High, higher, dinner in the sky!

  What an experience! Today we had lunch in 45 metres in the air by Dinner in the sky. As a person who is slightly scared of heights it felt like I was facing my fears. I'd never do a bungee jump or sky dive, no, I need food to lure me to the skies. It worked!

 Dinner in the sky is in Helsinki at Rautatientori for this week only, so go if you can (and are not too scared!) It was definately worth it.

 The table is being set.

 "My only regret in life is that I didn't drink enough Champagne"
John Maynard Keynes

 One of the chef's greeted us once we got up.

 Beef tartar

 Salmon tartar for me

 Cheers! At this point I was still very uncomfortable and couldn't really look down or turn on my chair. After a few sips of Champagne it got a lot more relaxing though.

 Main course of slow cooked monkfish, chanterelles and artichoke purée.

 Dessert of Oolong tea mousse, tomatoes and berries. Not our favourite, but certainly something different.

It was fun, but I was rather happy to get back to street level!

Guess what I'll be posting about next week....

Pic from Dinner in the Sky

 Dinner in the Sky is in Helsinki next week and I just booked us seats! This might mean that I have decided to face one of my fears as I am slightly scared of hights. In amusement parks I find the Ferris Wheel to be the most thrilling ride, my heart races when it stops when you're at the top. So we shall see what kind of a panic attack I'll be having dining in 40 metres!

I am very excited to see what kind of food the guys from Frantzén/Lindeberg from Stockholm will be serving us. What a great opportunity to sample their dishes in Helsinki, in the air! The restaurant was listed number 20 on the list of the best restaurants in the world this year. I have high hopes! (See what I did there... high hopes...)

Is anyone else going or have you been in the other cities? I think there is still seats available for those interested, check the Dinner in the sky website.

Pic from Dinner in the sky

Patrona- Authentic Mexican in Helsinki

 One night last week we had an opportunity for another date night and I am so happy that I remembered that the guys behind Cafe de Nopal had finally opened a new place on Annankatu 20. I managed to get a booking to Patrona for the same day, and it seemed pretty lucky as the place was packed and had to turn some walk ins away.
When we got in the decoration immediately caught my eye and I couldn't help taking pictures straight away. I love all the paintings on the walls, especially the Mexican version of the Last Supper with all sorts of characters. There were also headless chickens flying around with some Mexican wrestlers trying to catch them. Hilarious.

 The menu was more restaurant-like that the one at Cafe de Nopal, with plenty of choice. They really want the dishes to be authentic and for us that seems to be happening pretty well. There is a nice selection on wines, cocktails and beers. A lot of different tequilas.

 A sharing platter of starters; amazing guacamole, spicy prawn cocktail, Whitefish ceviche and pineapple. Fresh, moorish, tangy, creeps-up-on-you-kind-of-spicy stuff. Came with homemade totopos(?) and crackers.

 My main course was stuffed green chilis with a beany sauce and rice and plenty of tasty cheese. Looked pretty, tasted awesome. The chef brought me some fresh tortillas even though they weren't mentioned on the menu just because "In Mexico, they make a taco out of everything!", and he said how they want to provide the real experience of Mexican food. How cool is that!

 The chef had some tacos with a pork filling and a green chili sauce.

 He was rather chuffed.

 I think the dessert was a key lime pie even though the waiter called it lemon pie. But who cares, it was awesome. During the meal we tried several different drinks; prosecco, Mexican beers and  Mexican "lonkero" (me likey!!).
The service was fantastic and the guys really make this place, creating the right atmosphere that is laid back and relaxed, a bit loud and happy. The guy serving us said that it was a stressfull day and later on we were laughing cause for us they all seemed really relaxed. I think I should mention that this is not fast food, but in my opinion we never had to wait too long for anything. With quite a few drinks and three courses the bill came to just over a hundred euros, and I reckon the night was totally worth it. Gracias Patrona, we will be back!

 

After the meal we checked out the English Comedy Night at Apollo. We really loved the Swedish mime guy Lasse Nilsen, and the Aussie host Louis Zezeran was hilarious too. Hope we get a chance to go again at some point, the English nights are held about once a month.

Pure Scandinavian Flavours at Spis

Thursday night was special just because me and my resident chef rarely have an evening off from work together, apart from Sundays and Mondays, when most interesting restaurants in Helsinki are all closed. So, previous week, after a short think thank we booked ourselves a table at Helsinki's fine dining scene's newcomer Spis. In a way I recommend you not to read this post if you're planning to go and have the surprise dinner as you will enjoy it much more if you don't know what is coming! I did the mistake of finding out what they were serving at the moment and I wish I hadn't.

We started with pre dinner drinks at wine bar Latva on Korkeavuorenkatu 25. I had a Franciacorta roseand the chef had a beetroot whiskey sour. Nice beginning for the night, and a short walk to Spis around the corner. Will have to visit Latva again to sample more wines and the Finnish tapas.

At Kasarminkatu 26 we found the tiny restaurant with just 18 seats. The sign outside looked promising and I would say that carrots did become the theme of the evening. Nearly all tables were occupied when we came but there were a few seats free for walk ins, as they promise on their website.

We went for the recommendation of a naturally sweet sparkling Beaujolais, which was a refreshingly different aperitif and served from some pretty funky glassware. We chose to have a tasting menu with fish and small glasses of recommended wines for the food.

The first amuse bouche was a carrot in a pot. The carrot was a spoon and the ground was star anise flavoured, with a mayonnaise in the bottom. Delicious and very very funny. Good trick to make anyone smile straight away at the beginning of their meal.

Second amuse was a borch "soup" with a beetroot sorbet, foam and powder. It actually turned into a soup in the mouth and definately was more delicious than any other borch I've ever tasted.

After this came the first starter "Pumpkin and Malt", of which I hadn't gotten a decent picture. The light was a little too dark for impressive food photography so I won't be publishing anything that doesn't do justice to the actual presentation. The dish had pumpkin cubes with malt in several forms; crumble, puree and foam at least. The chef loved it but he is a beer man; for me the malt was very very strong and bitter. However, the wine recommendation was spot on with a German sweet Riesling that tamed the malt and complimented the natural sweetness of the pumpkin.

Next we were poured a chilled Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley. As it was a surprise menu we were trying to guess what would come next... Root vegetables was all we could think of. Got it partially right as we did get "something between a soup and a pasta", with a creamy frothy jerusalem artichoke soup and chestnut ravioli. Again the wine was beautiful with the food, contrasting the creamy soup and complimenting the chestnut.

Before the main came "Carrot and Carrot", sorbet and granita. Very fresh and clean taste of carrot.

The main course was "Burbot, Potato and Onion". Even with many components and foams and things the flavours were so simple and clean. The potato tasted purely of potato, and that's how it should be in this restaurant. It was a small shock to the tastebuds that are used to seasoning that often might cover the real original flavours of the ingredients. The burbot was a little tough but not being the expert on how to cook burbot I am not sure if it could have been more tender. We both enjoyed it very much. The wine was an Austrian blend of Gruner Veltliner and Riesling and was well balanced with the subtle flavours of the dish.

Before desserts we got "Gammel Dansk with a milk snow", which they admitted to have copied from Noma in Copenhagen. Herby alcoholic sorbet with a milky powder, again quite funny. (Sorry no pic)

Dessert was "Parsnip and White Chocolate" with white chocolate ganache and parsnip in the form of ice cream, powder and puree, as well as an apple foam. It was a completely new flavour for me to have parsnip in the form of a dessert and I really enjoyed it. The sweet wine was from the Jura area in France.

 With our espressos we got beetroot marshmallows and carrot lollipops, which added an another great touch to the evening. The chef enjoyed a Finnish røm from Åland, a surprising addition to the dinner.

We had a great evening and one of the most innovative meals in a long time. We will definately be going back, the menu is to be changed ten times in a year with the seasons so there are more surprises waiting for us in Spis. The service was warm and welcoming, professional (great wine pairing) and friendly. Only critism I have is that I'd wish they'd leave the water jugs at the table, they would save themselves alot of work. (The water glasses are tiny.)

Helsinki is the World design Capital 2012, and I'd recommed Spis for any travellers interested in Finnish design as they pay a lot of attention to detail here with the tableware (especially liked the plates by Nanna Bayer) and even the uniforms of the staff. And the food is definitely Scandinavian, pure, fresh and simple.

Go and let Spis surprise you too!

Ps. Another review found on Liemessä blog in Finnish with very nice pictures.

Lunch at Postres

To celebrate my dear friend Ilona's birthday a special lunch was in order and so we decided to book a table at Postres, one of the few Michelin starred restaurants in Helsinki. The cuisine is modern Scandinavian based on the classic French style. They have two menu choices for lunch, 29€ or Chef's menu for 53€. We mixed a little bit and the price was from between the two menus.

We started with the house Champagne, which suited our occasion and was pleasantly toasty, waking up an appetite. The bread was irrisistably fresh, the best "saaristolaisleipä" I have ever tasted. I liked how the butter was set on a small stone.

We asked for a white wine that would go with both the starter and the main and got a nice Rheingau Riesling which was exactly the kind of wine I love; acidity, fruit, freshness, maybe just off dry. (And it didn't break the bank either.)

Our starter was a beautifully served mussel soup, with a touch of Thai flavours such as coconut, curry and coriander.  The flavours were fresh and balanced, and of course there was a pretty foam. Wonder when that will go out of fashion...

 The main course was the very seasonal burbot, which I have eaten only once before, if you don't count the roe of burbot, which is great with blinis. There were panfried pieces of burbot, burbot liver and a sort of quenelle with a fish mousse inside, as well as a mayonnaise (blisfully forgot what it was flavoured with but it was very tasty!), a parsley puree, carrots, ryebread croutons and a potato snow. It wasn't only beautiful in presentation but also tasted good and satisfied the appetite. The flavour of the fish is quite delicate and everything on the plate was in balance.

 Dessert was a baked chocolate mousse with "tiger ice cream". The mousse was like a softer version of a fondant, fluffy and moist. Tiger ice cream was like a gourmet version of the shop bought stuff and the orange flavour came in the ice cream and a quark as well as gel, jelly and segments of orange. Couldn't fault it, and the dessert wine from Mas Jullien (Southern France) really complimented the orange flavours.

Cloudberry filled profiterols were presented with our coffees, and even we were quite full they were the cherry on top.

All in all the lunch was perfect, and pretty much what I expected it to be. Service was friendly and professional, at the level that the Michelin inspectors would aspire it to be. If I have to come up with any criticism it is that I personally wish that even the Michelin places would relax just a little bit. Who really wants the napkin put on their lap or their table brushed off breadcrumps? However, for me it is a place that is well suited for a special occasion, and I will definately want to go back. Would recommend for anyone who enjoys this kind of food!