Nokka - Finnish for front and that is where this restaurant is heading

href="http://www.royalravintolat.com/nokka/index.asp">Ravintola Nokka is situated in the wonderful old harbour warehouse below the Uspenski Catedral on Katajannokka, the part of town where I spent my first 5 years. It is situated in the premises of the legendary restaurant Kanavaranta, which got very famous for their tar ice cream. After a major renovation Nokka opened under the chef Markus Maulavirta. The mood is different, trendier, more international, but still carrying the legacy of fresh Finnish ingredients. They are moving to the front in Finnish cuisine, and cannot do anything else as they are called Nokka, which is Finnish for front.

Having recently been to Chez Dominique I was in a very good position to compare the two. Chez Dominique is clearly sharper on the food, but the atmosphere and the wines at Nokka gives me reason to compare them. I am no expert on Guide rouge stars, but they could get one, with a bit more focus on details. Two stars would require more culinary innovation and refinement.

This visit was special as I took my dear wife Nina there and we had a feast! We started with a plate of seasonal delicacies, this was quite innovative, but was not up to the standard of what followed. I had a spinach gnocchi in champagne sauce with a paste of olives, this dish was very very good and had wonderful vivid colours. Nina had a crisp and fresh green salad with fresh asparagus. To each dish I had a different glass of wine. One of the things Nokka is really focusing on are the wines. Their sommelier Petri ??? is one of two having a very high level french wine diploma and one can really taste his competence. The service was very flexible and professional, not the posh stiff style typical in Finnish restaurants, but empatic and efficient. We got a brief tour of their wine cellar and their cook-in kitchen, where I had been cooking in the fall when Matt Jones joined Nokia.

My main course was an exotic breed of salmon lightly smoked on a bed of morel stew with new Finnish potatoes. This was as Finnish as fish gets, great smell, wonderful texture, food was hot. It was the best smoked salmon I had ever had. Nina had a pike perch dish, but there the pike perch was a fraction overdone, but it did not seem to affect her satisfaction. For desert we continued with an Pannacotta with a pineapple sauce and I had an orange souffle with a choclate sorbet ball. This was spectacular as the ball was served in a second bowl, the waitress cut the souffle upon and dropped in the ball of sorbet. Again strong smell couple with a wonderful wine. The souffle act was gracious move, making a great dinner peak.

I rounded of with a bit of spirit tasting by comparing French Calvados with Finnosh Ålvados, I guess Apple brandy from Åland. It was quite OK, but not a subtle as the Calvados, might have been due to the age, I do not know if they have been doing Ålvados for a dozen years.

Birds are singing in the toilet and you dry your hands in nicely rolled cloth napkins - exclusive.

Update June 20th 2005: I recently had a chance to go back, this time in a bigger party, where we were served the Helsinki Menu. I am still of the opinion that this is one of the best restaurants in Helsinki. Considering that we were about 15 persons, they managed to have the food hot, not over cooked and served in a timely fashion. The Helsinki Menu is not particularely Finnish, but it is a good menu.