He lost his job in Vilnius during quarantine, but established a business in Ignalina: he barely manages to feed all those who want | Deal

Justas is only 23 years old, but has already gained a variety of experiences. He tried his luck on stage (started his career as Jay Jee, then participated in various projects without this nickname), acquired and worked on a sound recording studio, studied the kitchen trade, worked at various well-known bars and restaurants in Vilnius.

Guilty quarantine

However, due to the threat of the coronavirus, the published quarantine corrected Justo’s life. After losing his job, he returned to his native Ignalina, his parents’ house, and at least for the moment he has no intention of running away from here. He found a job for himself and here, as he says, he barely turns around and works without days off.

When we visited Justo’s current workplace, his parents’ garden house, repair work was underway there: a new kitchen was being installed, soon to become the man’s main job. With stainless steel tables, refrigerator, etc.

“I worked as a chef in Vilnius for almost four years. I had joined to study production, my main field was working with music, recordings. Since I worked in a recording studio for a long time, I realized that these sciences might not be very necessary for this field, at least not the ones I got in college, so I quit. I didn’t want to miss a year, and because I loved to cook, I started training to cook. I worked all the time I have a profession because of my hobby, ”said Justas.

I didn’t want to miss a year, and because I loved to cook, I started training to cook. I worked all the time I have a profession because of my hobby, ”said Justas.

Fed a friend

Since the end of March, he has spent days in Ignalina: “Because the quarantine has occurred so much that I have lost my job, the bars and restaurants have closed. So it turned out that I came here. The idea was completely improvised, since it was written by a teacher from Ignalina, my friend, a professional athlete, returned from abroad, quarantined and asked me if I could cook for him.

At the time, he still wasn’t making it, but he was baking it for him: he only had a chest, I smoked beef belly for 12 hours, ripped him off and made hamburgers. It was completely room for him and he offered to take it. I thought, why not? One day I tried, the next I fixed the documents. Now it is such a light space that you will not call it otherwise. “

Now, as Justas says, Vilnius does not shine at least this year. He admits that there are many concerns: one does it all: fill out documents, search for products, order them, accept orders, produce. Initially, the guy on their menu offered burgers and smoked ribs slowly, but he declined the latter due to excessive popularity. As you admit, it only takes around 4.5 hours to smoke them, you can put 14kg on the grill at once, and the first day it sold everything in one hour.

I thought, why not? One day I tried, the next I fixed the documents. Now that it’s such a light space, you won’t call it any other way.

Customers are not local.

When asked about the first investment, Just says he didn’t have a lot of expenses. He already had the necessary equipment, used it for his own needs, and the list of suppliers had also been drawn up in advance, so he now claims to be able to supply the best products to his clients.

“Meat, beef, the best in Lithuania. I arranged everything, the supply of buns, vegetables,” said Justas, assuring that in the future he intends to grow this and that in his parents’ garden.

Her clients are mostly newcomers: “I don’t have many local clients. Let’s say there were only three stores on Sunday. Vilnius residents, Kaunas residents, athletes come, famous people come to eat. Many people come after hearing the recommendations, really a lot. Va was a cyclist from Vilnius, he also found out about the recommendations, before someone from my colleagues in Vilnius ate with me. Until now, I only offer to take out the products. ”

Dreaming of owning a cafe

However, Justas hopes not only to cook at home, but also to have a cafe or restaurant. Looking at its ignition, there is no doubt that this will be the case. It is true, he says that he has not received some of the facilities that he has already inspected, but that he has another plan: a well-known businessman offered him to revive the cafe in the center of Ignalina, which also has a bowling alley. There you want to open a sports bar.

“I received an offer to take the entire second floor, they inspected me, we organized the rental offer, we are waiting now. There, everything must be redone, everything must be changed from A to Z,” said Justas.

In Ignalina, there are not many places where you can eat something more interesting, more sophisticated. And in those that we have, we cannot eat with our eyes or our stomach.

He does not hide that having his own coffee is one of his dreams: having a good steakhouse, a good meat place where people who come can eat delicious meat dishes.

“It just came to our attention then. I want to bring good European cuisine to this little town. As you know, there aren’t many places in Ignalina where you can eat something more interesting and sophisticated. And in the ones we have, you can’t eat with your eyes or the belly, “said Justas.

He is not afraid to open a cafe in his hometown. When he started making take-out burgers, he says he wasn’t afraid, because there are no competitors, that other burgers started baking after seeing his experience.

“There was a record on Sunday,” said Justas of June 21. – I distributed 8 kilograms of meat in an hour and a half. That, I show, 54 beef burgers, 22 pork. I do promotions on Sundays because I sell everything I have. That is what I did that Sunday. Mondays and Tuesdays are vendor days, I visit vendors and transport meat. ”

I distributed 8 kilograms of meat in an hour and a half. There are 54 beef burgers, 22 pork.

Just publish all the news on the Facebook menu, as they say, that’s enough. However, even there he tries to maintain an aesthetic image: the photos are taken by a professional photographer, the dishes are presented with an emphasis on detail.

Let’s say, as Justas says, that his burgers are matured beef, not just beef. And customers who call usually order the matured beef burger, not just the beef.