On 14 July, the first home cafés opened their doors to treat visitors to local food and a programme of local culture and activities. By mid-September, 41 destinations, each with its own unique flavour, will be open across Latvia.
This is the third time that the Latvian Investment and Development Agency (LIAA) has organised Home Café Days and the number of cafés is growing, proving that there is a high demand for rural recreation. "This activity will offer unusual locations to visitors, most of which do not offer catering services and hospitality on a daily basis. We invite you to taste local food, enjoy an interesting cultural programme and have a great experience in the Latvian countryside," says Kaspars Rožkalns, Director of LIAA, stressing that this year the cafés will also especially welcome guests from Lithuania and Estonia, where special campaigns will be implemented to promote Latvia's rural tourism offer.
This year, Latvia's regional tourism offer will also be promoted throughout Latvia on various dates from 14 July to 17 September 2023 (almost every weekend), with an average of 18 home cafés and regional tourism offers in each destination. Various additional activities are organised to attract a wider range of visitors, especially families with children: handicraft workshops, games, playing musical instruments, etc.
The project "Home Café Days", where improvised cafés in farmhouses and courtyards of houses treat guests with delicious dishes, was created together with the Latvian Rural Tourism Association "Lauku ceļotājs". Asnāte Ziemele, Chairwoman of the Board, invites you to: "This year, Home Café Days are taking place in 41 destinations - smaller areas in Latvia's regions that have their own sense of community and identity, regardless of parish and district boundaries. The talents of the hosts are not only culinary. In many places, guests will be entertained with musical performances and special entertainment for children. Many home cafés also offer a tour of their homestead, manor or farm - who we are, what we do on a daily basis, how we live in the countryside".
Elsewhere, the hosts promise a classic country meal, elsewhere a journey around the world through the cuisines of the nations: Estonian, Japanese, Ukrainian, Italian. Spanish cuisine, for example, will be enjoyed together with a short Spanish course. More than one farm will also have a vegetarian and vegan menu, which you can easily check using the filter on the website. There will also be a medieval home café and a night café.
The different flavours of the Vidzeme coast
A visit to the Vidzeme Coast Home Cafés can combine a visit to several little-known and otherwise inaccessible estates. You can visit the Jaunlāde Manor, where the owners of the Italian restaurant Casa Nostra, well known to Rigaers, are hosts. Visitors will also be able to visit Ķipēnu Manor, where the ecological way of life is respected, as well as Svētupe Manor and meet its owners. While in the area, it would be a sin not to visit the Gogelmogels ice-cream factory, as well as Mārtiņš Sirmanis' café "With roots in the land". During the home cafés, Japanese, Latvian and Estonian flavours can be enjoyed in the ceramics workshop "Cepļi" by Ingrīda Žagata.
In Zemgale - in a circle of light around Dobele, Tērvete and Auce!
July is the time of lavender blossom, and the home café "Golden Hour in Lavender" will take care of your tummies as well as beautiful pictures and a good night's sleep. Flower and garden lovers will also be attracted by the café "Zemgaļi", whose owner prides herself not only on her cooking skills, but also on her magnificent garden where you can buy perennials. The main course will be an exotic Afghan casana. Fish and fishing enthusiasts will enjoy the VIPēdis programme. And a taste of the nomadic lifestyle can be enjoyed at the Wild West Café, where tipi tents will be set up and nature food will be served. The host of "Lauknīca" will also join the Slow Food culture, inviting guests to spend a leisurely time in the tranquillity of the countryside and serving meals made from the high quality products grown in the Zemgale countryside.
Latgale's Golden Road - Vysi gosti lobi byus, kas munā'i pogolmā!
"Handmade Latgola in Livani has decided to open its own Garden Café for the first time this year as part of the Home Café Days, serving special delicacies, including the excellent Livani ice cream, served in Latgalian artisan containers. Why shouldn't a Latgalian hostess be as temperamental as an Italian one when the glass blown in Latgale is as hot as Murano's! Inspired by a trip to see Murano glass, bruschetta will be made in Livani at the Glass and Craft Centre "Home Café Days" to enjoy different flavours. They are made so that a man's man also feels full.
This year, the Jānis Pliekšāns or Rainis Childhood Land Museum "Jasmuiža" is all about weddings, with a new exhibition on wedding traditions in Latgale in the 20th century. The best of what has been found on Latgalian wedding tables for about a century will be served at the "Home Café" family table - there will be young bulls with sauerkraut, sautéed sausages and cheese, and sweet dishes such as authentic Latgalian biscuit cake and žagariņi, or "meiškenis" as the locals call them. A musician will take care of the festivities with wedding songs, games and even fortune-telling.
Rediscover Gulbene!
This week, 10 home cafés will be open in Gulbene. Among them is the home café "Kadiķīši", whose owner is interested in Latvian plants that grow in nature and are edible, including various weeds in the traditional sense. This will also be reflected in the menu of her home café, which will be vegetarian.
The format of the home café "Feast in the forest" will be unusual, offering its guests a vegan meal in the forest. According to the organisers themselves, the Feast in the Woods will offer the opportunity to experience the magic of nature and presence in a very unusual and slightly intimate experience.
Guests should be prepared to take a walk in the woods before arriving at the venue itself.
For the first time this year, the "Rubens" holiday resort, which is a place of relaxation and celebration, glamping on a daily basis, but will also invite guests to enjoy the atmosphere and cuisine of the southern countries on Home Café Days, will also be hosting guests on Home Café Days.
These and many more hosts will be waiting for you from 14 to 16 July!
Before heading to the selected home cafés, please:
1. Contact the café and book your visit to make sure there is a table waiting.
2. check the time of the activity you have chosen - each activity may take place at different times.
3. check if the venue you have chosen will accept cashless payments - not all event organisers will be able to accept credit cards.
All information on venues is available at www.majaskafejnicas.lv.
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