The chef in question is Latvian-Canadian Elmārs Tannis, the larger-than-life character behind the enjoyable restaurant Umami, among other projects.

The concept at Elmāro, situated about a 15-minute walk from the Old Town, is a casual eating space attached to a wine bar and store with the successful brand Vīna Studija.

You have the option of walking through the wine bar to the dining tables or, unlike the previous incarnation, via a separate door from Tērbatas. The wine store offers a vast choice of vintages you can take away or uncork on the premises.

Elmāro keeps much the same look and design as before but tries to make the dark and refined atmosphere a touch more playful with a splash of color from a wall-full of paintings and a more involving menu.

We dropped by for a bowl of soup de poisson (€8.50), apparently inspired by the chef’s recent visit to France.

A thick, whisked-up, dark-orange bisque of tomato, saffron and fish topped with herbs and a spatter of cream, it was served with little crostini toasts, grated flakes of Comté cheese, a delicious olive-oil rouille sauce, and two optional cloves of raw garlic. The soup was warming and surprisingly filing, the saffron clearly emerging as a key ingredient.

If you just want a taster of this or one of the other soups, order a “shot” of the stuff for about a third of the price.

The menu has much to catch the eye, with a range of eight appetizers to match Vīna Studija’s extensive selection of wines – soft and hard cheeses, antipasti, baguette toasts. Or just mix your own with your favorite bits and pieces from the list.

The do-it-yourself angle to the menu continues to the salads, where already rich layers of leaves and vegetables can be made more substantial with an optional topping of shrimps, chicken, bacon or lamb.

Mains resemble the broadly international dishes on offer at Umami, including grilled fillet of New Zealand lamb, oven-baked haddock from Iceland, and duck breast in spicy rhubarb sauce (in the €13 to €18.50 range). Vegetarians will love the asparagus, zucchini, carrot, mushroom, and mozzarella casserole (€8).

After the soup we enjoyed a couple of balls of refreshing homemade lemon-lime-sea buckthorn sorbet (€2.15). Desserts include carrot cake, rhubarb soup and classic New York cheesecake, but for us the sorbet was the perfect finish to our Elmāro lunch.