Cuisine that Straddles Borders

The past of the town of Narva-Jõesuu is fraught with contrasts, and opposites still coexist there. The Franzia, named after the town’s fanciest night spot in the old days, is located in a nondescript roadside building with absolutely nothing fancy about it. Not a jot. The building and everything inside it have been repurposed over and over again. The house beer, brewed at the Käbliku craft brewery, is called the Absurd to commemorate the absurd amount of hops used up in the process. The beer itself, however, is a surprisingly smooth, easy brew with a rich gooseberry aroma. And the food at the Franzia, which the house itself has been known to describe as ’brutal’, tastes of the absurd as well. Udders and penises mingle on the menu… But even so, this is no offal restaurant. Rather, this is a place that enjoys straddling (and occasionally crossing) borders. In more than one sense. Estonia’s land border with Russia is less than a kilometre away. People who find their way here are likely to have an innate appetite for borderline experiences.