Enter the Quaniverse

To start with, they’ve got a great logo, the ‘C’ and ‘S’ and ampersand all combining into an organic plant-like shape, appropriate for an organic restaurant specialising on organic ingredients. Our visit to Chef & Sommelier, a charming, tiny and lauded restaurant in Helsinki was a delight. The food was beautiful, engaging and tasty and served up with a lot of passion and charm. Chef Sasu Laukkonen has already been gaining a reputation well beyond his city, his able partner in crime, sommelier Johan Borgar welcomed us at the door and oversee a young staff who are adorable and provided great service. We elected to have the 9-course meal for 74 Euros each, with matching wine (can’t remember how much that was). Our meal:

• Amuse-bouche
• Goose and porcini
  • Potato and onion
  • Rye bread with rosemary
• Arctic turnip
  • Celeriac two ways (at least) and beef (I think)
• Pike-perch and artichoke
• Cheese course
• Two kinds of Finnish apples
• Plums and chocolate

No one gave me dirty looks for taking photos of most of the courses, and I was so delighted with the explanations of the food that I tried to respeak them (with middling success) into my iphone voice recorder. The 3rd recording didn’t shut off… so I highly recommend playing this snippet of ambient Finnish restaurant sounds while you’re reading this. It gives you the authentic experience of being there! I’m pretty sure we had a gorgeous little amuse-bouche to start off with: a sunflower bud, parsley root, and deep-fried parsnip served in a little spoon. But I didn’t take a picture, so the visual start of the menu is this thinly sliced frozen goose breast with gizzard and fresh porcini mushroom mousse. Served with the slightly fruity berry flavour of the Italian nebbiolo, it brought up the flavour of the slightly frozen meat. The combination was evocative and tasty. We felt like we’d arrived in a Nordic country. Next, local potato mashed and flavoured with pressed sunflower seeds, pressure-cooked onion, green cranberries and little potato chippy things. Was it here that we had the bread? Like every fine restaurant we went to on our Nordic tour, they baked their own bread. Here the bread is put in the oven the moment the customer arrives. Wow. Rye bread with rosemary, apparently an unusual combination with homemade butter, and as you can imagine, delicious. The next dish was one of my favourites: It was explained that arctic turnip was popular in the 50s and 60s until Finland became a Potato Nation. Served as a fettucine (of sorts) with sage butter and a parmesan created out of almonds and some of the juice of the arctic turnip, it was bitter, earthy and delicious. It was served with an Italian wine from the boot part! This was a great surprise: lichen, boiled and then deep fried, cranberry, a parsnip I think, and then a lot of delicious wild mushrooms (including black trumpets and chanterelles) with a sauce of hard-boiled egg with pine. It’s all about the vegetables, commented S. The dish was roasted and earthy with a sharp burst of cranberry. S thought the lichen tasted like steel wool but I was lichen’ it. It was served with an ice cold Sancerre from the Eastern Loire, completely natural apparently. Here we are, so transfixed by the vegetables that I forgot what the meat was: beef? reindeer? The charming waitress with a tattoo of an artichoke on her arm, sparkling blue eyes and a lovely smile explained that 90 kilos of celeriac had been delivered to them. They pickled the root, roasted the celeriac overnight (the little pieces you see next to the meat with cashews and hazelnut on top) and the leaves were made into a sauce. We really felt that the staff seemed part of a family, all chipping in to create this marvelous experience honouring local ingredients with explanations of where the produce came from and how it was prepared (I’ve found out from their facebook page that gorgeous Edith has a food blog).

Johan, who has one of those fantastic deep Finnish voices that hit at an octave much lower than other nationalities (you can here his voice in the background at the start of the sound clip), also explained the mostly natural wines beautifully though my note-taking skills on these were lacking. The poached pike-perch was served with kale chips and jerusalem artichoke roasted to perfection and creamy on the inside, a bit of dried kale in the sauce. There was not much flavour in the fish, the dish seemed to be about the lightness of the fish matched with the stronger kale and artichoke flavours. Cheese course (yum) and then two types of finnish apples for the first of two desserts. A cinnamon apple that only tastes good when it’s cooked. It was roasted then boiled and burnt slightly on the outside. The other was vacuum-packed in rosemary oil. The ice cream is made of whey, a by-product of their homemade butter. All served with caramelised sunflower seeds and a sauce from the leftover apples. Our final dish was sorbets of two types of plums, blue and yellow, from about half an hour away in a place with a Finnish name that I didn’t catch! The ice cream was made of the kernel of plum. The chocolate was made in the basement of the factory of a local department store by a guy with tattoos up to his neck who is a famous photographer. To sum up, what an extraordinary introduction to fine dining, Helsinki style: some very complicated cooking techniques that were aimed at capturing a simplicity of ingredients; rich, roasted and earthy flavours and vegetables; a touch of dairy and cream; seasonality and local produce. Perhaps if you are a major carnivore, you would be disappointed, my dining companion pointed out, but we found it quite thrilling, different from our usual cuisine so as to be adventuresome and a very special evening. Thanks Finns!

Considering our degustation at A21 matched with cocktails (review to come) and this, we’re recommending Helsinki as destination dining.

Neither of us had any particular expectations for Helsinki, which is perhaps why it ended up charming us so much (that, and the spectacular weather). My previous experience, a conference from after Christmas and into the New Year, many years ago, gave me the impression only of winter, a truly interesting language and people who were rather quirky, some who looked like very tall elves. A few people who we met in other Nordic countries during this trip told us they hadn’t ever been to Helsinki… nor had plans to do so.

Our first impression was grim. Kallio, described as a hip and cool neighbourhood, at least by our AirBNB host, had big featureless apartment buildings. It seemed a bit Eastern bloc, and when we arrived in the afternoon, we couldn’t find anywhere to eat. We finally had a snack at a bar that had a carpet on each table instead of a tablecloth, returning to our flat past seedy looking bars. Kallio I think would have more charm in the summer (aside from the block of drunks outside the liquor store) with its secondhand stores and hip cafes. Still, our apartment was ridiculously stylish – and cheap! In the meantime, we found it a perfect location from which to explore. A cheap three-day metro pass allowed us to hop on and off the many extremely efficient trams which took us instantly into the city, and later to the Sibelius monument and the Arabia Factory.

The highlight of our trip turned out to be the food, two spectacular meals at A21 and Chef & Sommelier with personal service and amazing food (and also my classmate Tuulia and her husband served us reindeer and cloudberries, Finnish specialties…). Reviews to follow. But both of our days of exploring in gorgeous sunshine with the most beautiful clear blue skies were memorable: breakfast at Cafe Ursula after a walk throught the lovely park, Kaivopuisto, from there walking up to the South Harbour, a visit to the Uppsenski Cathedral with its wonderful golden domes, a ferry trip to Suomenlinna, an island sea fortress, and a visit to the Sibelius Monument, Olympic Stadium and Church in the Rock.

The design of the church in the rock, Temppeliaukion, was very beautiful. I would not have expected a sea fortress to make such a nice few hours. We also loved the Temple of Silence in the centre, a beautiful wood structure to allow a quiet space for anyone right in the middle of a busy downtown area. A visit to Yrjönkatu Indoor Swimming Pool, an old swimming hall with wet and dry saunas, was a fun thing to do as well.

The trip to the Arabia factory was a shopping highlight. The ceramics museum itself was fine but not spectacular, but the small Iittala outlet store (and there were several other interesting stores in the complex) was fantastic. We stored up on souvenirs ending up with savings from a few ‘seconds’, a bulk discount and finally a Tourist Tax Refund. Our gorgeous Alvar Aalto vase will always remind us of Helsinki. Woohoo.

The Design Store in the centre was also fantastic, a government-sponsored space where retail goods were displayed almost as if in a museum, the best and most current of Finnish design curated for the public. A good thing we got there, since we didn’t have time to wander around the vaunted Design District (I would have loved an extra half-day just to poke around!)

All in all, a fantastic three days and nights. We liked the food, shopping, and sites, and were able to explore in beautiful sunshine. And in our few interactions with the locals (and also meeting my classmate’s family), we liked the quiet, introverted and slightly eccentric energy of the Finns. A few days later my Danish friend told me this joke: What’s the difference between an extroverted and an introverted Finn? Answer: the extroverted Finn will be looking at your shoes. Heh heh.

When the sun came out…

Stockholm was our first destination of our Nordic Tour in September and October 2013, a mere three nights with no great expectations of seeing too much. We just wanted to settle in and get a feel for the city.

This was aided by renting an apartment through AirBNB in Sodermälm, just south of Gamla Stan, the old city. Our lovely bright and airy apartment was homey; it was modern while in an old building; and on a street with cobblestones. I was charmed by the apartment itself as well as the location.

It was funny to think back on my previous visits to Stockholm, spring of 1992, young enough to crash in strangers’ spare beds (this one belonging to Richard, a kind doctor, a friend of a friend of my brother). I can’t remember at all where I stayed in the city, and my strongest impression of the city was of the grounds of a palace that Johnny, another friend of a friend of my brother took me to. I remember being charmed by the old city, but didn’t remember any details. The other trip was a few hours in transit between Copenhagen (I think) and Helsinki (for a conference) with the briefest of visits with Filippa and her family.

So, rather than Stockholm coming back to me, it seemed almost a new city that I had missed most of the first time around! After arrival, we went for a quick walk through the old city and to the harbour. It was absolutely freezing, an early cold snap that felt more like winter than fall. The main strip of the Gamla Stan, Västerlanggatan, reminded us of any terrible tourist street, packed with people and cheap viking helmets and braids. But anywhere away from that street was quite charming. I also realised, walking through it, that the original intention, to find a rental apartment here was misguided. It’s a small, historical and touristic area; no wonder the few listings were booked or super-expensive.

In each of the Nordic cities we visited we chose at least one top-end restaurant to try; in Stockholm, this was Volt (review to come) and was a great first meal in Europe, our introduction to the new Nordic cuisine. Our later attempt at a traditional meal at Pelikan was amusing enough: the building itself, a historic drinking hall was worth the visit. The herring appetiser was, well, herring, and the meatballs were tasty and combined with potatoes, gravy and lingonberries, too much to eat. This means I can now say I’ve tried Swedish traditional food… and that IKEA’s frozen meatballs aren’t too different!

Combining a boat tour with observations of bearded Swedes

Our other activities in Stockholm included an Under the Bridges tour, which was really a good way to get a feel for the city and how it is layed out. The recorded tour was good and it was interesting to how even in a city as old as Stockholm, new neighbourhoods are being developed all the time. We had a jazz brunch at the Sodrateatern on Sunday morning with my friend from Pearson College, Filippa, which was a mere five minutes up the street from our apartment. The food was great (a buffet) and the jazz was good.

After, she took us for a long walk around Sodermälm and we were very charmed, beautiful views of the city and waterways, wonderful historic buildings, a great big yellow church and then funky secondhand stores and cafes. As fans of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, we were charmed to discover that much of the action happens in our neighbourhood. We even had a jaunt down to Steig Larsson’s favourite cafe, Mellqvist Kaffebar at Hornsgaten 78, where a bearded Swedish hipster served us tall lattes, and tiny birds skittered around us trying to get crumbs from our pastry (another fantastic coffee place was Coffice, a place for folks to meet and work over coffee but it was so hip and stylish, it’s worth a visit for tourists). The excursion to Mellqvist allowed us to stop at the Filippa K secondhand store, a small store that resells clothes by one of Sweden’s famous clothes designers; usually it’s pricy so finding their resale store was cool and we both a great wearable souvenir (and better than an Abba t-shirt).

Speaking of Abba, though we planned on visiting the museum, it was closed while we were there. Because of timing, neither did we get into the Nobel museum. We also wanted to book into see the Swedish version of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert… but it wasn’t playing on the nights we were in town. So, our short trip meant a few timing issues. Meanwhile, our long morning walking around Djurgarden, a nice little ferry ride from Sodermälm, was a little flat. It was overcast the whole time, and at the end of the season, things just felt like they were shut up and quiet. It is one of the lotteries of travel, though I think one bright sunny day would have made quite a difference: Stockholm really is physically beautiful but we perhaps didn’t see its best face.

Stockholm was also unlucky to be the city to introduce me to Scandinavian prices. The Australian dollar and cost of living here is so high now, I really didn’t heed the snippets of warnings I’d heard about Scandinavia being expensive to travel in, but $10-$15 for a coffee and a pastry for breakfast and $15-20 for a glass of wine surprised me (and reminded me of their high taxes!) and we the $6 metro ticket to go just a few stops was steep (though I understand it’s better to buy a strip of 9).

Perhaps because we started watching the TV series Vikings, we did notice: Swedes do beards really well. And a number of the men do look like Vikings: tall and strong and bearded with blond or reddish hair. The people in the areas we were walking around were healthy, beautiful and extremely well dressed. Oh, and a significant number of the people we spoke to in shops and restaurants would switch between Swedish and perfect American English, with no trace of accent. Television? Exchange programs? We found it striking (and didn’t encounter it again in Finland or Denmark).

This review has a few complaints but it was, I think, circumstantial rather than a reflection on the city, All in all, it was a gentle start to our tour, perhaps hampered by schedules and weather, but a beautiful city. I’d return during sunnier and warmer weather, grab a ferry out to one of the islands and spend more time wandering around the shops (a brief shopping excursion was fun enough). Also, as our entry and departure point from Europe, the airport really has an awesome selection of chocolate, liquor, and Swedish glass (Kosta Boda).