Cher Ami

Skipping town for a day is easy, just beyond Tallinn’s city walls there are countless restaurants offering culinary adventures. If you listen up, you’ll hear the siren song of Keila-Joa Schloss Fall. The thought of eating (and why not sleeping) at a count's castle where Russian tsars used to feast sounds irresistible, doesn't it? It might be a small castle, truth be told it’s more of a manor house, but it’s freshly renovated and its tall ceilings create a majestic impression despite the fact that the overall dimensions describe rooms rather than regal salons.

Book a suite for the night, it’s an experience fit for an emperor. Take a walk around the property, through the park, to the waterfall. Then settle in at establishment’s restaurant, Cher Ami, where French and Russian classics rule and where champagne makes a worthy dining companion. There’s a vast selection, from non vintage Pierre Paillard to a 2004 Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque.

And naturally there are plenty of vodkas to choose from; local Silver Swan as well as exclusive Beluga Transatlantic Race, among others. To complement the grand surroundings, the food is (likely intentionally) discreet. It seeks to please everyone and succeeds in doing so. It doesn’t strive to be the primary reason to visit, but it adds an elegant flavor to the entire experience.

Service is carried out in a slow manner that reminds inappropriately hurried guests of the quality of these fleeting moments. The selection of non-alcoholic beverages is scant, this place celebrates the customs of the halcyon days and eschews fads.