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From the very beginning of our journey in food service we have treasured and stood for a sustainable mindset. 

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It would be even more accurate to say that our interest in food and passion for cooking flow from the values and traditions that were part of our upbringing. 

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Hence, the majority of sustainable choices we have made and initiatives we have taken in our restaurant are intrinsic to us.  Starting from the very fact that we established our restaurant close to our roots, in Southern Estonia where we can keep alive and develop the food culture of this area in the form of a modern gourmet restaurant.

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Cooking

In order to avoid food waste, we prepare food only according to reservations. This is why we ask our guests to book a table well in advance and while making a reservation make sure that the chosen date suits their plans.

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In the kitchen we only use gas stove, oven and smoke oven, refrigerators, dehumidifier and mixer. For serving we mostly use already existing crockery.

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Produce

In order to keep our restaurant's ecological footprint as small as possible, we use seasonal local produce for cooking. This way we can support our local sustainable food system and shorten our supply chain.

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Approximately 90% of our produce is grown in Võru and Valga County, 70% of which we grow ourselves, i.e. vegetables, fruits and berries. The rest of the produce we buy from local farmers. Forest products have been foraged from our father's forest. Natural honey is also collected by our father from his apiary.

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We highly value local lamb and mutton that comes from the flocks that have grazed only on the biodiverse grasslands of Karula region. One of our sheep farmers is Triin herself.  Local butchery, devoted to valorising lamb and mutton, is located only 5 km from our restaurant. Additionally, we use beef from the cattles raised in Võru County.

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The little that is left over from cooking  we either compost and use in the restaurant garden or feed to the chickens, who in return lay us eggs.

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We store vegetables in the cellars. Our parents who are both enthusiastic gardeners and preservers can fruits and vegetables as well as berries and forest products at the end of every summer.

 

House

The small (60 m2) a hundred years old wooden house has been renovated mostly with  our own hands, using  sustainable materials and traditional techniques. We maintained the original wooden boarding, windows, some of the doors and finishing of the ceilings. 

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The interior finishing includes local clay and lime plaster on the walls and linseed oil paint on the wooden details. Warm wall and leso are built from raw bricks that have been produced with only 2% of the energy needed for the production of regular bricks.

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We heat our stoves with the wood that has been taken down in the course of maintenance or sanitary deforestation in our father's forest.  Heat is accumulated by a warm wall.  As the area of the house meets our current requirements and possibilities, the used heating system is optimal. Every autumn we insulate the windows with wool.

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Garden

Behind the restaurant lies our own garden with a greenhouse built from old wooden windows.

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We sow, plant and grow the plants ourselves with the help of our parents. Gardening, including weeding, is done by hand. In cultivation we use natural plant protection products, compost as fertiliser, if necessary. There are a total of four compost bins in the garden, two of which are in use at the same time, whilst the other two are "ripening". 

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The beds are partially covered with straw from a local farmer to help retain moisture in the soil and prevent weed growth. We collect rainwater to water the garden. An autonomous irrigation system has been built into the greenhouse, where rainwater, collected in a barrel, seeps into the soil from a perforated hose.

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In summer, both perennials and one- and two-year-old ornamental plants bloom around the house. Also bouquets of garden and meadow flowers picked by ourselves always decorate our restaurant tables.