SITUATION IN THE TOP 30
The restaurant ‘Gaspar’s’ is a longstanding member of the top 30 restaurants ranking and last year’s first-place winner. This year, it continues to hold the top position in the ranking.
3 WORDS THAT BEST DESCRIBE THE RESTAURANT: it’s a place we call home because, in the end, it’s not just about the food and wine.
WHY IS IT WORTH VISITING?
A small restaurant named after its owner, Gaspar, creates an extraordinary gastronomic experience in Lithuania. “Gaspar’s” combines European cuisine with modern Indian cuisine. More specifically, it draws from the cuisine of the Goa region of India, where the chef himself originates.
Since last year’s top thirty restaurants ranking, the DNA of “Gaspar’s” remains unchanged—it’s still best recognized for its unique spices. However, today’s “Gaspar’s” is quite different from the one you might have visited a year ago.
“We don’t stand still; we evolve and change all the time. We have completely revamped our à la carte menu—it’s a new format that can change weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, using even more seasonal products. This gives our regular guests more reasons to visit us more often,” says Gaspar, who runs the restaurant together with his wife Kristina.
Another change—since April, “Gaspar’s” has focused entirely on dinners, so you can no longer visit for late brunch.
According to the owners, “Gaspar’s” is worth visiting for those who are looking for good food, are open to new flavors, and enjoy gourmet experiences—you’ll find plenty of that here.
WHAT SHOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT THE MENU?
Gaspar emphasizes that they use spices in their cooking; it’s part of their identity. “However, our food is not spicy—those are two different things. But we cannot cook without spices, so our guests should expect food full of flavor,” the restaurant owners emphasize.
The dishes at “Gaspar’s” are made from the highest quality ingredients, prepared professionally with the right techniques, and with a lot of love, attention, and care. The restaurant works with small local farms and uses only organic eggs.
The restaurant says it doesn’t have signature dishes, as they constantly change and evolve, but it certainly has an unmistakable signature flavor.
WHY DO GUESTS RETURN?
Guests return because they feel at home in the restaurant. “Guests come back because of our atmosphere, the food, and because they feel our care. We always tell our service staff to treat the restaurant’s visitors as guests in their own home. And I think we succeed at that. We want our guests to say it was a great day or evening when they leave,” Gaspar mentions.
WHO WORKS IN THE KITCHEN?
Gaspar came to Lithuania from the United Kingdom but was born on the sunny island of Goa, and his grandparents are Portuguese. One of them was a chef who prepared food for the Portuguese colonial government and royalty. Gaspar’s mother inherited the culinary talent from him. Both of his parents were involved in the food business, so Gaspar knew from a young age that he also wanted to be a chef.
He graduated from the prestigious “Le Cordon Bleu” culinary school in London. He worked in many places and started his career in the food world by washing dishes. Eventually, he worked in the kitchen of the prestigious “Wentworth Golf Club” in London.
After moving to Vilnius with his wife nine years ago, he founded a restaurant that this year received “Michelin” recognition—“Gaspar’s” was awarded for its hospitality and earned the “Bib Gourmand” nomination.
Gaspar says that being a chef is not just a job but a way of life. “It’s definitely not the easiest profession; it requires a lot of hard work and personal sacrifice. If you love what you do and do it with an unending thirst—you can be one of the best,” believes the chef of “Gaspar’s” restaurant.
Gaspar says he is proud of the restaurant’s team—from the service staff to the cleaning crew. Over the year, not a single employee has left the restaurant; they have only added new ones.
Photos by Robertas Daskevičius.
