Turning Family Recipes into Unique Modern Visions at Estonia’s Hiis

There are plenty of reasons to venture outside of the capital when visiting Estonia, but Hiis provides a compelling argument for adding the quiet village of Manniva to your itinerary. Head east towards the coast from Tallinn and you’ll find yourself in a charming rural landscape that sets the scene for things to come.

The name Hiis translates as ‘secret grove’ or ‘holy site’, and you’ll find the restaurant secreted away within an old farmhouse on the Taju Estate, where it operates as part of a collective dedicated to health and wellbeing – while also following the principles of a circular economy.

Here, in a room created from fallen tree branches, Aas offers his 15-course menu to just six tables of lucky diners. As you’d expect, ingredients are plucked from the garden, foraged from the surrounding land and sourced from small local producers, with lesser-used cuts employed to make the most of each animal.

This respect for nature isn’t at the expense of creativity though; in fact, it enhances it. The chef’s keen approach to reducing waste and following a circular ethos encourages him to find original uses for parts of the produce that would usually been thrown away. Through detailed preparation and cooking techniques, he captures the best flavours and textures of each ingredient in unique ways, while also bringing childhood memories into play.

In this video, part of our Raw Material series, we step behind the scenes to see how Aas develops ones of his latest ideas, working in conjunction with Henry Gregory, a market gardener. By adapting the ingredients of one of his grandfather’s favourite recipes – caramel and sour cream – he uses up the larger, unwanted leaves of Gregory’s kale plants in place of the caramel, marinating them in quince juice to create a uniquely updated version of one of his favourite childhood dishes.