Taste of Helsinki 2017

I don't often go to festivals but if there's food involved I wouldn't want to miss it in the world. Taste of Helsinki is probably the best event ever. It's a food festival, which has been arranged already for years by Barry and Mira MacNamara, where some of the top restaurants from Finland and also Estonia participate. It's amazing to be able to enjoy food from 10 different top notch
restaurants all in one day. It's a 4 day event...and I already thought I would miss it this year again. Lucky for me though I managed to come home on Friday and got the tickets online before going to bed :)

I wrote about this event also last year :) so please check out my blog about that event too Taste of Helsinki

This year the restaurants involved were Pastor, Ludu, Toca, Grön, Savoy, Shelter, Passio, Bistro o Mat, Noa and pop up restaurant Tuohi.

The weather was so much better than last year and it was nice to walk around the area and enjoy the food in the sun. Again the event didn't disappoint me but this year,  I had difficulty choosing a favourite dish. I guess the most surprising dish was the gazpacho with veg from Passio. I hadn't ordered that dish but was lucky to get a taster from my friend's plate :)
Restaurant Grön was again on my top along with Passio and Tuohi.

Let's start the day with Flying Solo, You don't want to go around feeling dehydrated before a snack :)

I started off with GRÖN, my favourite from last years event.

On the left, Their signature dish with raw dry aged beef and mustard flavoured kale, lovage and smoked bone marrow fat. On the right: Charred onion with chicken liver cream, wheat and crispy chicken skin.

Next up was TUOHI, a wild herb pop-up restaurant with four different chefs. 

Here Ragnar Eiriksson from Dill in Iceland is serving his special: Captain grill heart and his magic herbs.

Ossi Palonevas Beesting Blini, Resin cream and fermented buckwheat honey

Sasu Laukkonen's Fish Terrine with Yoghurt and wild herbs of the season

LUDU

Signature dish by Ludu: Beef tartar, celery-cucumber salad, brioche and mustard hollandaise

Bream Wallenberg, new potatoes from Rymättylä, bouillabaisse mayonnaise and peashoot sauce

Should I be chirping like a bird with Logans Weemala or be a Foxy lady?

SAVOY

Blackcurrant seasoned Baltic herring Escabeche, potato pearls and dill crème

An old classic Savoy's signature dish:Vorschmack 

PASSIO

Asparagus soup and Iberico tempura

Sausages 'n' potatoes, lamb sausages, black pudding and new potatoes

CHAMPAGNE HOUSE ANDRÉ CLOUET

Monsieur Jean-Francoise Clouet

SHELTER

24hr braised organic lamb belly, pickled chanterelle & smoked yoghurt

Signature dish: Sugar salted whitefish & whitefish roe, new potatoes cooked in brown butter & pickled apple

PASTOR

Grilled Octopus, potato terrine, cold-smoked salmon roe

Time for Desserts. First in line again, restaurant GRÖN

Parfait flavoured with spruce shoot vinegar, sunflower seeds, lactic acid and spruce shoot caramel

BISTRO O MAT

Apple sorbet, roasted white chocolate and salted caramel

NOA

"Vana Tallinn" strong beverage

If there ever is an event like this, I highly recommend you to go 'cause to me this is the best festival ever and there should be events like this more often :D