Max Cekot Kitchen
Riga, Latvia
⭐1 Star
The Experience
From Michelin Guide
Max Cekot’s restaurant is a surprisingly sophisticated place considering its location in a red-brick former warehouse on the edge of the city. Your evening starts downstairs with drinks and amuse bouches, before you head up the narrow spiral staircase for dinner, where Max has designed everything from scratch, from the furniture to the crockery. Numerous elements make up each of the original dishes on the surprise menu, with sweet, savoury and acidic flavours all balancing one another, and delicious sauces bringing each dish together perfectly. Max finishes some of these dishes tableside, where home-grown ingredients are often featured.
Unique Things
From Visitor Experiences
Here are three unique and unconventional aspects of Max Cekot Kitchen in Riga:
1. Multi-Level Immersive Dining Journey
Max Cekot Kitchen spans three floors, each thoughtfully designed to create a unique journey for guests. The experience begins on the first floor with welcome drinks and opening dishes, setting the tone for the evening. The main dinner unfolds on the second floor in an intimate setting, while every detail—from interior design to tableware—has been crafted to enhance authenticity and atmosphere, including a blue line crossing the wooden community table and intricate lava patterns on the plates.
2. Handcrafted Interior and Tableware by Local Artisans
The restaurant’s interior and all design elements are custom-made by local artisans, including furniture, light fixtures, and ceramics. This hands-on approach extends to preserving the historic character of the old wood factory building while integrating modern, personal touches, making the space itself a breathtaking and unique part of the dining experience.
3. Constantly Evolving Surprise Tasting Menu with Tableside Finishes
Max Cekot Kitchen offers a 15-course seasonal tasting menu that changes every two months, with new dishes introduced every three weeks. The surprise menu balances sweet, savory, and acidic flavors, often finished tableside using home-grown ingredients. This dynamic and interactive culinary approach allows guests to witness the artistry and hear stories behind each dish directly from the chef and team in the open kitchen.
These elements combine to create a Michelin-starred dining experience that is as much about atmosphere and storytelling as it is about the food itself.
Ingredient Stars
From Visitor Experiences
The most honored or signature ingredients at Max Cekot Kitchen in Riga, a Michelin-starred restaurant, reflect its strong focus on local, seasonal, and garden-to-table produce. Key ingredients include:
Local garden herbs and edible flowers: Used not just as garnishes but as integral flavor components, often replacing traditional seasonings like salt, pepper, sugar, or lemon. These provide acidity and aromatic complexity without using citrus, which does not grow locally.
Beans: Featured prominently in signature dishes, such as the dish combining beans with tahoon and green apple, showcasing a balance of sweet, savory, and acidic flavors.
Seasonal fruits like cherries and red currants: Used in creative combinations, for example with ceps mushroom ravioli, adding both color and a tart-sweet dimension to dishes.
Ceps mushrooms: A prized local mushroom used in refined preparations, highlighting the forest bounty of Latvia.
Bread and pesto: Reflecting traditional elements elevated with local ingredients and modern techniques, often served as part of the tasting menu experience.
These ingredients are woven into a 15-course tasting menu that emphasizes freshness, locality, and innovative flavor pairings, with about 80% of the produce sourced from the restaurant’s own garden or nearby farms. The use of edible flowers and herbs to replace citrus and other common seasonings is particularly distinctive, underscoring the restaurant’s commitment to authentic Latvian terroir and creativity.