This weekend we joined the Home Café Days here in the Gulbene region, and what a lovely tradition it is.
For one weekend only, farms, family homes, gardens, and small businesses open their gates and transform into cosy little cafés. Instead of visiting restaurants, you travel from place to place, meeting local people who have prepared homemade meals, cakes, desserts, and drinks with great care.
What makes these days so special isn’t just the food. Every stop has its own story. Some cafés are hidden in beautiful country gardens, others are set up in old farmyards or beside historic buildings. Many families decorate their yards, prepare handmade menus, and welcome complete strangers as guests. It’s a wonderful reminder of how much creativity, hospitality, and pride can be found in the countryside.
We spent whole weekend exploring several of these pop-up cafés, enjoying delicious homemade food and simply taking in the atmosphere. It was also a perfect excuse to discover places we had never visited before, even though they are not far from home.
Events like this make me appreciate our region even more. Gulbene is known for its beautiful countryside, historic manors, churches, lakes, parks, and, of course, the famous narrow-gauge railway, but weekends like this show another side of the region—the people who live here and happily share a little piece of their lives with visitors.
A big thank you to everyone who opened their homes, gardens, and hearts this weekend. Organising something like this takes a lot of work, and it truly makes for a memorable experience.
If you ever have the chance to visit the Home Café Days in Latvia, I highly recommend it. Come hungry, take your time, and enjoy the journey from one unique café to the next. You never know what hidden gem you’ll discover.
Ilze
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What a fun experience.
It was delicious experience 🙂
What a lovely idea! And a great way to spend time meeting new people.
It was 🙂 Thank you for including it into your post 🙂
That’s so cool!
Only for one weekend in a year! I spent a lot of money and didn’t cook for two days.. I would say, it’s a gourmet festival 🙂
*What a wonderful tradition, Ilze. Families opening their gardens and farmyards to complete strangers for one weekend, with handmade menus and everything decorated that takes real generosity. And I love that it gave you an excuse to finally visit places close to home you’d never seen. That happens so easily, doesn’t it? “Come hungry and take your time” is excellent advice.
How fun and delicious, Illze! I would love to attend this! ☺️
Only local food, some of them organically grown and BIO certified. Something you can’t get in LV I bet 😉 … or you can, but it will cost a furtune!
What a fantastic way to get a more intimate way of one’s environment – and you have taken some great photos to demonstrate the feeling-world generated. In some ways I am a little surprised at this custom . . . Estonians tend to be rather ‘private’ people, very friendly towards those they know, but somewhat ‘formal’ otherwise. Thought the Latvians were somewhat alike . . . nice to see you open up . . .
One of the things I love most about the Home Café Days is how they bring together local producers, home cooks, and talented chefs. Every participating café has a connection to food, hospitality, or tourism, and each one proudly showcases its produce, surroundings, traditions, or unique atmosphere.
We were incredibly lucky with our choice. We found ourselves sitting in a beautiful garden beneath old apple trees, enjoying a menu prepared by a chef from one of Riga’s high-end restaurants. It was such an unexpected surprise to learn that his aunt is a local caterer, well known for preparing food for weddings and birthday celebrations in the area.
The two of them had teamed up especially for the event, combining fine dining techniques with local ingredients and a warm, welcoming countryside setting. The result was wonderful, down-to-earth food served in sensible portions—beautifully presented, full of flavour. It was the perfect balance between elegant and comforting.
That sounds like a lot of fun. I bet the food delicious.
It was, please read the comment I answered to Eha 🙂
I read the comment, now my mouth is watering. 😊
A delightful tradition
It was! Very delicious one.
Yesterday I removed a lot of your comments out of SPAM! I don’t know why WP keeps doing this!
Home Café Days are a welcome tradition. I suspect that in the over-regulated country the United States has become, health authorities would insist on imposing so many regulations and inspections as to make temporary home cafés impractical.
Actually, they have to apply to take part. Someone from the local tourism board visits beforehand, and you have to cook the food, present it, and show them where you’ll be serving it. Then they decide whether your café is accepted or not. 😊
But yes, this is only possible during this event. I couldn’t just open a pop-up café in my garden any other weekend—I would need permits, inspections, and all the usual paperwork.
It’s similar with herbal products. In Latvia (and across the EU), the rules are quite strict. I can’t just make an oil infused with herbs or sell yarrow tea and tell people what it’s good for. Everything depends on how the product is classified, and if you make health or medicinal claims, the regulations become much stricter. You need permits, approved formulations, proper labeling, and in some cases safety assessments or product registration. It doesn’t really matter whether it’s for the skin, for the bath, or for drinking—the process can be long, complicated, and expensive.
From what I understand, the US is a bit different. There are plenty of small businesses selling herbal teas, tinctures, and infused oils. They still have to follow regulations, but many avoid the stricter rules by marketing their products as dietary supplements or cosmetics and by not claiming they treat or cure diseases. You’ll often see disclaimers like, “These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.” That gives small producers a lot more flexibility than we have here.
Whenever I see the obligatory tagline “This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease,” I immediately think “Then why are you selling it?”
For the ones who knows what it is 🙂
Sounds amazing!
It was! Do you have something like “Home Cafe”?
All the food looks so wonderful! That is a lovely community tradition, too.
Yes it is!
That sounds wonderful, Ilze 🙂
🙂 It was, it was!