A Most Efficient Little Detour
Following Taste, Finding More
St. Germain | Vilnius, Lithuania
A charming little restaurant had caught my attention moments before I realized I had accidentally made my way to the street they call Literatai in Vilnius, Lithuania. This unique old-town street is decorated today with dozens of plaques that honor renowned artists and writers from around the world who have in some way been connected to either Lithuania or its capital city. Many tourist websites categorize it as a must-see.
Check. I thought. This was a most efficient little detour.
Tucked in, just at its base, before Literatai winds up a gentle hill into the heart of Old Town Vilnius, was the little French bistro St. Germain that had caught my eye.
However, I was already en route to Senatoriu Pasazas, a mini urban compound-meets-food-courtyard flanked on all sides by farm-to-table restaurants, markets and wine bars. I had fallen in love with the space and its concept the year before when I passed through Vilnius for 48 hours. But many of its storefronts were closed on the Sunday and Monday I had visited. It was part of why I had come back to Vilnius, but that’s another story altogether.
Instead, I made a mental note to try St. Germain for lunch the following week. And so early Sunday afternoon, after finishing up my writing, I walked back across the bridge from Užupis, past St. Germain’s umbrella-lined patio and into its cozy little bar to see if a table for one was available. Fortunately for me, there was a cute corner table unoccupied in the front window of the dining room. As if it had been waiting for me to drop in all along.
I ordered a glass of Chablis and set about negotiating what to order between my hungry, empty stomach and the waiter. At this point in my travels, I had grown used to raising some eyebrows with my “one of this, one of those, and one of that, too, please” orders. And now here I was, in a different country, delivering the same rehearsed soliloquy. “I’m very hungry. I haven’t eaten all day.” Followed by “And I really just want to try as much of the menu as I can.” After inserting a dramatic pause for effect, I pleaded, “I may not look it, but I promise I can eat.”
I couldn’t help but wonder how the memorialized writers just outside on Literatai Street would grade my gluttonous monologue.
Everything I had ordered was delicious. They even arranged a half-portion of one of the starters, which I always appreciate as a solo, self-led traveler. I spent a lazy Sunday just as I had wanted to, ticking off some of my favorite French staples: foie gras, steak tartare and Salade Niçoise.
But my favorite part about the long, leisurely wine-filled lunch at St. Germain was my conversation with the restaurant manager. As it would turn out, this would be one of many places in Vilnius I would walk away from with a handwritten list of personal recommendations on where else to dine.
What I loved about my time in Vilnius was the locals’ fascination with my own fascination for their city. Once they had heard that I had felt called back less than a year later to explore more of their hometown, taste became the common thread between us.
Lunch at St. Germain had felt all the more special because I not only had the lovely experience of dining there, but it had also set off a chain reaction of other spectacular adventures in taste. A late breakfast at Lola’s, a never-could-I-ever forget pastrami sandwich at Halés Smokehouse in the Halés Food Hall and an epic, totally fun tasting at Deep Roots that in the throes of my homesickness I had nearly canceled altogether.
And so it seems, thanks to Taste, My Compass, my walk past St. Germain was indeed a most perfect, efficient little detour.
The Pastrami on Rye at Halés Smokehouse in Vilnius, Lithuania
