Once a dominant species, the Soviet canteen now seems close to extinction. They were devised to save energy, free female workers’ hands and unify the diet across the USSR. The few that survived are now businesses among businesses, struggling to keep their head above water.

Part of an art and research project by Indrė Klimaitė, photographed by Isabella Rozendaal, this is a practical guide to the surviving Soviet type canteens of Vilnius and Kaunas. There are some canteens where no stranger has ever stepped in and no recipe was ever altered. As perhaps not all canteens have been spotted in this guidebook, some of those might be saved for future explorers. But most of them are being captured here as they are already turning into something else. This Canteen Guide is an invitation to examine those leaking time capsules as important witnesses to the Lithuanian cities’ culture and, well, to have a warm lunch for less than 10 Litas.

(extract from the guide)