Tallinn Club and Bar Scene, 2001While I was in Tallinn in February and May 2001 to report on the country's military and economy, I also wanted to get some cultural reporting in. I was fascinated by how such a small country could have such an advanced music and cultural scene. Here are some shots of Tallinn spaces that I'd tried to sell with a story to some music and culture magazines. They didn't buy the story, but at least I had the excuse to wander around the city and do "research" on great places to drink gin & tonics and listen to downtempo music. One place I didn't get pictures from is "The Nightman," a dance club a little way out of the city centre that played solid drum & bass and hosted a great crowd. It was a wild night and I regret I didn't bring my camera. Unfortunately the scene changes from day to day, because Hannah, Holly and I tried to get in again the night after I'd been there and the music was a big disappointment. |
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Pegasus, just over a year old, is probably the most stylish space in Estonia. By day, the café/restaurant serves rarefied international cuisine to the expatriate and diplomatic set. On Friday and Saturday nights Tallinn's young and beautiful come to rub shoulders to guest DJ's spinning house and downtempo. |
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Arne Jacobsen's "The Egg" chair peeks out from a corner of the bar area. |
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Sushi and "The Egg" for a light lunch at Pegasus. |
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Mart and Michael, two of the three owners of Pegasus, talking shop in the bar. |
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The spiral staircase leads up to the first floor restaurant area. |
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Pegasus was remodelled from a writers' café which was here when Estonia was a Soviet Republic. It is said this was one of the few places intellectuals could speak their minds without getting hauled off to Siberia. The current owners restored some of the original sculpture and use the space to show works by local artists. |
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Out-of-the-way bar seating on the ground floor. |
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One side of the first floor eating space. The large picture windows let the Tallinners below gaze upwards at the delectable dishes inside- and the food of course. |
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Spirit is another bar/club/café perched just outside of old town Tallinn. The space was created by the "Rhythm Doctor," an expatriate British DJ, and two Estonian colleagues. |
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Entranceway to Spirit. |
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Sit down and page through a selection of international design and culture mags while eating your shrimp and apple pasta and waiting for the call from the Embassy. |
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Bar staff at Spirit. |
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On weekend nights a two-level club next to the bar comes online. Scantily clad club kids line up to sweat to the mad house music inside. |
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More sedately styled is Elevant. The Indian restaurant serves up dishes that are actually spicy (rare for Central Europe), with a heavy dose of sweet downtempo on the sound system. |
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Lovely diners Holly and Hannah at Elevant. |
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If you have an urge to return to the bygone days of '80s industrial design, go no further than VS. Is that New Order he's playing? No. It's hip-hop and house. |
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Have dinner in airline seating- you needn't even bring your passport. |