Estonia is a small country on the Baltic Sea. Its neighbours are Latvia and Russia. But there are special links with Finland and Sweden across the sea, owing to their similar language and a shared history. In comparison to other Baltic countries, there is more of a Scandinavian influence on lifestyle and outlook to be found in Estonia. And it has its effect on the restaurant and hotel business. A report by Vytautas Mickevicius (‘Restoranu verslas’, www.rv.meniu.lt).
 

 
The capital Tallinn is the country’s biggest city with its seaport and the old Hanseatic town which has been magnificently restored. In the Middle Ages, it was one of the most important ports of northeast Europe. After the fall of the Soviets, when Estonia regained its independence in 1991, within ten years Tallinn became a modern city with beautiful hotels, nice restaurants and lively night clubs. No wonder, then, that it is visited by tourists aplenty, especially like to go to Estonia to shop – there are lots of large supermarkets near the port.After the re-establishment of independence, as the number of tourists visiting Estonia from the West increased, the hotel and restaurant market started to develop. Most of the restaurants and hotels were oriented towards Finnish tourists, so their dishes and their business models were copied from Finland and both chefs and managers were imported from there, too. As early as 1992, the hotel ‘Viru’ in Tallinn had achieved an elite status withmost of its guests being Finnish.
 
Estonians started to be interested in international cuisine. Food fairs were organized where restaurant suppliers presented their products to the Balticcountries. Compared to Lithuanian and Latvian cuisine, the Estonian one is not very rich or exclusive. Estonians have some national dishes based on pork, potatoes, fish – especially herring and sprats, dark rye-bread, dairy products and egg dishes. It is worth mentioning the national liqueur ‘Vana Tallinn’. Because the country has often been under foreign occupation, it has absorbed traditions of Scandinavian, Russian and German cuisine. As the range and quality of food on the market began to improve, so did the standard of training in catering colleges. As the food market started to develop, the quality of training in cookery schools also improved. Estonian cooks gain most benefit from practising in professional restaurants run by foreigners.
 

 
The choice of foodservice establishments is also very different from what it was before – ranging from the simple coffeebar to restaurants in hotels and cruise ships. Working with professional chefs from abroad is precisely what has greatly improved the levels of expertise of local chefs. Now there is a well-developed market for foodservice establishments in Estonia. The number of restaurants and eating establishments is growing steadily. In addition to a modest number of national Estonian restaurants there are all kinds of ethnic restaurants.
 
For example, Tallinn has 5 first-class Indian restaurants, numerous Chinese restaurants, as well as Mexican, Thai and African restaurants. Most such restaurants have come to Estonia via Scandinavia with the help of investment from Finnish or Swedish businessmen. Caucasian cuisine is very popular and of a very high standard; Caucasian restaurants are spread all over the country. There are also some very popular grill-houses.