Located on the industrial peninsula of Kopli, Barbarea has been impressing guests with its unique approach to service hours since the summer of 2021. A bakery by day and a stylish bistro by night, it treads a transformative line in Tallinn's most up-and-coming neighbourhood. Situated in a former rubber factory, it offers both indoor and outdoor seating – the latter overlooking a shady industrial courtyard from a wooden terrace.
Join us as we take a closer look at this shape-shifting venue.
The Concept
Barbarea's concept is clear: it wants as many raw materials as possible. As it stands, around 50-75% of its ingredients are organic (depending on the month), and it isn't stopping there – this bakery-cum-bistro has a self-set goal to use at least 90% organic produce. It's a big task, especially given their parallel focus of sourcing the best quality products around. This ethos doesn’t just cover the food either, but extends to their wine list as well as their non-alcoholic drinks selection.Another vital aspect of their concept is the transformative bakery-to-bistro model, which also provides an excellent way to reduce waste through the reuse of byproducts. Flexibility really is at the heart of Barbarea's creation.
The Chef
Kenneth Karjane initially set off down a completely different path, securing a physiotherapy degree before finding a passion for cooking in his final year. Enthralled by local markets, it became a habit to sample new dishes and products, and by the time he'd graduated, he'd secured a position alongside renowned Estonian chef Silver Saa.Fast-forward a few years, and Kenneth was testing his grit at top venues like NOA Chef's Hall and Gastrologik in Stockholm (now closed). Yet, with an entrepreneurial spirit from the start, his true sights were on striking it out alone.
For three months he worked in Stockholm bakery Valhallabageriet. But when his grandmother gave him a downpayment on an apartment, he took the plunge, opening a micro-bakery – the most realistic hospitality option for his budget.
His business started in a catering kitchen in a racing car garage. In the early days, he predominantly dealt with wholesale to other restaurants, solely communicating with the delivery driver. "The feedback was either we want more bread or less bread," says Kenneth, describing the frustration at the lack of face-to-face customer interaction. "I knew I wanted to open a café where I could see people every day."
With that motivation, Kenneth took a gamble on Kopli, which was then a more affordable area for rent. With the mindset that it would be a fitting production space if the area didn't attract enough footfall, his investment paid off. "People wanted to see the neighbourhood and to see what was happening in that part of town," he reveals.
The (Almost) 24 Hour Day
What's truly unique about this Estonian venue is its cyclical opening style. As one door closes, another one opens, as Barbarea virtually runs a 24-hour system.
As a bakery, Barbarea goes by a whole other name; its early morning alter-ego is titled Karjase sai, Estonian for 'The Shepherd's Bread'. The day starts at dawn for the staff, who arrive at 4am to begin preparations and produce enough fresh pastries to put the first batch on the shelves by 8am. From 9am onwards, customer service is in full swing, selling pastries and coffees. The daytime menu includes quality coffee and lighter bites like almond croissants, but there are bulkier buys, too, with whole sourdough loaves replenished almost daily.
Opting for an eat-in or takeaway approach, Karjase sai has both indoor and outdoor seating options, while in less appealing weather, a mezzanine layout creates more room upstairs. The furniture itself is worth noting too. Kenneth's wife, Eva, decked out the venue with refurbished chairs, courtesy of her mother's workshop. With a background in design, her final touches help the venue retain a consumer-conscious approach. "All of our visual identity is through her great mind," Kenneth says.
By 3pm from Tuesday to Saturday, it's time for a quick turnaround; the clock starts ticking for Karjase sai to morph into Barbarea…While the productive bakery and stylish bistro atmospheres are worlds apart, Karjase sai does pass its byproducts onto its evening counterpart. Barbarea serves sourdough focaccia with optional olive oil and/or anchovies among its entree options. And, by 5pm, the restaurant has reopened the doors to its first few customers.
A family style of dining is at the heart of the Barbarea ethos. To encourage a more interactive experience, the main menu features an array of colourful sharing platters. The dishes utilise predominantly local ingredients sourced from small-scale farms, with a vision to uphold minimal environmental impact. This means a regular menu rotation that loosely follows the Estonian seasons, with platters like crispy perch pike tacos or organic grass-fed entrecôte. However, creativity is the real drive here.
Kenneth encourages a collaborative stance on menu design in his team. "The menu is driven by Estonian produce, but is eclectic in the sense that we might get inspiration, say, from a staff member who just went on holiday abroad," Kenneth explains. "They really like one dish, and we're like okay, cool; we do have great tomatoes right now, so maybe we can figure something out." This approach means that the menu could change every two months or three times a week. The cooking style is fluid and reactive, the one constant being the incorporation of quality over a quantity of ingredients.
"I like to be in the moment and put a dish on the menu when I'm most excited about the produce, rather than planning a long time ahead." Kenneth explains. "I try and not be too afraid of changing things constantly – if the produce is there in a peak moment and we only run it for a few days but I really like a dish, I might try and keep a mental note of it and ask the farmers if we can get some more of it next year, and then hopefully we can keep it on for a longer time." Kenneth recently dabbled in sourdough pizzas, utilising a mixture of Estonian and Italian flour, and baking from a Gianni Acunto wood-fired oven. While currently off the menu, the pizzas could make a return, or maybe not. Only time will tell.
There's a joyful flexibility in Barbarea's approach, so go with an open mind. But for those who genuinely struggle to pick individual dishes at the best of times – even with guidance from the knowledgeable team – there's a set menu option. The ‘Taste of Barbarea’ serves six plates for group bookings, staggering sharing platters for the whole table to dive into.
Dessert continues with that same sharing approach, offering tasty concoctions such as cardamom monkey bread tiramisu or tres leches cake with a side of Estonian strawberries.
To match the food, the drink menu is varied too. Barbarea offers a mixture of the health-conscious, with kombucha varieties and alcohol-free cider, and more niche alcoholic beverages like Japanese rice lager.
By midnight, the bistro is wrapping up after another busy service, ready for another timely handover, with the bakery staff arriving in the early hours from Tuesday to Sunday.
The Drinks
Don't be too hasty in going through the Barbarea drinks menu, as this establishment is far from just a bistro. In the same way that it values organic and fresh materials in its cooking, Barbarea prizes natural and high-quality products in its drinks. The bistro communicates directly with all of its wine providers and, as a firm believer in organic production, it works almost exclusively alongside small producers. Look out for tipples like the Glow Glow Spätburgunder, from a Nahe-based natural wine company in Germany.The Barbarea drinks menu covers reds, whites, rosés and dessert wines, with separate subheadings to divide the drinks according to their characteristics. Whether you want a fruity versus a skin-contact white or a full-bodied red, Barbarea has plenty of options. There are many choices for cocktail lovers, too; the menu features classics like negronis as well as fun twists like the Barbarea spritz. There's a dedicated bubbles section for champagnes and trending pét-nats, plus beer, aperitif and spirit categories.
The Bar Next Door
With such a focus on beverages, it should come as no surprise that Barbarea has newly launched a natural wine bar next door. A spot to focus on the drinks alone (apart from the odd bar snack or two), it opens from 6pm until around midnight. The hope is that it provides diners a go-to destination after dark, the perfect post-dinner spot. Having imported natural wine to Estonia for the past three years, the bar flexes the illustrious network that Kenneth and his staff have established. It has a Basque country influence but stocks bottles from specialist international providers, all guaranteeing pesticide and herbicide-free grapes. Between the bakery, the bistro and the bar, this old rubber factory has now become a venue for virtually any time of the day or night.
The Location
If visitors to Tallinn needed an excuse to visit Kopli, Barbarea is it. Located just a short jaunt off the main Kopli tn, which connects this northern-lying neighbour with Tallinn's medieval city centre, the peninsula of Kopli is the definition of up-and-coming. Once home to the Russian Empire's naval base, shipbuilding factories dominated much of the peninsula's skyline and even more residents' livelihoods. In the Soviet Era, and even in recent years, Kopli had a poorer reputation. Now rebirthed, its architectural heritage lures visitors outside of Tallinn’s well-trodden Old Town.A leafy atmosphere is returning to the industrial streets and abandoned factory projects – breaking through the commercial cracks with a sense of wholesome residential allure. Some might say Barbarea has joined the helm.
Photos by Eva Maria Karjan and Silver Mikiver
