I can vouch for this, having just been on holiday in Lithuania and sampled the talents of the excellent chefs at 1 Dublis, a contemporary restaurant outside the centre in an area that’s definitely ‘up and coming’, with graffiti and wonderful old buildings just waiting to be developed.
The hand-drawn paper menu is tiny (about 3cm square) and there are no choices, but everything is made on the premises and tastes mouthwateringly heavenly. In fact, they keep the same menu for a least a week, as it takes some time to bring these dishes to perfection.
You can watch the four-man team working in the open kitchen and see their final dish construction in the overhead mirrors. It’s fascinating watching them work with tweezers and paintbrushes to create a salad, a soup and a dessert that could grace the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.
For our menu, we had catfish in a delicious yogurt sauce that you eat with miniature wooden tongs from a cup, then aged beef with finely sliced vegetables to which a sweet potato broth is added from a glass teapot (by the chefs standing behind us) all at the same time. True table theatre!
The dessert though was the pièce de résistance: a fruit-laden tree created from miniature plum and berry meringues and fruits, with apple soil and dark chocolate branches.
This is the second restaurant to be launched by charismatic chef Deivydas, and there are two sittings each evening. But do make a reservation, as there are only 20 seats, and as it’s incredible value for money, they are always full.
We had a wonderful holiday, sustained by the sanctuary of white sand beaches in the wildfowl resort of Nida, then city centre sightseeing at galleries and museums in Vilnius. Yet, this restaurant, with its contemporary décor and plates of delights, was the Prosecco of our trip; uplifting, surprising and fun.
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