About JOHN Chef's Hall
JOHN Chef's Hall earned its Michelin star within six months of opening in 2024 — a recognition that surprised nobody who had eaten at chef Kristaps Silis's 16-seat counter in the A22 Hotel, the converted former American Embassy on Ausekla Street. The intimate format — six tables, 16 covers, an open kitchen pass that guests face directly throughout the meal — creates the most direct relationship between kitchen and dining room in Latvia.
Silis's cooking is grounded in Latvian identity but expressed through a contemporary tasting menu format that draws on his years of training and stage work in demanding European kitchens. The current menu is built around three central ingredients — wild venison, rainbow trout, and tomatoes — paired with locally foraged and cultivated seasonal accompaniments. Each course tells a specific story about the Latvian landscape and the people who work within it: the fishing communities of the Baltic coast, the foragers who supply wild herbs and mushrooms, the farmers who grow heritage grains in the fields east of Riga.
The A22 Hotel setting adds historical resonance to the dining experience: the building's former life as the American Embassy during the Cold War has been carefully acknowledged in the hotel's design, and the dining room inherits a quality of space — high ceilings, proportioned rooms, architectural gravitas — that purpose-built hotel restaurants rarely achieve. The wine pairing programme is available at an additional charge and draws on natural wines from Latvia, Georgia, and the wider natural wine world.
JOHN Chef's Hall operates only Thursday to Saturday, 18:00 to 22:00, and reservations are essential weeks in advance for weekend sittings. The restaurant was also recognised by La Liste as one of the top 1000 restaurants in the world — significant recognition for a Baltic capital that was, until recently, rarely mentioned in the same sentence as the great European fine-dining cities.
Best Occasion Fit
For proposals in Riga, JOHN Chef's Hall offers the most intimate and intellectually engaging fine-dining experience in the Baltic states — a counter that seats 16, a kitchen that you face throughout the meal, and cooking of the highest level in a setting of genuine architectural distinction. For impressing clients, the Michelin star, La Liste recognition, and the exclusivity of the format (Thursday to Saturday only, weeks-ahead booking) communicates seriousness that few restaurants in the region can match.