POSITION IN THE TOP 30. Past few years, chef Justinas Kapkovičius has established himself very well in the restaurants located in the Esperanza Resort and created menus that he finally sincerely likes. Compared to 2016 and 2017 ratings, this is the highest position of the La Esperanza restaurant in this project (8th place in 2016 and 9th place in 2017.
RESTAURANT’S UNIQUENESS. In the context of Lithuania, this elegant boutique hotel Esperanza Resort, which belongs to the network of exclusive independent hotels Small Luxury Hotels of the World, is sincerely unique place. As soon as you arrive at an oasis located in Lithuanian forests, on a hill, you are greeted by wild deer and a small modest sign. This place is favored by those who value privacy, high-level service and top-class food.
BRIEF MENU. La Esperanza is the most luxurious restaurant out of all three in this complex. Here, you will find more art on the plate than in the other two restaurants and even 45 dishes to choose on the menu!
Head chef Justinas Kapkovičius does not favor one particular cuisine and rather combines different schools. „Nowadays that the access to top quality products has become easier, the final result mostly depends on the kitchen’s creative abilities and experience“, – he says. And as for the latter features, the 23-people kitchen team of the Esperanza Resort, that the chef himself calls his Real Madrid, definitely does not lack them.
True, not all restaurants in Lithuania can afford to work with the top-quality ingredients that are used by La Esperanza. The same ingredients from the same suppliers - for example, Pyrenean lamb loin, veal loin from Tirol, black cod from Greenland, etc. – are supplied to the Michelin star world-class restaurants. So the dish here starts with the best quality ingredient that Justinas „embeds“ with seasonal products when they are in their very height.
CULINARY HITS. Truffle stuffed burrata cheese – 19 Eur, goose liver (black salsify purée with burnt butter, hot quince jelly, true morels, black currant sauce) – 27 Eur.
CHEF. Justinas found his vocation for the kitchen 11 years ago, when he left for Scotland where he studied IT-related sciences but, at the same time, was learning culinary secrets from the masters of classical French cuisine. While abroad, he decided to work in the area of food, and not computers. When he returned to Lithuania, for many years he worked in Arūnas Oželis’ restaurant Le Provence, when it was at its peak. Later on, he worked in the team of the former chef of Esperanza Resort, then left for a while to gain experience elsewhere, travelled a lot, until finally returned and became the chef-in-chief of the restaurants of Esperanza Resort. By the way, this is a place where quite a number of currently well-known chefs started and pursued their career, and now their restaurants are included into the list of the best compiled in the context of this project.
