte menu (incl. bagels, Eggs Benedict etc).
VERTIGO (Chef Imre Kose, Rävala pst 4, 9th floor). Brunch is served on Sundays from 11am-4pm; 350 EEK per person, 150 EEK for childen aged 3-15, toddlers free)

VIIMSI
Viimsi is a suburb just outside Tallinn, about a scenic 20-minute drive pass the Song Festival Square and Pirita monastery. It also the place that Yours Truly happens to live :) In the unlikely place you've ended up in Viimsi (perhaps on a way to visit me? Or you're staying at Viimsi SPA like many Finnish visitors), there are few places to fill up your stomach. If it's just a coffee and pastry you're after, try Delicato deli at the Viimsi Keskus (Randvere tee 6; drinks and pastries are a very reasonable 15-25 EEK, cakes more expensive). Harmoonikum (Pargi tee 8, open Mon - Sat 12-20) is a lovely organic café and day spa that serves simple and organic fare, including soups, cakes, herb infusions. For pub food and a pint of beer, there's Scotland Yard (Randvere tee 6, Viimsi). And if it's the view, but not food, you're after, then there's Paat, a pub with a lovely outdoor seating area and a gorgeous view of the Tallinn skyline (but the food is unfortunately a letdown).

Hõbelusikas - Silverspoon: Estonian Gastronomy Awards 2007

Me (on the left:) and the winner of the Chef of the Year Award, Tõnis Siigur from Restaurant Stenhus, Tallinn at the Estonian Gastronomy Awards ceremony yesterday. Photo by K.

Just like last year, I had a chance to attend the Silver Spoon 2007 Gala Dinner last night. The Estonian Gastronomy Awards were handed over at the ceremony attended by many of the food-loving bold and beautiful in Estonia, including me and my dear K :) There were small ballet dancers, singing by Chalice, lots of good food, and plenty of food-related chatting, of course.

The festive dinner menu was created by the winner of the Chef of the Year award of 2006, Dimitri Demjanov, the grand old man of Estonian haute cuisine, and it was full of surprising local ingredients like Baltic herring, my beloved kama, sea-buckthorn, black pudding/blood sausage, to name just a few. I'll reprint the menu with my musings below, but first, the award winners.

There are ten categories at the Estonian Gastronomy Awards, and I list them in no particular order:

Estonian Gastronomy Awards, 2007

BEST GOURMET RESTAURANT
Bonaparte, Tallinn - nominee
Stenhus, Tallinn - winner
Ö, Tallinn - nominee

BEST RESTAURANT
Vertigo, Tallinn - nominee
Vinoteque In Studio Vinum, Tallinn - winner
Karl Friedrich, Tallinn - nominee

BEST CAFE
Cafe Truffe, Tartu - nominee
Lounge UpUp, Tallinn - winner
Cést La Vie, Tallinn - nominee

BEST PUB
Restaurant-Brewery Beer House, Tallinn - nominee
Suure Tõllu Körts, Saaremaa - winner
Altja Kõrts, Lahemaa - nominee

BEST CHEF
Tõnis Siigur, Restaurant Stenhus, Tallinn

BEST WINE & FOOD MATCHING
Vinoteque-Restaurant In Studio Vinum, Tallinn

FAMILY RESTAURANT
Suure Töllu Körts, Saaremaa

BEST BEER SERVICE
Restaurant-Brewery Beer House, Tallinn

MOST REPRESENTATIVE RESTAURANT OF MODERN TALLINN
Restaurant Ö

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Restaurant Tchaikovsky, Tallinn

Now. First let me tell you that I'm extremely pleased that Tõnis Siigur, the young and talented chef of Restaurant Stenhus in Tallinn won the Chef of the Year award. You see, I love his restaurant, and more importantly, I also had a chance to work in his restaurant for 10 full days in December (what? you mean I've still not told you about the Cookery Diploma I successfully did last autumn and which included an 80-hour internship in a restaurant? Well, I did, and I did my internship at the best gourmet restaurant in Tallinn, and Tõnis Siigur taught me a lot. The fact that I ended up sitting next to him at the ceremony was pure coincidence, however:)

Stenhus won the best gourmet restaurant award for the fourth time, and if that's not a sign of quality, I don't know what is :) But K. and I also had a wonderful meal at Restaurant Ö just recently, and I would have been happy for either one to win. I'm a bit unsure about the café category, however, as none of my current favourite cafés (Chocolats de Pierre, Anneli Viik Chocolate Café, Café´Park) made it to the shortlist. Next year, hopefully. K. and I are really not pub persons, so neither one of us has personal preferences for the best pub, but apparently the winner of the category - the Tavern Suur Töll on the island of Saaremaa - serves excellent home-made pub snacks (while also being the most family friendly establishment!!), so we'll make sure to check the place out this summer.

And now to the menu:



Dimitri Demjanov is known for his respect for local, traditional ingredients and dishes, and this was clearly evident in the menu. Whereas I didn't think that all dishes worked so well (sea-buckthorn coulis was way too sweet to do any justice to the excellent berry), there were some real inventive and delightful gems. The creamy black pudding soup was both delicious and intriguing; the pork lard with herbs and goat cheese butter accompanying the breads were definitely different; the decision to serve caraway infusion as an alternative to coffee with petit fours was brave, but justified, and chosen by many. K. and I were unsure about the food and alcohol pairings - there was beer, mead, vodka, sherry, calvados, champagne and white wine, and although I only took a sip of each, I could feel it this morning :)

Silver Spoon Gala Dinner 25.1.2008
Hortes Palm Hall, Tallinn

Dimitri Demjanov
Cuisiner

Amuse bouche: Traditional Setu pie and mead drink

Citrus marinated Baltic herring with capers, almond potatoes and frisee salad

Creamy black pudding soup with apple and cinnamon wafer

Gooseberry sorbet with caraway seed liquour and Veuve Cliquot champagne

Suckling pig belly confit with sauerkraut and pearl barley

Fruitcake slice with goat cheese mousse and blackberry confiture

Kama parfait with sea-buckthorn coulis and spun sugar

Coffee or chamomile-caraway infusion

Petit fours
***

It was a great and enjoyable night, and we'll be looking forward to the 2008 awards next January. Tõnis Siigur will be in charge of the menu, you see, and knowing what he's capable of, the meal is worth waiting for :)

Good bye, 2007!

Last night our friends Liina, Hille, Anu, Margit, Liis & Kristjan & Matilda, Erika & Mait & Siim Oskar came over to send off 2007 in style, with Peter & Kristel joining us after midnight. We watched some must-see programmes on the TV (Kreisiraadio and the President's New Year's Eve Speech), played Scrabble and the Estonian equivalent of Trivial Pursuit, competed against each other in a quiz (consisting of a literary round, a culinary round and a general knowledge round), watched the fireworks (twice, actually, as about half of Tallinn's population seems to live in a different time zone:), chatted and enjoyed ourselves. And of course, we ate lots of good food.

Here's a list of dishes and drinks we enjoyed last night with appropriate English and Estonian language links (so I'd remember next year what to serve and what not to serve:)

Happy New Year, everyone!!! Head uut aastat!!!

Some eye-catching salmon roe and onion mouthfuls (sibulapaadid kalamarjaga; red onion, full-fat sour cream or creme fraiche, chopped red onion, salmon roe, dill, black pepper). One of the most popular nibbles on the table last night (and yes, although onion is strong-tasting, the creamy sour cream and salty salmon roe stole the show):


Two types of salami fingerfood - small squares with thyme (suitsuvorstisuupisted) and small rolls with slices of paprika (salaamikanapeed):


Kiluvõilevad aka rye bread toasts with butter, pickled Baltic herring, chopped green onions and grated boiled egg (my friend Erika and her family are currently living & working in Brussels, Belgium, so these über-Estonian nibbles were especially for them):


Of course there were Molly's bouchons au thon (tuunikalaomletikesed)- one of our favourite snacks from 2007:


There were two healthy salads on the table for those watching their weight: Russian Vinaigrette Salad (köögiviljavinegrett) and red and white cabbage coleslaw (ameerika kapsasalat):


Just before midnight we enjoyed K's modern take on the traditional Estonian Christmas meal - a canapé of black pudding, lingonberry jelly and roast potato:


And we had cheese, of course. There's an excellent local blue cheese now, Breti Blue (far back), and they also do a Brie-type cheese with caraway seeds (oozing on the front). We also had some lovely Mimolette (you can see a tiny glimpse of it down on the left) and Cathedral City Extra Mature Cheddar (front):


There were two main desserts - a gingerbread tiramisu, garnished with my current favourite berry, sea-buckthorn:


and

Pears poached in mulled wine (hõõgveinipirnid), garnished with toasted almonds (another hip-friendly dessert):


Both desserts were inspired by my recent internship at the top gourmet restaurant in Tallinn (story to follow). As making tiramisu for dessert left us with 8 egg whites, I made two types of meringues - coconut ones (kookosbeseed) and plain ones (beseeküpsised):


I also made Rosettes (krustaadid), using my long-neglected set of rosette irons:


Gingerbread baskets (piparkoogikorvikesed, using some leftover gingerbread dough) with lingonberry cream (curd cheese, whipping cream, sugar, vanilla and lingonberry jam), garnished with toasted hazelnuts:


For drinks? Kir Royals and Piña Colada Espumas, rooibos tea, Chinese cabernet sauvignon (Dragon Seal, 2005), South African Syrah (Simonsig Stellenbosch 2001), Cidre de Bouché de Normandie and much more..

Beef and Beer Oven Stew aka Finnish Merimiespata

Last Sunday K. and I headed to a small village called Pedaspea in the beautiful nature reserve Lahemaa in Northern Estonia, to spend a day with his friends cooking, eating, walking, playing Scrabble and generally catching up. We were supposed to bring along the main course, and thus we spent hours last week trying to decide what to make. Eventually we packed along our trusty old 5-quart cast-iron cooking pot (Dutch oven?), my sharp cook's knife, and picked up some nice beef from our local butcher and some potatoes, a bottle of beer and a pot of thyme from the grocery store.

After an hour's drive we arrived in the beautiful location on the seaside, regretting that the weather wasn't good enough for a quick swim, as the house is about 20 metres from the sea:) We then unpacked our groceries, sliced and fried and layered and seasoned the meat and veg, carefully placed our cast iron pot into the oven full of hot coals, and ventured out for an hour to explore the surroundings.

When back, the hosts Ellen and Jaan served us two dishes from Tessa Kiros' beautiful book on Italian food, Twelve: A Tuscan Cookbook. For starters, we had grilled bread with stewed Savoy cabbage (Crostone di Cavolo). And for dessert we enjoyed her Almond Cantucci together with Zabaglione that I had the pleasure of whipping up quickly. And in between those two beautiful dishes we savoured our main course, a Beef and Beer Oven Stew. The recipe I used (actually recipes, as I used three slightly different ones to come up with my own version) is Finnish, and the dish is called Merimiespata or Sailor's Stew. It was my first time to make it, but definitely not the last. There are very few ingredients - beef, potatoes, onions, beer. After initial preparation you can just leave it to slowly cook away in the oven for about 2 hours. And as it already contains both the meat and the potatoes, then it's a meal on its own - no need for a side salad or such like, although crusty bread wouldn't be out of place. And I liked the slightly sharp flavour of the dish given by beer. We used a light Estonian beer (A Le Coq premium, 4.7%), but I imagine many other types of beer would be good, too.

Merimiespata aka Finnish Beef and Beer Stew
(Meremehepraad)
Adapted from various sources
Serves 6



600 g lean beef (sirloin is good)
1 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp butter
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 large onions
1 tsp sugar
1 kg potatoes, peeled and sliced
a 0.5 litre bottle beer (I used A Le Coq)
300 ml beef stock
a bay leaf or two
fresh thyme, to garnish

Lay half of the potatoes into the iron-cast cooking pot, season lightly with salt.
Cut the beef cross-wise into 1.5 cm slices. Heat oil and butter on a heavy frying pan on a high heat, brown the meat slices on both sides (about 3-5 minutes). Season with salt and pepper and place on top of the potatoes.
Peel and halve the onions, slice thinly. Fry gently on the frying pan for about 5 minutes, then add sugar and fry for another 4-5 minutes, until onions are translucent and softened. Take care not to burn them! Scatter on top of the beef slices, together with any pan juices.
Cover with the rest of the potato slices.
Now pour over the beer, then add enough beef stock to just cover the potatoes.
Tuck a bay leaf into the pot, cover tightly and place either into a 175 C preheated oven for about 2 hours, or into a oven full of hot coals.
When finished, test for doneness with a sharp knife (like I'm doing on the photo here). Remove from the oven, garnish with some thyme and serve.
Can be re-heated on the next day or even on the following day.

Celebrating a year of living in Estonia with a gourmet meal at Restaurant Stenhus, Tallinn

Exactly one year ago today I moved back home to Estonia after seven eventful years in Scotland. I still remember arriving at the Tallinn airport shortly after midnight to discover four of my best girlfriends singing a children's song about home* in the middle of the arrivals hall, holding an enormous poster with 'Tere, kodu' (Welcome, home!) in their hands, with K. smiling amusedly on the background. I was utterly bemused, to say the least! On the very same day I also moved in with K, so today is the anniversary of my return to Estonia as well as moving in with him. I know that 'cohabitation anniversary' doesn't sound as grand as engagement anniversary or wedding anniversary, but it's been a beautiful and delicious year and we wanted to celebrate it in style. As K. is somewhere in the Netherlands on business today (you see, dear Ximena, you're not the only one celebrating the actual annviersaries on her own), then we celebrated the anniversary last Friday, when K. took me to one of the best restaurants in Tallinn - Stenhus. I've mentioned Stenhus before - it's the restaurant where K. took me over a year ago as well for our first proper meal together in Estonia. There was no Menu Estonie this time, and the prices were higher than I remembered, but we had the most exquisite meal that neither one of us could find any fault with. The flavours were bold, the dishes creative, the plates were beautifully executed, the food delicious - Stenhus fully deserves its title as the Best Gourmet Restaurant in Estonia that it has won for the three previous years. Sitting under the vaulted ceiling of a 13th century building makes you feel million dollars (well, at least kroons:). It's head chef, Tõnis Siigur, is a talented chef, and he certainly managed to surprise and please us with every single course of the Degustation Menu. Siigur is still in his early 30s, so I'm sure there's plenty more to look forward to - and I'm definitely already looking forward to our next visit there. I just need to find an excuse :)

Here's a short recap of our anniversary meal. In addition to an a la carte menu, the restaurant offers three different degustation menus - a 4-course menu (850 EEK), a 6-course menu (1100 EEK) and 9-course menu (1450 EEK, excl. drinks). We opted for the 6-course feast, allowing our extremely friendly waiter Robert to suggest suitable drinks. (Note that we used non-flash photography, which explains why the photos are somewhat dark.)

If you are in Tallinn, and keen to splash out on one special gourmet meal, then I wholeheartedly recommend Stenhus.



We started with a glass of sparkling wine, Cremant de Loire Brut, Langlois Chateau, while nibbling on the bread from the in-house bakery. The black sesame seed bread, dark rye bread with raisins, and parsley bread were all delicious, with a nice crust and soft, with a good bite, inside.

Then we were poured a glass of Vina Montes Sauvignon Blanc (2006), and given a small greeting from the Chef, consisting of crostini with cold smoked salmon & salmon roe; crostini with marinated anchovy fillet, and a small portion of roasted organic & free range beef fillet Qualite de Charolais, which was simply delicious - spicy, but so tender and smooth. You could sense the meat was from a happy cow indeed :)



Next up, the first actual course of our 6-course tasting menu, Fruit de Mer soup. The bisque was very spicy, and I'm sure it usually comes with lobsters, but as I had specified 'fish is ok, but no shellfish', our soup had a large piece of seabass, eel and salmon each, as well as couple of poached quail's eggs and some crunchy shredded celeriac and carrot. Very flavoursome, very nice.



This was followed by this neat number - a creamy pumpkin soup with Parmesan espuma and tiny profiteroles. Again, K's version came with roasted scallops, mine with tiny cubes of fried pumpkin and a drizzle of pumpkin seed oil. Considering that we recreated the soup & espuma at home last night, you may understand how much we enjoyed this particular creation:


The waiter filled our glasses with a 2005 Sauternes, and that was a clear giveaway about what the next dish would be. The third item on the degustation menu was a large piece of fried foie gras, served with a tomato confit mini tartlet and shards of Valhrona chocolate and some rocket leaves. This was my first time to try Sauternes wine, and I was absolutely taken by its floral and peculiar aroma - loved it! Also, the foie gras was excellent - perfectly fried, with a creamy texture and not unnecessarily cloying at all.


Again a new wine, this time Marques de Coiseres Crianza 2003 Rioja. Our fourth plate was roasted wild pigeon with a liquorice sauce and celeriac, served with a pigeon leg confit. I was a bit worried about this one, as I dislike liquorice. Or at least I thought I do. The wild pigeon was perfectly roasted - still with a hint of pink inside and extremely tender, and went very well with the subtle liquorice sauce. This was - together with the creamy pumpkin soup with Parmesan espuma - my favourite dish in the menu:


Next up, another meat course - lamb rack with aubergine/eggplant stuffed small red peppers, garlic & Kalamata olive puree, green beans. By now I was getting full and began wondering whether we should have opted for the 4-course degustation menu :) Still, a very well executed dish, with delightfully gutsy roasted Kalamata olive sprinkles:


For the dessert we got a Hot-pot au gratin with fresh berries and Muscovado sugar. We could identify red currants, blackberries and raspberries in the pudding.

We had a cup of tea, which was served with a nice selection of petit fours; and K. finished his meal with a Pomme Prisonniere Calvados Pays d'Auge (Calvados being his favourite after-dinner drink).


* 'Kus on kodu, mis on kodu, kus on kodukoht' from a popular Estonian children's movie Nukitsamees.