Puri A la Carte Restaurant

Estonia’s grim history is packed with tales of suffering. Food was never a laughing matter. As the saying goes: “Thou shalt not play with food!

” Clearly, the folks at Puri never heard that old adage. The first thing to reach the table is house-made bread and butter, the latter sculpted into a mushroom during mushroom season. The menu’s eye-catching “bath” duck merits a double take, without revealing anything, we’ll let you discover what it is, suffice to say that the evident playfulness belies the polished preparations.

Head Chef Joonas Koppel succeeded his renowned father in this job. Born with a “ladle in his hand”, Koppel surely watched his dad at work and has tweaked Puri’s dishes with a child’s sense of imagination. His culinary style is boldly experimental and untouched by taboos.

His plating is lovely in its slight naivete. A touch of immaturity is a wonder to behold.