green
Restaurants
By Andra Kunstberga.
16.04.2013
The concept at green is to rustle up purely organic ingredients into tasty dishes that are both vegetarian and meat-based. Even the cooking procedures are ecologically clean.
Mass-produced bouillon is banned from the premises, and only salt, pepper and herbs are used in the preparations. Vegetables are never overcooked, retaining the maximum quantity of good stuff.
The design of the restaurant is spacious and tasteful, with slatted wooden partitions, clean wooden tables, transparent flax curtains, and rough cuts of trees arranged in the walls. “Edible grass” grows in pots on each table.
The place was virtually empty on the sunny afternoon we called in. We were quickly presented with a menu, but after that service from the fluent English-speaking waitress was a bit lax. It was ten minutes before we saw her again to make our order, entertained instead by cocktail bar jazz and a splash of Johnny Cash. When the water appeared we politely ignored the lipstick stains on the glass.
The soup of the day was delicious, however – a thick, pale yellow combination of cauliflower and carrot (€4.30), with blobs of raw-milk cheese inside and a dash of balsamic on top. It was accompanied by fresh bread and herby butter.
Vegetarian dishes are signaled on the menu by a tear-shaped spot. There are many of them to choose from. But don’t be surprised if you see your neighbor tucking into rabbit pizza. Because of the emphasis on organic, suitable meats are hard to find. There’s no chicken or fish.
So eight or nine salads with ingredients like pumpkin, spinach, avocado and balsamic-marinated beetroot rub shoulders on the menu with rabbit-meat soup and lamb knuckle slow-cooked on the bone in red wine (€14 for the latter).
Pizzas are cooked in a kiln behind the bar and range in price from €7 (20 cm) to €9 (30 cm). The rabbit variety also includes zucchini, onion marmalade, olives, and a creamy rosemary sauce.
green urges its clients to propagate information about organic food to their kids. There’s a children’s room at the back of the restaurant and a separate organic menu for the little ones. Kids’ parties can also be catered for.
During your meal leave room for dessert – try the egg-free carrot cake or duck-egg crème brûlée. There’s a varied wine list, fresh juices of course, and Latvia’s excellent Valmiermuiža beer. You can also order “organic cola” made with sugarcane from Paraguay. It leaves a fruity aftertaste.
