Chef & Sommelier

I am not sure how I feel about concept of wild food. It kind of feels like it’s the in-​food of 2015. Not sure how long its affair with the world of foodies will last. However, I must say I have just had one of the best restaurant experiences of my life at Chef & Sommelier specializing in this niche. Maybe its not just a trendy term. Perhaps there is more to it. Our food experience at the restaurant was accompanied with a set of fantastic nature wines.
The restaurant has a varying menu, depending what the chefs have been growing/​catching that week. You can choose from 4 to 9 courses. As it was still technically winter, many of the courses featured game and root vegetables. We actually both took 5 course menus (from a selection of 9 dishes all together). As always, we ended up choosing completely different dishes (except for the cheese, that we both had), so we were able to taste absolutely everything. The list of foods looked the following:
Deer and mushroom
Artichoke and reindeer
King crab and pike
Goodio and cherry (dessert)
Potato and almond
Carrot and pumpkin
Root celery and blackcurrant
Parsnip from Majvik (dessert)
Cheese
The big surprise of the night was the parsnip, which was a dessert. It was super sweet and tasty, the type of experience where you realize that you have hated parsnip for no reason at all. You have just never had good parsnip. Other highlights were the potato and almond and carrot and pumpkin dishes. These guys really know what to do with their veggies. All in all, there was not one dish that was even mediocre. All were really good if not fantastic. The price of the five course menu was 60 € (nothing).
We also took a wine flight, starting with a glass of bubbly each. I went for the Eric Rodez Cuvee des Crayerez champagne and my date tried something quite unusual, an Italian sparkling, Mio Malvasia, that was made with the ancestral method. The sparklings were followed by some amazing whites: Langhe Bianco 2004 from Piemonte, and a Cheverny from Herve Villemade. The best of all was however Le Puits Sauvignon Blanc from Olivier Lemasson. We also tried some dessert wine and a ruby reserva port. The wines together (around four glasses each) cost us around 80 €. Yes, all together. Not a bad deal at all.
The best thing about the restaurant was definitely the food, but I would not like to undermine the service. It was great. The chefs took their time to serve the dishes and chat about where they have sourced their ingredients. Even though the restaurant was full, the staff never seemed stressed or in a hurry. It is an art of its own to manage a busy restaurant like that. My date was particularly pleased as one of the chefs was a bit of a coffee-​geek and we got the perfect cup of White Label Ethiopian as a digestive.
So I would rate this as a perfect experience. There is nothing I would change. Nothing at all.

Wow. The service is first class VIP. The chef comes out and explains every dish in detail with enthusiasm and extensive knowledge. We just threw our money to take it. He could have sold us ice in Finland.
Love that the food is local and fresh and how much care the chef puts into his dishes and customers. We had a pleasant time.

Truly an amazing gastronomical experience. Wonderful inventive locally sourced hearty delicious food — this place dazzled/​ruined us — you can only go down from here. From the crab to the parsnip cake… Wow!

This place is worth flying to Helsinki in November for… If you can find a way to get an invite to the Finnish Sauna Society for a plunge in the Baltic Sea and a fire stove sauna you will never forget this extraordinary experience

I had only one free night in helsinki and am very pleased to have chosen chef and sommelier for dinner. All the staff was very courteous and friendly, they take turns bringing the dishes over (as is now the custom in many similar restaurants where ingredients, culinary innovation and skills really matter). Food was excellent. Quite innovative. I was particularly impressed with how well they use limited resources (i.e. Because of the climate local ingredients can be limited or hard to get, but also they produced a lot of the things themselves or seemed to have a good working relationship with local producers)

Exceptional. Food is freshand the flavor combinations are exquisite. Staff is extremely friendly and welcoming. They deserve their Michelin star.

This review comes very late, as the visit was in summer 2014. However, I felt I had to react as my experience at Chef & Sommelier was very different from the reviews here.
Don’t get me wrong — the place is very much worthy of its star. But I think you have to be aware of what style of place it is. It is all about ecological, near-​produced food. My perception was that the origin of the food was more important than the taste of the food. I don’t care if the carrot is from the backyard, if the carrot doesn’t taste amazing. How a fish driven from 1000 km up north is more ecological than from a 1000 km in some other direction, I don’t know.
It could be that my palate isn’t sophisticated enough, but I certainly won’t return to Chef & Sommelier as I think there are restaurants in Helsinki where the food speaks for itself, without the need of lengthy stories about its origins. It’s for the very same reason why I absolutely hated Ask — another restaurant where the origin of the food was more important than the flavor of the food.
I respect that this is what «modern Nordic cuisine» is about — it’s just not for me.

I’m pretty sure that my meal at Chef & Sommelier was the best meal I’ve ever had. I called ahead and asked for the vegetarian menu, and they were very accommodating. It was incredible! The chef is incredibly skilled, and incredibly passionate about his work. He came around to each table and described each dish, where the ingredients came from (which was always someplace local), and even told us about his sweet cherry farmer. His passion is contagious, and I can’t stop thinking about this meal.

My husband and I were very much looking forward to dining here, and I was very disappointed. The good — the staff was very earnest and sweet. The bad: 1. The atmosphere was coffee shop. The lighting is too bright and the silverware is in a caddy on your table for self service. 2. There are no wines by the glass listed nor any wine flights/​pairings suggested on the wine list which is all by bottle. You have to ask the sommelier what wines are by the glass and the same for pairings. Consequently you will also have to ask the price. I should not have to work like this. 3. The food was generally bland and too precious. I well understand subtle flavors, but this food was flavorless except for my cabbage main course which was too salty. The sorbet in the apple and carrot dessert was also nice but ruined by the roasted carrots which did not work in a dessert.
I am an experienced diner and I cook well, so I was very unpleasantly surprised by this restaurant. You can do far better in Helsinki.

First of all, the staff was extremely accommodating for arranging a table for 2 late in the evening. The food was wonderful and the service was top-​notch. Each course came with a full explanation of where the ingredients came from and how it was prepared.
Sitting at the table at the window also offers an opportunity to page through cookbooks from some of the world’s best restaurants. It just sort of makes you salivate even more.

My favorite restaurant in Helsinki — no contest. Everything they put on a plate here is great and the staff and service here is top notch.

Wow! Had the seven course chef’s menu which consisted of one perch dish, one lamb dish with the rest vegetarian.
What really blew me away was the fantastic flavors and textures of the vegetarian dishes. The green pea dish we got first was truly amazing.
Super relaxed and very attentive service with very interesting wine pairings.
This one star restaurant is a must visit!
The only minuses was the tropical heat in the dining room (like a lot of places in Helsinki during the summer) and that we were served room temperature water.

A very cozy and friendly restaurant. Beautiful food, made from fresh, local ingredients. Some of it is hand picked by the staff straight From the nearby forests. Despite being a Michelin-​star awarded restaurant, C&S is affordable (as a starred restaurant).

Chef Sasu Laukkonen is a genious, lover of great ingredients and a master in cooking simple perfection. He specializes in local herbs, meat and vegetables and always works in season. Wine list is amazing.
The restaurant is very small and intimate. Reservation is an absolut must.

The best food I’ve had in Finland. Period. The restaurant is small and simple, but the food is freaking amazing. You compile your own menu from a list of choices, and choose how many courses you want. I had five courses, and all of them were awesome (okay, I didn’t love the mushroom and onion dish, but it was interesting enough to make me kinda love it anyway). The service is also wonderful — not sleazy or aggressive in any way, but very attentive and warm. It’s not the cheapest place in the world, but then again I don’t think 50 – 60 euros for 5 – 6 amazing courses is bad. Also, the wines were great and not overpriced in any way. Highly recommended, peeps.

We walked in 15 minutes early and they addressed us by name. In a flash I had a glass of cava (oh, how I miss good cava living in Canada!) in my hand. My sister-​in-​law is pregnant and they fixed her a jasmine tea and sparkling water that resembled my delicious drink as closely as possible.
The menu is simple: a list of 9 items from which you can create a four– to nine-​course meal. We went for the seven-​course chef’s menu, which started with local tomatoes three ways and zoomed ahead from there. We also ordered a three-​glass wine menu. It worked out to $ 100 euros per person, including all tax and tip, with booze, and $ 75 without drinks. The menu changes every month, and aside from the obvious constraints of local and seasonal dishes, I can see why, as the chef painstakingly, personally elaborates on every dish as it comes out, right down to stories about the gardens where he picks their veggies.
Often this intimate serving style can feel forced or invasive, but Sasu is so charmingly nerdy and enthusiastic about food that it came across as wholly genuine. He came out repeatedly to talk to my husband about making bread, sharing tips, etc. I felt like I was witnessing someone (and I should include Johan in this as well) who was living their dream job. Hats off to them both.

No neighbourhood in the world would be a better setting for this amazing little restaurant that seats only 25 than Helsinki’s historical Eira and the quiet, beautiful Huvilakatu street. Chef Sasu Laukkonen and his team create stunning dishes, all out of organic ingredients, and, hands down, the best rye bread I’ve ever had a chance to taste.
For designated drivers and others who don’t drink wine sommelier Johan offers a flight of tea, served as delicately and inspiringly as the regular, alcohol-​containing set. Sasu comes out of the tiny, spotless clean kitchen in the middle to present and explain every dish they serve, incl. where he picked the greens and the herbs and where he caught the fish, and the food is simply outstanding. The menu changes monthly. If you can eat dinner in only one restaurant in Helsinki, make sure it’s Chef & Sommelier.

I give this restaurant my highest recommendation. The restaurant itself is located in a very intimate house in the Eira district of Helsinki and seats about 20 – 25. Nicely decorated and comfortable on the inside. The customer service is outstanding, the Sommelier Johan is full of knowledge and ready to please while Sasu the main Chef is energetic and excited to spread knowledge of all his organic specialties. He will actually come out and explain all the dishes (where he picked the herbs, who caught the fish, etc.) This restaurant blew my mind from my previous expectations of Finnish restaurants. They have service nailed. Having coming from a culinary Mecca that is the San Francisco Bay Area, my expectations are usually pretty high and this place delivers the goods. I haven’t even mentioned the food which is also outstanding. They have a fixed price menu which currently priced reasonably for a restaurant of this caliber. They let you pick from 3 to 7 dishes depending on what you feel like, you can pick anything on their seasonal menu which changes 4 times a year. Everything is fresh and organic and made with care. I haven’t really had a dish I didn’t really like there. Their wine menu while priced a bit high, did have some nice selections from all over Europe. I think it would be nice however, if they threw in some California or Oregon Wines to mix it up a bit. I really look forward to every visit here which is more of a dining experience than just a dinner out. Both times I have eaten here, we spent 2.5 — 3 hours which is quite nice if you like really taking time to savor your dishes and enjoy the surroundings. So, if you are a local Finn, expat like myself, or tourist coming to visit Helsinki, please make a visit to this wonderful little restaurant. You will not be disappointed. For weekend reservations, I would recommend calling them at least 1 – 2 months in advance.