The owners of Trattoria del Popolo, on Jaņa iela, a charming Old City street behind St. John’s Church, certainly hold up to its name, “of the people.”  Because a meal here really does aim to please the crowd—the hungry masses of locals and tourists from Rome and Rēzekne, Sicily and Sigulda, roaming the streets of Old Riga.  Trattoria del Popolo will help you discover what a meal at a restaurant should be—an opportunity to sample cuisine that adheres to high culinary standards; spend a few languorous hours in a bright, warm, and cheerful setting; and enjoy meals that have a distinctly local flavor.  Trattoria del Popolo certainly makes the grade in all three: it serves delicious Italian dishes made with fresh local ingredients, resulting in a curious Latvian-Italian folk cuisine served in a vibrant and infinitely joyful atmosphere.

Case in point: On a recent Saturday afternoon, a dish of spaghetti carbonara, that classic meal of the Roman working class, appeared on my table as a sort of unique Latvian-style pasta—a tidy pile of homemade spaghetti, sliced ham, and a coating of sweet cream, alongside a garnish of cherry tomatoes and arugula.  San Lorenzo via Āgenskalns.  After I wolfed down my plate, which was filling and delicious, and came with complimentary refills of water and a basket of bread, black olives, and olive oil (certainly a rare treat in Riga), the high-spirited young chef strode over with a tempting dessert of tiramisu.  Though I appreciated his obvious gusto and eagerness to please, I nevertheless had an appetite for more, and gleefully sent him back to prepare a sogliola in lemon sauce.  In a matter of minutes I was presented with a beautifully arranged plate of wonderfully tender flounder fillets, beside a mound of grilled vegetables—excellent and perfectly prepared, as was the rich and creamy tiramisu, when I finally go around to enjoying it with a cup of strong espresso. 

Trattoria del Popolo will be sure to satisfy those true bon vivants who can lay aside preconceptions of what food should be, or should not be, and can simply appreciate a good time and great food, above all else, in a lively setting.  In this respect, del Popolo shines.  Here, the main dining area is filled with tasteful rustic decorations, boisterous Italian pop music, a working fireplace, and tables arranged closely together—rare for restaurants in Riga, where diners prefer to eat in silence in private nooks, preferably in dark brick-lined basements.  And perhaps most uncharacteristically for this city of inveterate home-eaters, the tables at del Popolo actually fill up with its namesake: people, mostly in the form of cheerfully chattering diners.  (When I was there, on the first warm day of the year, the place was packed, despite the beautiful weather outside, with a perfect cross-section of Riga: a wealthy Russian couple, a gang of English blokes, a party of long-legged blondes, an elderly couple of Latvians from abroad, a young Scandinavian family with rambunctious small children, and one of the city’s legendary radio DJs on a date with a young woman.)  The owners have also completed renovation work on several addition rooms, where dining is more intimate, and, of course, have added that essential basement space, which will soon be transformed into a wine bar that can be reserved for private parties. 

Trattoria del Popolo’s trump card—beating even the excellent atmosphere—is its prices.  As befits an establishment named “of the people,” the democratic menu ranges from tasty and inexpensive local soups, pastas, salads, antipasti, and pizzas, for just three or four lats, all the way up to fine-dining dishes, like beef steak in Dijon mustard marinade and fried duck breast in an orange/ginger sauce, for eleven lats.  As a result, del Popolo can accommodate any sized wallet—no matter how conspicuously thick or newly thinned—and certainly any appetite, whether for a full meal or a simple plate of Italian pasta or pizza, made in a local style with fresh ingredients.  Bravo!

RICHARD KALNINS