Magu

This low-profile address is located on Sturenkatu, one of the Vallila district’s main streets. Chef Ossi Paloneva is a forager and serial entrepreneur who can be seen cooking on tv-shows dedicated to wild, Finnish produce, at food festivals – or here at Magu. With a deep respect for Planet Earth, Paloneva’s four-course lunches are vegan, and at 12,5 euros, they’re a bargain.

What makes this culinary experience even more mesmerizing is the strong emphasis on sustainable, hyper-local and anti food-waste thinking. Also, as the name Maku suggests – the Finnish word for flavor – everything here packs a punch. For starters, a slice of sweet Scandinavian rye- and malt bread is tucked under a pile of kohlrabi spread topped with smoked rowan buds, deceptively simple but oh so intriguing in flavor.

The season’s first new potatoes are served halved with orpine and dried parsnips. Garlic mustard with red cabbage and beets is an easy-on-the-eye bowl of pink soup, the bitter raw garlic mustard won over by the liquid’s lively tones and velvety texture. Spring cabbage with flax seeds and spruce vinaigrette is a well-balanced, earthy and hearty bowl of goodness.

But don’t expect the same if you come back another time; lunch here is an ever-changing phenomenon. Published June, 2019.