Antonio Serra comes from Sardinia in Italy, however, has mainly worked in foreign restaurants: in France, Spain, Great Britain. He came to Lithuania because of love, therefore, since October 2015 he decided to settle down in Vilnius and soon took up the challenge of Salvete City.
Antonio is not the only one Italian in this restaurant. Alvyda’s son-in-law Euglen who comes from Florence takes care of all administrative matters and is an important advisor. As aforementioned, this is a family restaurant. This is because Alvyda treats her staff as a family.
DINNER.
Antonio changes the menu of Salvete City 5 times a year. 4 seasons means 4 menus, but where is the 5th one? During the Christmas period and a month before it, the restaurant has a special festive menu.
Chef states that the initial point for creating a new menu is the ingredients of the current season. It is most often a specific vegetable, fruit or berry. Since Antonio came to Lithuania from Italy, and gained his experience in different European countries, he has a broader view on seasonal products. When he creates dishes, he anticipates what is “the best” at the time not only in kitchen-gardens and farms in Lithuania but in the entire Europe.
INGREDIENTS.
Some vegetables, fruit, fresh fish (wild, not from farms) come to the restaurant from Sardinia. Avyda and Antonio also bring cheeses, wines, dried and smoked meat, olive oil from Italy themselves. They bake bread locally. Antonio has a very good opinion of the Lithuanian meat and local dairy products.
PREHISTORY OF THE RESTAURANT.
The first Salvete was opened by Ms. Eigminienė in the golf club of the European Centre, and the second – „Salvete City“ – which was rated in this project, opened its door in Vilnius. In addition to restaurants, the woman and her husband Arvidas are also engaged in some interesting activity, namely, sheep farm.
SHEEP.
Not far from Sartai, where the Eigminai have their homestead, there is the family’s sheep farm. It emerged from a practical wish to have something to eat the grass so as to solve the problem of mowing the loan. In this way, a few sheep occurred in the homestead. Later they started breeding and soon there were people who were interested in the Eigminai mutton. This is how one more family business was born, namely, sheep farm which has about 150 sheep. Actually, there are also chicken there now, and there are trouts in the pond. Naturally, this restaurant serves particularly fresh and healthy meat, fish and poultry.
INTERIOR DESIGN.
Alvyda and her daughter Beatričė put all their heart into interior of the restaurant. They were assisted by the artist Vaiva Abromaitytė. Vaiva’s paintings with both family’s daughters, family’s personal items and history are decorations of both restaurant halls. Furniture is mainly produced by Lithuanians. On the tables, quality porcelain, professional tableware and Swiss crystal are used.
WINE CARD.
Wine card in this restaurant is special for its uniqueness – the restaurant has wines that you will not find anywhere in Lithuania. Alvyda personally communicates with a few Italian wine farms from which she orders this “sacred” beverage. Since the hostess of Salvete has graduated sommelier school (but has no time for exams), she herself often gives advice to the diners on wine and food matching.
LUNCH SPECIALS.
Lunch menu changes every week. It is special because it offers as many as three sets of courses (one is for meat lovers, another – for fish lovers, and the third one is intended for vegetarians). The average price of lunch is EUR 8-11, but it can be divided and less can be ordered for lunch.
INTERESTING.
Alvyda has been interested in slow food movement for a number of years. She tries to convey these ideas in her restaurant. The main aim is to promote the consumption of healthy, organic food, enjoy food preparation and gastronomic heritage. Slow food advocates also encourage others to think about what they eat and how to preserve national and traditional cuisines, and shops with organic products. Presently Alvyda has started raising sheep, fish, and birds. It is a coincidence , perhaps, that slow food movement started in Italy.
