Mahedik

Mahedik is where you’ll find every single one of Pärnu’s environmentally conscious gourmets. The chefs here set a brilliant example of preparing humble, yet rich dishes made with eco-grown, local produce. The menu always features a fresh catch from the Pärnu Bay; butter-fried zander comes with Toome Salad, an well-known mix of preserved vegetables found in every local housewife’s pantry. This particular version features pleasantly snappy cucumbers, onions and carrots with clear flavors that indicate the chefs know what they’re doing.

The salad’s slightly sour notes pair well with Tori Cider Farm’s Kuldrenett cider, made with one of Estonia’s most common apples, the Golden Reinette. During off-season afternoons this recently refurbished space is an unimaginably stylish, small-town idyll. Time passes s-l-o-o-o-o-w-l-y, to the tune of melancholy background music, but the atmosphere is cozy and leaving this bliss is hard to do.