Wine & Dine Guide

  • 2016-11-16

Locale

Locale means “local.” There is a profound and well thought-out philosophy behind the name. The Locale Restaurant uses the most perfect of Latvia’s natural offerings, the freshest of local greenhouse produce, and the best of local farm-grown products.

Locale is the first restaurant in Riga owned by Ruben Panasyan, a Riga-born businessman of Armenian descent who has owned a spectrum of restaurants and clubs in Moscow and opened the Russian capital’s first cocktail bar. For Locale he’s hired a talented chef from Florence, Andrea Bressan, who is continuing to explore the many possibilities of Latvia’s fresh products.

The Locale Restaurant defines its mission as a contemporary gastronomic reconstruction. It is a meeting place for gourmets, connoisseurs of outstanding culinary art, and lovers of seasonal food. Chef Andrea Bressan has created a version of Latvian cuisine which, while steeped in tradition, would be capable of pleasing people from any part of the world. It is a synergy of Latvian produce and Mediterranean cuisine.

It is well worth following the menu of the Locale Restaurant closely: designed as genuinely seasonal, it is as constantly changing as nature itself does. The particular flavour that strikes you today will soon be replaced by a fresh gastronomic adventure. Seasonality is the acme of self-expression by the ingredients where even the most commonplace of products are able to reveal themselves in a special way. It is a well-known truth that ultimate simplicity leads to perfection. Still, it always makes you wonder: how is it possible for something so ordinary to possess such a depth of flavour?

The principle of seasonality also applies to the restaurant’s cocktail menu; alongside the time-tested classics, it features original cocktails and “homemade” soft drinks based on local fruits, berries, plants, and natural syrups.
The Locale Restaurant is easy to find — it’s located in the very heart of Riga’s Old Town, at 8 Grecinieku Street. For bookings and information please contact the restaurant’s knowledgeable staff at +371 66 11 96 77 or via [email protected]