Reservation
This year, restaurant Kaskis became Michelin one star restaurant. It was the first time that a restaurant in other cities than Helsinki was chosen to by Michelin in Finland. Even before they became Michelin-starred restaurant, I had heard it was a great restaurant from many reliable sources and tried to book a table. But I never succeeded to secure a table.
Recently, I looked at their booking site without any expectation and found two dates were available in September. I booked a table for two thinking “cancelling is much easier than booking”. I asked a friend who lives in Turku area, and she immediately said “Yes.”
Logistics
I had been so much looking forward to dining at Kaskis. But there was something I needed to figure out. The last available transportation from Turku to Helsinki where I live was 21:15 express bus. I asked them how long it usually takes for customers to finish the whole course. They said, it usually takes 3.5 hours but could try to squeeze it into 3 hours. Our reservation was at 18:00 which is the time the restaurant opens. I figured I couldn’t make it back to Helsinki and booked a hotel room in Turku. It made my evening much more relaxing.
Dining experience at Kaskis was unique. They, especially, the head chef, seem to enjoy Michelin status a lot. From my experience, it was different from other Michelin restaurants.
First thing I noticed was the Michelin figure at the entrance. I had never seen such a figure at the restaurants though my experience is limited. It made us smile and laugh. At the shelf near the entrance, there was a Michelin star!
One of the snacks served had a shape of Michelin star. Of course, it was tasty, and I liked it a lot.
The chef brought us the first dessert saying, “Let’s eat Michelin”. It was dessert which shape was Michelin star.
The chef was so much enjoying the Michelin status, in a Finnish way, in my opinion. My friend wondered if he has Michelin star tattoo. He had a lot of tattoos on the arms but no Michelin star we recognized. On the way out from the restaurant, I asked him if he had Michelin start tattooed. Of course, he did. He didn’t have enough space on his arms, the tattoo was in his chest. And he told us the story. He went to Norway without telling others about Michelin thing, but he called his Tattoo artist that he wanted to book an appointment. The tattoo artist was fully booked and wouldn’t be available for a while. However, the tattoo artist heard about Michelin star after it became public and called the chef that he could come immediately. The chef greeted every single customer when they were leaving at the door. And both customers and the chef seem to enjoy the conversation. We also did enjoy it.
Menu
Menu was rather simple, such as snacks, crayfish, mallard (duck), carrot, white fish, beef, dessert and berries. However, each dish consisted of, actually, a couple of dishes and offered variety of ways of enjoying each ingredient.
Snacks
Rapu/Crayfish (the first starter)
Crayfish starter was served with two kinds of sourdough bread from bakery Å. One of them was archipelago bread. We love bakery Å located on the Kakola hill which has been recently developed. Their breads and pastries are one of the best in Finland. There were two kinds of spreads, one was whipped butter flavored with dill and another was sour cream flavored with salt and lemon. There were pickled cucumbers and pickled stems of dill. Crayfish meat was nicely presented. There was soup made from Finnish freshwater crayfish. Rhubarb was served to add flavors to these dishes like lemon does.
I liked that crayfish was in the menu as it was a still crayfish season when we dined there. I appreciate seasonal flavors. I liked the soup together with delicious pieces of bread. Crayfish makes wonderful soup.
Sorsa/Mallard (the second starter)
We didn’t know the word “mallard” and had to ask what it was in Finnish (sorsa). It’s a wild duck. I loved the taste and texture of the hey-smoked mallard. There was another dish which consisted of Finnish corn, broad bean, green pea, corn puree topped with homemade chili oil in the middle, confit of mallard legs and mallard sauce. I liked it a lot! All ingredients brought beautiful harmony to the dish. Among them, corn puree was my most favorite though. The wild duck was from Inkoo and reminded me of equally great duck dish I had some other restaurant several years ago. Inkoo seems to be the place for wild ducks.
Porkkana/Carrot (the third starter)
Finnish carrot with pickled elder flower berry and flower, homemade cottage cheese seasoned with summer flowers, carrot and yellow raspberry. It was fun to see carrot shape made of carrots. The cottage cheese was tasty (I love cheese!) and flowers made it lovely (I love flowers!)!
Siika/White Fish (the first main dish)
White fish (I think it’s grilled), white fish raw, kales, cabbages, fresh herbs, mussel stock made from Thai green curry sauce. I am not sure about the mussel stock part (no memories!), but we were surprised by the combination of Thai curry sauce and other ingredients. But it was fresh and lovely. Texture of the white fish was nicely farm and worked very well with the sauce.
Nauta/Beef (the second main dish)
Tenderloin stake, tartar, beef tail ragoût, rosetta potato… at this point, we were close to completely full. I would usually skip potatoes, but it was too good to skip. All of these four dishes were great but my most favorite was tartar because I love tartar and the flavor and texture of the meat were perfect!
Marja/Berries (dessert)
Michelin-star shaped sourdough bread ice cream sandwich and berries and Granité. We were so so so full but couldn’t help eating both desserts. Combination of berry and Granité was refreshing!
Lastly, (more) sweets! Pihlaja, the oldest candy produced by Fazer still on the market. The wrapping was from Fazer’s candy, but the chef made the candy! He told us he collected wrappings after his kids had eaten the candies.
So many dishes with so many different ingredients and flavors! The atmosphere of the restaurant was easy-going, and you don’t have to dress up. I mean that you could dress up, but casual clothing is also welcomed. The chef is friendly and fun. It was very difficult to make a reservation, but I am glad that I finally had an opportunity to dine at Kaskis.
Kaskis
Restaurant Kaskis
+358 44 723 0200
Kaskenkatu 6 a • 20700 Turku • Finland
P.S. Their sister restaurant “Kakolanruusu” is also superb!