LONDON

January PROMO Dining
Contemporary
tastes at
MUUSU
If you’re looking for a warm,
homey feel in Riga’s Old Town,
then head straight to the
MUUSU restaurant.
Address: Skārņu iela 6, Riga
Open: Mon.-Sat. 12:00-23:00 Sun. 17:00-23:00
Tel. (+371) 25772552
muusu.lv
muusu.lv facebook.com/muusurestorans
twitter.com/muusurestorans
instagram.com/muusurestorans
Photos by ĢIRTS OZOLIŅŠ
(Picture Agency)
Head chef
Kaspars Jansons
MUUSU (which means “ours” in Latvian) is
not only a lovely place for gourmands to
enjoy a refined meal, it is also a wonderful
experience for those seeking a pleasant
atmosphere. The feeling of being welcome
is strengthened by the elegant wooden
dressers, unpretentious linen accessories,
exposed original brick walls and tasteful
shades of grey in the restaurant’s convivial
interior. And, as in every welcoming home,
MUUSU also has its keeper of the hearth –
head chef Kaspars Jansons.
While MUUSU belongs to the same
people who founded three other popular
Riga restaurant chains – Steiku Haoss, Ribs &
Rock and KID* – it carries a slightly different
message than its kin. MUUSU is firmly
established on Riga’s restaurant scene,
having been named the best new restaurant
in Latvia in 2014 and the third best
restaurant in the country in 2015. It can also
be found in the 2017 White Guide Nordic list
of top restaurants. MUUSU has consolidated
its identity and is one of the best lunch
and dinner spots in the Old Town. The
restaurant’s chefs make use of established
culinary traditions to create contemporary
classics in exciting interpretations, with
a special place reserved for the bounty of
Latvia’s forests, fields and waters.
Jansons is proud that MUUSU has
succeeded in defining its own place among
the wide array of eating establishments in
the Old Town. Jansons is one of the leading
chefs in the country, having participated
in (and won) many international culinary
competitions and subsequently serving
as a judge at such events. Jansons has
also interned at the three-Michelin-starred Schwarzwaldstube
restaurant in the Hotel Traube Tonbach in Baiersbronn (Germany)
and at the one-Michelin-starred L’Atlantide in Nantes. His eyes
sparkle and his voice becomes more spirited when he talks about
preparing foods, experimenting in the kitchen and wishing to
please customers.
“This will be our third year in operation, and we have
established a firm client base. We also know what our customers
want. They want to experience fine dining in an informal
atmosphere, and they want to feel at home. They want to eat
healthy foods, and they want to know where these foods are
from,” says Jansons, who is a master at experimenting with both
local and foreign-sourced products to provide new flavours.
This month, for example, he is offering Latvian eel and Icelandic
scallop, and, although MUUSU is better known as a dinner
establishment, it also changes its lunch menu once a month.
“The dishes on the daytime menu are simpler and more ‘raw’,
while the evening menu presents exciting and intricate meals
that have been put together with surprising combinations of
ingredients to create memorable gastronomic experiences,”
Jansons explains.
MUUSU is also a great choice for a weekend breakfast, business
lunch or special event with dear friends. The cosy third-floor
dining room is perfect for such events and can be reserved for
private functions such as wedding celebrations. The third floor
also hosts Jansons’ chef’s table, which has become quite popular
and which provides him with the opportunity to step out of the
kitchen, meet with his guests and tell them about the exquisite
dishes that he has prepared.
MUUSU’s restaurant manager Mārtiņš Bērziņš, for his part,
wishes to highlight the new drinks menu, which features some of
the best wines of 2016.
“Our guests appreciate a good wine, which they can also order
by the glass. They often start with an aperitif and then pair an
excellent wine with their main course,” Bērziņš has observed.
Small wonder that those who have discovered MUUSU keep
coming back. And that’s exactly what the founders of the
restaurant hoped for when they launched the enterprise. BO
86 | AIRBALTIC.COM BALTIC OUTLOOK | JANUARY 2017 | 87