Located in a historic house of 1817 at Esplanadi Street, the Scandinavian restaurant Ravintola OLO could be considered one of the most respectable restaurants in Helsinki with the Michelin star.
The restaurant included in the list of the top 50 best in Finland was founded in 2006 by chefs Pekka Terävä, Petri Lukkarinen and Teuvo Salminen. In 2009 the Finnish Gastronomic Community (Suomen Gastronominen Seura) awarded OLO “Restaurant of the Year”.
And in 2011 after 5 years since opening the restaurant was awarded the highest gastronomic trophy — one Michelin star which has been kept to date.
Ravintola OLO
There are three dining rooms as well as a banquet room for 12 people in Ravintola OLO . 3 years ago a younger “brother” was born just around the corner: OLO-Garden & Bar patio, a great space for various cocktail parties and special events for up to 200 people.
OLO’s interior is made in Scandinavian minimalistic style. Bright-colored walls are decorated with paintings of modern Finnish artists and any of them could be purchased (prices are indicated on each painting). Simple ascetic furniture, white tablecloths, wooden floors made of natural oak, warm & slightly dim light: everything gives a feeling of coziness and total comfort as if you are sitting in the living room. (note: “OLO” abbr. from Finnish “Olohuone” meaning “living room”). Exactly what the Danes call Hygge.
If you intend to get acquainted with Scandinavian cuisine in a non-trivial format, ne sure this place is the right one. Here you can enjoy the unusual gastronomic delights of beautiful Suomi while the most of natural local ingredients are used for them — pure gifts from numerous Finnish lakes and forests.
The “conductors” of each OLO gastronomic evening are the head chef Jari Vesivalo and a pastry chef Katja Henttunen with their big friendly team. Jari Vesivalo: “We have a very close-knit team, we are all as one family with whom we spend more time than with our loved ones. We constantly improving our qualifications, learning from each other, sending younger guys to study. I’ve been working like this for fifteen years and am grateful to my family for understanding and patience”.
The main mission of restaurant OLO is to ensure that every guest gets a true pleasure and unforgettable emotions from the delightful servings, excellent quality products and impeccable service. “We precisely choose the ingredients and try to use local products as much as possible. Some types of fish like for example Faroe salmon we get from neighboring Scandinavian countries. Meat, especially venison which is quite common in our dishes as well as berries and mushrooms are all from our motherland — Finland”, — tells Jari.
“The restaurant’s menu changes depending on the season and the its most relevant ingredients. New ideas come constantly, especially when I am totally relaxed spending my vacation or just walking. I live near the sea and often wander along the coast listening to music — it leads me to new gastronomic fantasies. I also discover the cuisines of different countries while traveling. It’s no secret that Finnish cuisine has absorbed a lot of the culinary traditions of the West and East. And every time we receive a new delivery of fish or meat in our restaurant, we get together and exchange our thoughts and opinions”.
Each OLO course is a finished piece of art harmoniously combining grace of taste and laconicism of serving. Winter menu 2020 (139 € / person) consists of six chapters with several courses in each one. The restaurant offers you the options of pairing as well: Drinks Whole Evening (285 €) or Prestige Drinks Whole Evening (335 €) and a menu with unlimited non-alcoholic drinks (207 €).
The dinner starts with amuse-bouche & appetizer set. Hiramasa with horse radish — yellowtail slices with ginger ponzu and grated horseradish. Special instrument to enjoy it is culinary tweezers laying on the table from the very first minutes of the dinner.
The following three snacks are served on wooden coasters and you need to try them in a certain sequence: White fish roe with mangalitza pork fat — brioche with whitefish caviar and a thin slice of smoked pork fat; Goat cheese with red berries — stuffed with goat cheese balls covered with delicate raspberry and red currant shells; Finnish dry-aged beef with sunchoke — ox tartar between two fermented Jerusalem artichoke tortillas.
An acquaintance continues with cold appetizers Chawanmushi with salmon and salmon roe — the famous Japanese egg dish is served in combination with Finnish raw salmon and salmon caviar, seasoned with a sauce of butter and fermented asparagus.
The next item Finnish duck liver with raspberry and beetroot delights with is its “jewelry” presentation: duck mousse with a layer of raspberry-wine jelly is covered with tiny slices of beets laid out in a quadrangle and decorated with pine-nut “pearls”.
Bread-making is a special pride of Finnish nation being one of the foundations of their culinary traditions. Finland is one of the few countries which’s been carefully keeping their ancient baking recipes that’s is why one of the menu courses is dedicated to the bread subject: Bread serving.
The first thing to catch your eye just when you come in for the dinner are the cast-iron pans standing on each table with gradually rising dough inside.
After a while, the waiters pick up the pans to bake the content and then serve crispy gold and fragrant fresh bread with various spreads: fermented butter, thin slices of lard and Jerusalem artichoke purée with whitefish caviar and green oil. And a special attribute of the bread set is a small wooden knive carved from solid oak.
After the bread tasting, the main part of the gastronomic performance begins — the hots are coming.
Pike perch with Lappish almond potato — a pike perch fillet slightly dipped in almond espuma with a special kind of Lapland almond-shaped potato in the bottom, which has a very crumbly structure due to its high starch content.
The fish theme continues with Grilled monkfish with aromatic chicken broth — a smoked monkfish poured with rich aromatic chicken stock and served with crispy & spicy chicken skin chips.
The only meat course of the main part of the menu is Deer with lemon thyme. Medium-rare Venison tenderloin, lemon espuma with touch of thyme and green apple and concentrated Venison juice. Marttiini puukko, the sharp Finnish knife invented by the Finnish village master from Lapland in 1926 and subsequently gained worldwide popularity, is served for the meat.
Before the dessert finale you can also treat yourself with a Cheese plate with assorted delicious cheeses from all over the world as well as local Finnish producers. This is a separate option that is not included in the main set (+23 € / person) but without any doubt it’s worth your attention.
Cheese platter served with yellow beetroot marmalade, cloudberry confiture, jerked pork and crunchy mini brioche.
To freshen up the receptors, guests are offered a light Green apple sorbet slightly stewed with cream.
An exotic combination is revealed in Potato ice cream with porter and green strawberries, decorated with dark chocolate leaf.
True delight could be noticed on the guests’ faces when Rose, yuzu and sour cream appears on their tables — a rose in all its splendor made from sour cream with yuzu and white chocolate and sprinkled with fancy golden pollen.
An original compliment from pastry chef Hommage à la pâtisserie awaits everyone at the end of the evening — a classic sablé, white fennel root and liquorice mousse, sea buckthorn cream, mirror glaze and ruffle liquorice chocolate on top.
“I really love my job, and it’s a great happiness for me when guests leave us satisfied and joyful after an evening spent at our restaurant and get a real pleasure from the food they enjoyed — this is our major mission” (Jari Vesivalo).
Ravintola OLO
Address: Pohjoisesplanadi 5, Helsinki
Editor-in-chief: Patricia Kolari
Technical Director: Evgeny Fedorov
Text writer: Marina Timoshevskaya Photos: EATWEEK
