Last night, the new fine dining restaurant Juur opened its doors in Tallinn, at Ülemiste City; its creators intend for it to become the best restaurant in Estonia, honouring the hidden treasures of Estonian nature through world-class culinary arts.

According to one of the founders of Gourmet Coffee’s restaurant Juur, Annar Alas, the main keywords of the new restaurant are Nordic cuisine, molecular gastronomy, pure produce of Estonian farmers, old vegetable varieties, fascinating new interior of a historic building, impeccable service, and an excellent selection of wines, champagnes, cognacs and Estonian craft coffee. 

‘On our menu, we wish to show what it is possible to achieve with well-selected Estonian produce, and with our foods, we will be going back to the very original tastes of plants like our forefathers did,’ clarified the head chef of the restaurant, Kaido Metsa, who has previously worked as the head chef of Gloria Wine Cellar, practised in the Peruvian star restaurant Lima, located in London, and who came second in the competition Chef of the Year 2016.  

The rustic, yet contemporarily cosy interior was designed for the restaurant by distinguished interior designers Tõnis Kalve and Ahti Grünberg. The restaurant organically grows much of its produce itself, and on the roof of the building, a greenhouse will soon be completed, with a fermentation house next to it – a large shipping container, in which the catering establishment will also be growing mushrooms for their own use. 

The 350 square metre, 85-seat top restaurant Juur was opened in the old manufacturing building of the Dvigatel factory, constructed in 1898. From 1958 to 1986, it housed mechanical assembly shop No. 17 that produced vehicle cranes.  

According to Chairman of the Management Board of Mainor Ülemiste, Margus Nõlvak, which develops Ülemiste City, the opening of Juur has been long-awaited. ‘We are increasingly moving in the direction to create more buzz in the region after working hours and during weekends, and Juur provides an opportunity for 8000 people working here every day to organise fancier business lunches and remain in the area after the end of the working day,’ clarified Nõlvak, according to whom, both the new restaurant and the soon-to-be-opened top-of-the-line sports club should give even more reason for residents of Tallinn to visit Ülemiste City.