The best restaurants of the country also include Telegrafas, which is situated in a special location with a view to the Cathedral of Vilnius. This is an ideal place for those looking for gourmet dishes of the European cuisine and an elegant environment to enjoy them in.
Telegrafas will always ensure quality and an innovative menu inspired by the tastes of both local and European cuisine. Here, Lithuanian dishes are as if re-discovered anew.
DINNER.
The concept of the restaurant’s menu is based on the change of seasons in Europe. For this reason, the menu reflects the freshest products of the season. The products travel to the restaurant from local farms and suppliers. For instance, when the season of asparagus comes, the restaurant’s menu will necessarily include a dish with this ingredient. If this is the time for forest goodies, it is likely that the restaurant’s customers will taste dishes with mushrooms. These are very natural changes in the menu ensuring the best quality and freshness.
According to J. Lopez, Telegrafas wants to highlight the importance of local products, therefore, when creating the menu the chef chooses as many Lithuanian products as possible – mushrooms, berries, various seasonal vegetables, eggs, potherbs, cheese from a Lithuanian village, etc. Javier himself most appreciates Lithuanian game meat as well as forest mushrooms and berries. According to him, these are products of royal quality.
Certainly, the team of Telegrafas really values the customers’ opinion, therefore, for a number of consecutive seasons already, visitors can taste constant “hits” of the menu – wild salmon from Scottish highlands, a tuna tartare and a beef cut.
SPECIAL DISH.
Since the restaurant’s chef values Lithuanian game meat most, it is no surprise that the dish of venison from Samogitian forests becomes the king of the restaurant’s menu for a number of years already.
By the way, this year, a new dessert has also joined the special dishes of the restaurant. Inspired by two treasures of the Baltic countries – amber and honey – the team created a polished piece of the Baltic delicacy entitled Amber Jewel. This light-textured dessert impresses with a combination of pleasant freshness and sweet honey glaze.
CHEF.
Javier Lopez was born in Barcelona, however, thanks to gastronomy, he has travelled to many countries where he worked in highly-rated restaurants, some of which were marked with Michelin stars. His long-standing colleague – Catalan kitchen chef Carles Gaig has also been appreciated by Michelin. Currently, Javier has been working in the kitchen for 19 years. Recently, with the help of his international experience and his ever-increasing knowledge about Lithuanian products, J. Lopez focuses on discovering new possibilities of the Lithuanian cuisine.
WINE LIST.
Compared with the previous year, the restaurant has a new sommelier, Mr Martynas Pravilonis, who has been recognised as the best sommelier of Lithuania for a second year running. While in a prestigious competition of sommeliers of the Baltic countries which took place in Latvia, Vana Tallinn Baltic Sommelier Grand Prix 2016, he was the first Lithuanian to win the title of the best sommelier of the Baltic countries.
BREAKFAST.
Telegrafas invites not only the guests of the hotel Kempinski Hotel Cathedral Square, but also residents of the city to enjoy a royal breakfast. Every time, they will have a small celebration: an abundant breakfast table with home-made muesli, freshly-baked home-made bread of different sorts, culinary delicacies of local farmers, an assortment of caviar, hot breakfast dishes mostly loved by the guests and sparkling wine.
LUNCH OF THE DAY.
The menu of lunch of the day at the restaurant changes every month. If you have lunch at Telegrafas, you can choose the lunch of 2 dishes or the lunch of 3 dishes, from two snacks and two main courses of that week. If you choose the menu of three dishes, you will be served a dessert. Two-dish lunch with water and coffee/tea costs EUR 20.00. Three-dish lunch with water and coffee/tea – EUR 27.00.
THE INTERIOR.
The restaurant’s interior is dominated by stone, wood and metal. The restaurant is cosier because of its wooden floor, Venice-style finishing, special lighting, uncovered fragments of the historical 16th-century defence wall and a view to the Cathedral of Vilnius seen through the windows.
INTERESTING.
As from 1948, the building of Kempinski Hotel Cathedral Square housed the General Telegraph Office of Vilnius. After the renovation, the hotel’s restaurant has retained a link with the history of Vilnius City – the restaurant was given a historical name and the remains of the 16th-century defence wall found during the renovation of the hotel were uncovered.
