Ēriks Dreibants, our chef, has been working at "Kaļķu Vārti" since the very beginning. He and the whole team have never ceased their search for creativity, which has been reflected in our menus where you can find something new every time.

Ēriks started his professional career by peeling potatoes and learning all the secrets and finesses of the kitchen step by step. He became a chef five years ago. Ēriks has had in-service training in Poland, Greenland, Italy, France, Spain and Russia. In his free time he likes to travel in order to get a deeper insight into the eating traditions of other countries. On the whole he has been to about 50 countries getting familiarized with the cuisines of such exotic countries (from the European point of view) as Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Bolivia, Laos, Iran and Kazakhstan.

Ēriks Dreibants says: “The motto of my life is the road both literally and figuratively. I enjoy to search for new ideas and discover the secrets of culinary, to always be on the road and to get to know the World and to be on the creativity road together with the cooks of “Kaļķu Vārti” developing new dishes.”

Dina Gira, our pastry cook, says: “I have been working at Kalku Vārti since the first day. Since then, I have been growing and perfecting myself together with my team.

It is my calling to create miracle. It is essential to discern the miracle while it is just beginning to evolve and then develop it to perfection.

I find the wishes of my clients very important and hence I have been persistently pursuing new ideas which could agreeably surprise the clients in any of their wishes.

I am very glad I have been working with such a wonderful team.”

Ivars started working in our restaurant as a server and grew to become head waiter. The satisfaction of a job well done brings him joy each and every day. Ivars just laughs and says, “...if someone would try to take me away from the restaurant, they would have to kill me first!”

Kaspars finds his inspiration in the sense of style related to communication and the shape of things and events. He lives with a sense of passion and love.

It is our Director Sandra Sirmace who orchestrates the efforts of all our services. When starting work at Kaļķu Vārti restaurant business was quite a new field to her. However, her spark of creativity and her previous organizational experience turned out to be very useful in uniting people for achieving common goals. According to Sandra, however, these are her skilled colleagues who have helped her most to master and understand the specifics of the restaurant business. “They have helped and continue to help me understand, grow and advance.” It is the unselfish involvement and enthusiasm of the director herself which is the key to our success.