Pärnu restaurants report summer customer numbers are high
Restaurant and cafe owners in Estonia's summer capital, Pärnu, say the season has been going well so far and with a few weeks to go – despite the recent wetter conditions.
Oliver Paasik, manager of one such facility, the Rannahotel, on Pärnu shore, told AK that: "So far, our restaurant has performed completely satisfactorily. Certainly overheads have been rising, but the number of guests has remained roughly a constant. The rest of summer clearly lies ahead. We have a saying in Pärnu that if July is a little rainy, August will be very, very nice."
August 2022 was exceptionally hot and sunny in Estonia, while July this year has seen torrential rain at times, and quite low temperatures at night.
Another restaurant, Raimond, at the Hedon Spa hotel, lies in a prime beachfront location also – in summertime, noone is interested in sitting indoors even with the changeable weather.
In fact, the main problem for this business remains the sheer numbers of diners.
Marko Lumera, head chef at Raimond, said: "Then it becomes hard. Wait times get longer, just as in many places in the city, so it is the case with us. But if people don't mind waiting a bit and enjoying each other's company, then this time can pass easily enough."
Rööm, another restaurant, is a new venue, in the town center.
It has so far been performing well, after opening its doors in the spring, head chef Jürgen Lip says."We have exceeded all forecasts many times over and we are already eagerly anticipating the fall, as we will be making various alterations to the restaurant then. We will be opening a more private area with a separate chef's corner on the second floor."
Mum Cafe on has also only been in business, at its new location at least, for a few months, but customers have had no difficulty finding it, owner Maarit Kõrgekivi said.
Despite being a cafe, the venue is in fact the largest restaurant in Pärnu, seating 250.
"We opened at the end of April. May turned out to be very, very busy, something you certainly wouldn't have believed ahead to time. And then the real summer came, and of course we had hoped that that would be good. And we can't really complain about anything," she said.
About the only margin for improvement would be for the restaurant to be more on the itinerary of the many foreign tourists who visit Pärnu in summer, Kõrgekivi added.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Merili Nael
Source: 'Aktuaalne kaamera', reporter Ester Vilgats,.
