Chili: the antidote to Estonian food

Foreigners often scoff at what passes as chili in the Baltic. It’s never spicy enough for a real man—and it’s almost never real chili. Two chili fans, Chuck Czepyha and Michael Bhoola, the latter the chef/restaurateur connected to restaurants Pegasus and Lucca, have made the cause of improving chili their own by organizing Chilifest, a sine qua non in the battle for better Baltic chili.

If you’re in Estonia and looking for chili, this year’s winners are people you want to meet:

Best Traditional Chili: Merchant's House Hotel’s KN Restaurant

People’s Choice Chili: Nils Õun, former chef

Best Freestyle Chili: Nils Õun (Chuck says: “Nils makes a chili pie. Looks like pie, tastes like chili. Very interesting.”)

Best Vegetarian Chili: James Baginski & Dana Gonzalez. (Dana successfully defended her title from the previous year.)

Hottest Chili: John Sullivan (The native Texan has won this two years running.)

Best Presentation: John Sullivan