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Vedėja Birutė
The staff have been working here for a long time. Many people have already been working for ten years.
How did you start working here?
I finished a college and got a position in the restaurant "Erfurtas". I started working as a trainee and the director used to get angry if someone from the staff let me make a dish. And when I was working in Virsuliskes district, they didn't even let me serve people at all. And even nowadays I don't like queues in my canteen. The system should be such - you come and get what you ordered. I also used to have a canteen in Geliu Street. A small one, sharing the same room with cookery. Here we have more space, we can organize banquets. They asked me to work here.
How did you start your own business?
I worked in other places before, but they all went bankrupt, so I used to make rolls and carp dishes at home. Later the owner of one cafe asked me to work, and after that I came to work here. I also remember when we opened a cookery shop in Zalgiris Street. Before opening this canteen me and my husband used to boil beetroots and supplied them for supermarkets. We were supplying pickled cucumbers to the supermarkets, too. We used to supply a lot for the supermarkets chain "Vilniaus prekyba". Nowadays we cook everything here as I don't trust any food suppliers. We even mince meat by ourselves, we don't by anything half prepared.
How many people are working here?
We have three cooks.
Is it difficult to find good workers?
Nowadays there are no people working in this sphere. But one can easily express oneself when the food for banquets is prepared. I also miss sophisticated dishes. I usually read cooking magazines and look for interesting recipes. For example, not a long time ago we made a chicken roast with sunflower seeds and vegetables - it's very delicious! We are making experiments in this kitchen.
How do the clients know about your canteen?
Usually it's word of mouth.
Perhaps they get used to some kinds of dishes? Maybe later they can not find them on your menu? Does it happen?
Well, the menu is different everyday, so the clients don't have a dish to get used to. Well, maybe cepelinai (a traditional Lithuanian dish, a type of dumpling made from grated potatoes and usually stuffed with minced meat) or potatoe pancakes with meat (in Lithuanian, Žemaičių blynai) are the same.
So this is quite a good place for gourmets, isn't it?
Of course, nowadays one can't find anything natural. No healthy food to be found - they add all kinds of chinese sauces to the dishes. I miss natural food.
How did you gather the present staff?
I am a part of the committee in the trade school, so I mostly look for workers there. As I also started as a trainee, it is important for me to teach other people, too.
What is the best way to keep people working for you?
It is difficult to have my own business, I usually indulge the cooks. Though when I was working not as a director, I never let indulge myself. In the old days everyone around was angry as most of the people came to work for me and I used to trade the most.
And how do you keep clients coming back?
Well, we reduce prices now, as there are less and less people coming. It used to be around 200 persons, and now it's about 50 customers per day.
Do you have a vision of this canteen?
Well, at the moment I am reconstructing my own house into a hall for the banquets. I am planning to make things on my own without this staff. There are no such young people as there used to be. I remember the times when I was working in the restaurant "Erfurtas" - my husband used to help me to close the place, we used to go dancing in the night club afterwards. We used to sleep for 2 hours only and used to come back to work. I also worked all night long in some places. And here, for example, I say, "hey, girls, tomorrow it is St. Valentine's Day, let's do something extraordinary!" But I don't have time for that now and the girls don't have enthusiasm.
What about your family?
Well, my husband used to be a waiter, now he is the director of our business.
Perhaps you have wone some prizes for your dishes?
I used to participate in the competitions earlier. I won a possibility to work in Germany for a while. I won the 3rd place among cooks in Lithuania. There used to be food exhibitions earlier, we used to prepare for them at nights. There are no exhibitions left. But I try to decorate food for people nowadays, too. Even now I have customers from the old days who come to eat. We cook using old recipes, we don't add any chemicals. I select the supplies very carefully. Most of the products I order from Silale town.
What is the story of this interior?
We rent this venue, no one helps us. For example, the coffee machine used to breake a lot earlier. We changed windows, brought carpets by ourselves. A lot of thefts happened there as well.. 60 chairs were stolen. We used to have metal bars that used to save the property, but not anymore. They also steal vases, tablecloths. We have set up the camera now. They steal even the toilet paper and mirrors from the wc. Well, our kitchen facilities are old and we really don't want to invest in to it, as it doesn't belong to us.
Is this your traditional lunch place?
Well, yes. There is tasty food, some alcohol too. They wanted to make office here, but it didn't work out. There is also a possibility to use a roof for any purpose, but there is no money. Everything is getting modern, I think this will also close soon. It is not a cultural heritage, you know. We have here this clay wall with pool, but they were expanding the office and nothing is left after that. Just this nice clay wall. There used to be dances organized here. Now some wedding receptions or funeral diners are organized, but you can not talk about that. You will be accused.
Other customer
Maybe you know the story how this canteen was opened?
It was planned to have a canteen here according to a building project. The building was built for one of the Ministries. The huge canteen was planned. Here was a kitchen.
Now we see only cabinets here?
Well, not only. The canteen is here.
How do you know these things?
I started working at the same time the constructions began, so I know everything. This building is mine.