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Visit Croatia: Bota Sare

May 25, 2016

Who could ever say that Mediterranean cuisine has anything to do with the Japanese one? Who could ever say that these two could be “mixed” and deliver the best of two worlds together in one place? Bota Sare made me believe that this is very much possible.

Oyster and sushi bar Bota Sare comes from a 40 years long family tradition of love for the sea food originating from their hometown Mali Ston. First fusion restaurant like this one was opened in Dubrovnik, followed by the one I’ve visited in Split. Ever since, Bota Sare has been the ultimate choice for many locals and tourists as a “must try” sushi place as well as a place where you get to try the best of traditional meals such as seafood risotto, octopus salad or mixed shells in Buzara sauce.

Bota Sare is tucked away in a small side street, just a short walk away from the most visited spot in Split – Splitska Riva, one of the most beautiful promenades that a sea side city can have. Thanks to the benefits of Split city being situated at the Adriatic sea coast, fish is caught fresh daily and that is something that you can make sure of – Bota Sare serves only the best of the quality produce and never make compromises. Oysters are also daily caught and shipped from Mali Ston to Split.

Menu is really interesting and “colourful” so it was a bit though to decide on what to choose from it, but since I’m a huge sushi lover, I had to take different nigiris, rolls and sashimi as starters and main course. Another two options were for more of a meat eaters, spring rolls stuffed with cream cheese and veggies as for the starter and beef teriyaki with rice as the main course.

Sushi rolls were great, especially a dragon roll, but the spotlight def. goes to the super fresh and delicious nigiris and spicy tuna tataki!

If you want to enjoy the unique crossover of Dalmatian vs. Japanese cuisine, make sure to stop by Bota Sare and let the kind and skilful staff welcome you with the plates full of goodness for all of the true seafood lovers.

*This post has been made in collaboration with Bota Sare restaurant, all of the opinions are my own.

*Thank you to Miss Antonella Sare for making this collaboration possible!

*Photography by: Natali K. photography

Food, Lifestyle

Visit Helsinki: Bystro

May 11, 2016

It’s time to introduce you to one of the newest jewels on the Helsinki’s culinary scene and that is Bystro! Bystro are celebrating Russian traditional kitchen with an accent on blinis which are thick, round pancakes usually topped with different kinds of sweet or salty toppings.

Bystro are proud to welcome you to taste Russian cuisine in the middle of Helsinki city center with an incredible sea view on the port of Helsinki and Old Market Hall. Bystro are offering a lot on their menu, there’s a wide selection of finest roes and caviars, as well as a great choice of vodkas, Russian beers, tea and house shots.

Besides the regular menu, the restaurant is serving a popular lunch on every working day from 11:30 to 15 and that’s a great time and “reason” to try the all you can eat blinis with different types of roe, homemade smetana, pickles, etc. as toppings.

Usually, Russian restaurants in Helsinki are quite on the pricy side, while Bystro are maybe having “shorter” menu and are more concentrated on blinis, the prices are very affordable for the quality and authenticity of the food that’s being served.

As starters, we have tried blinis with mushroom salad, pickles and salmon trout roe with homemade smetana. Hands down, these were the best blinis I ever ate in any restaurant. So far, only my moms and Russian grandma’s ones were the ultimate winners, but Bystro’s blinis came the closest to that perfection and definitely brought me back into my childhood while we were eating those delicious bites.

As warm, main courses, we had to go with the classics such as Borscht soup and Pelmenis. Borscht soup was served in a big bowl and could easily be shared between two people. It was a warm, rich with flavour and comforting soup. I ate it with the slice of rye bread and house made Adzika spread. I gave it 5 stars! 🙂

My companion ate Pelmenis stuffed with minced meat and topped with caramelised onions and smetana. Smetana is Bystro’s own and it’s just incredible, I couldn’t believe the taste, it was like no other smetana that we have tried before. Pelmenis were done perfectly, it’s such dish that requires a great chef not to mess it up, because it’s one of the staples of Russian kitchen and not everybody can turn this simple dish into a fine dining one. Top notch! Well done Bystro!

Finally, we have finished off our lunch with Syrnikis ( small pancakes filled with fresh cheese ) served with raspberry jam and whipped cream and quark mousse with sherbet and pomegranate. Wonderful desserts that brought me back to Summers spent at my grandparents’ Datcha and the taste of fresh berries that I used to pick with them as a child and make homemade jams from, later on.

As Russian born, I am more than happy to welcome a newcomer that serves authentic, unpretentious but wonderful, homemade cooking style Russian cuisine. Thank you Bystro for welcoming us, we will be back! 🙂

*This post was made in collaboration with Bystro Helsinki, all of the opinions are my own.

*Thank you to Miss Annika for making this collaboration possible!

*Photography by: Natali K. photography

Food, Lifestyle, My Work

Visit Helsinki: Savotta

May 4, 2016

About 9 years ago, I came to visit Helsinki for the first time in my life and I was overwhelmed with how beautiful, different and somewhat mysterious this city was. I knew right there and then that I must come back to this city as soon as possible… I felt that there was just something calling my name and that 7 days spent in it were “not gonna cut it”, if you know what I mean.

Only about half a year after, I had my bags packed and I have moved to Helsinki. Ever since, I’ve been all the time learning and exploring more and more about Finnish culture, traditions, food, etc.

Let’s stay on that “food” part of exploring because today, I’m bringing you a new post from my cycle of “Visit Helsinki” posts in which I’m recommending you and presenting you the finest places in this city to stay at, dine at, go shopping, etc.

In the past 2-3 years, there’s been a boom of fine dining cuisine restaurants opening in Helsinki. It’s been very popular to have a restaurant serving Finnish food French style with a modern twist. While I’m not the biggest fan of such dining ( not that I dislike it either ), I’ve been constantly on the lookout for a restaurant that serves traditional Finnish food, the traditional way, so to say.

Savotta has it all my dear readers, the interior, the food and an overall warm vibe of a Finnish countryside. All of the waiters are dressed in typical “workers” old traditional clothes, interior is styled in “Finnish grandma’s house” and the food is hearty, delicious and as authentic as it can be.

If you want to enjoy the best of Finnish food dinner with your family or a partner while overlooking the majestic Tuomiokirkko ( White Cathedral ) and a Senate square, then Savotta is your ultimate destination! 🙂

For the starters we’ve opted to have a fish starter plate for two which consisted of: fish roll known as “kalakukko”, Carelian pastry with the egg butter, boiled and buttered new potatoes with dill, mushroom salad, salmon carpaccio cured with beetroot, marinated pickles, smoked pike with horseradish puree and baltic herring with sour cream and dill. Along with this came a small green salad and a bread basket.

Carelian pastry was one of the best ones I ever ate in Finland during my whole 9 years of living here, salmon carpaccio cured with beetroot was something completely new which I haven’t seen in other restaurants and it was one of my favourites from the starters too.

To be honest, all of this was so delicious and filling that even just eating this platter would have been enough for the two of us. Luckily, we came hungry and “food adventurous” so we were very excited to get our mains anyway.

One of the main courses was arctic char with kale, caramelised onions and baked carrots and potatoes. Alongside with it came a cucumber, dill and sour cream sauce. Everything was fitting so well together and even though it was a “simple” dish, it was explosive in richness of taste. Do I need to mention that the plate was empty really fast?! 😀

Another main course was reindeer meat with baked parsnip and mashed almond potatoes in a “sweet & sour” like sauce. Red wine gave the sweetness to it while cranberries gave it a crunch and sour kick. Wonderful, very traditional and perfectly made dish. Highly recommend it as a main course choice.

I don’t know how, but we did managed to squeeze in some desserts too! 😀 As per tradition, we went for Finnish style french toast with berries, vanilla and whipped cream and as per “modern” choice we went for Sisu ice cream with biscuit crumble, liquorice and berry sauce. I have one sentence to say: “God Lord of my sweet tooth, that was uber delicious!”

Savotta is proud to use only Finnish ingredients picked from the carefully selected small business suppliers. They’re also a part of wonderful, long lasting and one of a kind experience, restaurant chain A&S ravintolat so if you wish to check some of their other restaurants read my posts about Saslik and Saaga.

*This post has been made in collaboration with A&S ravintolat/ Savotta. All of the opinions are my own.

*Thanks to Miss Johanna Haataja for making this collaboration possible!

*Photography by: Natali K. photography

Food, Lifestyle, My Work

Visit Helsinki: Toscanini

April 27, 2016

Growing up in Croatia and eating the finest of Mediterranean cuisine, including my mom’s and grandma’s impeccable cuisine, I was born to be a self-proclaimed foodie master! 😀 I’ve always loved good food and my standards to what tastes good have developed through the years, so by this age, if I’m eating at home, I make sure to buy only the high quality ingredients when cooking my lunches and dinners because I’d rather buy something bit more expensive in the food aisle and save on that 10th, unnecessary skirt for the Spring/ Summer “wardrobe refreshment”!

Yeah, I know, not so fashion thing of me to do. When I do go out for a lunch or dinner, I wanna go to places which deserve a dollar to be spent there… There’re way too many restaurants nowadays but not many do give what they ask you to pay for. Bummer, I know, so that’s why I’m more than happy to once again bring you an article from my cycle of “Visit Helsinki” posts in which I’m presenting you the best places to visit, dine at, hotels to stay at, etc. in case that you find yourself visiting my city this Summer perhaps! 🙂

If you are a local or somebody who’s living nearby, even better, then you get to test these places even sooner and share your experiences with me!

Going back to me growing up in Croatia, I have practically lived on an Italian food for a good amount of my life. I know how “the real” Italian food should taste and look like, so upon moving to Helsinki, Finland almost 9 years ago, I didn’t really have a chance to satisfy my Italian cuisine cravings. What was presented to me here as “Italian food” was a far cry from that. Ever since, I’ve been on a hunt for the real deal and I finally found it at Toscanini restaurant ran by a proper Italian chef! Hallelujah!! Pasta perfection here I come!

Toscanini restaurant is a “house restaurant” of a design hotel Klaus K which happens to be one of my favourite hotels ever. That’s how I came in “touch” with Toscanini for the first time about a year ago, by ordering in a room service for dinner. I remember thinking that my dinner was so delicious that I must pay a visit to this restaurant in person and not only via room service delivery.

I did it… Ok, a year later, but I still did it and guess what? The food is absolutely amazing and if I wasn’t looking outside the window on the Boulevard street and seeing the Finnish “Spring weather”, I would totally think that I’m in Italy, by the sea and any moment now Eros Ramazzotti songs will start blowing from the speakers. 😀

Besides weekly changing lunch menu, Toscanini are serving a full course, a-la carte menu in the evening times and over the weekend. There’s a little bit of everything for everybody and I’m so happy to see a menu which is not 3 meters long one with various pasta and pizza options, as it’s usually the case with all of the touristy versions of Italian restaurants I’m used to see around.

As starters we’ve opted for fish and seafood soup aka bouillabaisse flavoured with chilli and garlic bread and San Daniele ham cured for 18 months and a modern version of crispy bruschetta with Buffalo mozzarella cheese. The soup was one of the most delicious fish soups ever. I could “taste” the sea, it was so fresh and a perfect starter for a fish lover like me while ham + mozzarella might have looked like a simple combo but the explosion of tastes was incredible.

Main courses were perfect follow ups to starters – fresh spaghetti chittarra with oyster mushrooms and crispy Parmesan cheese and fresh rigatoni pasta with juniper flavoured hare ragu.

My mushroom pasta was so simple, but perfectly creamy and satisfying perfection of mushroom and cheese taste while the hare ragu made in red wine and tomato sauce was cooked to perfection and had a wonderfully balanced and rich taste. I don’t have to mention that both pastas were cooked al dente, which is also something I had problems with finding in Helsinki.

To complete the already successful Italian feast, we couldn’t pass on classics like Tiramisu which is truly the best one in this city and Citrus semifreddo with chocolate cake and berries. We loved every single spoonful and left back home with smiling faces and dreams of Italy.

*This post has been made in collaboration with Toscanini restaurant, all of the opinions are my own.

*Thank you to Miss Sissi E. for making this collaboration happen.

*Photography by Natali K. photography

Food, My Work

Visit Helsinki: Bryggeri Helsinki

April 24, 2016

Sunday is made of “foodie dreams” as I bring you a new post from my series of “Visit Helsinki” posts in which I’ve been recommending you a special, must visit places in the city, from restaurants and hotels to spas and shops. I’m very happy to present you Bryggeri Helsinki- that has just been voted the beer restaurant of the year! Their house beer Weizen was chosen the best beer at Helsinki beer festival and their brewing master comes from Germany… Only these facts were enough to “lure” me into deciding to visit this gem on Helsinki’s food scene.

As you could have already concluded, Bryggeri Helsinki is a beer brewery/ restaurant. Even though food is as important and a lot of love and effort is put into each dish, they’re not complete without the main “thing” in Bryggeri Helsinki and that is beer. Besides home favourites and produced on spot beers, this restaurant has the biggest and best beer selection from local Finnish small breweries.

Speaking with the head chef and a master in pairing beers with the dishes from the menu, I got to know that they’re very dedicated to their work and lots of attention is put into matching dishes with the beers, so each dish which we were presented was accompanied by the fitting beer.

I have never seen this kind of concept before, because usually when you go out to the restaurants they might offer you a menu and a matching wines to go with it, but to match beer that wonderfully works with the food was something completely new and exciting.

Interior of the restaurant is kept minimalistic and the main star of the space are big brewing tanks which are impressive. Last time I saw something similar was in Prague, so to find something like that in Helsinki felt as if I was on a mini adventure learning about a whole new scene that I didn’t know existed in my town. 🙂

Bryggeri Helsinki is also very environment aware as they have started a co-operation with gas company Gasum, meaning that during the production/ brewing of their beer they’ll use biogas, renewable energy and resulting waste will be put into use/ production again.

Bryggeri Helsinki are very set on using locally produced, in season produce. Besides the a-la carte menu, they’re also serving lunch during the working weekdays.

For the starters we were presented with baked pumpkin, Finnish goat’s milk cheese and pomegranate salad along with the selection of starters of salmon gravlax ( Pils beer ), marinated mussels ( Weizen beer ), pork terrine ( Roggenfest beer ) and lightly salted beef ( India pale ale – english style beer ). Both starters came with the matching beers. It was very impressive that each bite from the selection of starters was presented with it’s matching beer. Beers def. brought up every bite to life and gave a complete taste satisfaction. Salad worked perfectly with Citra – extra pale ale, very American style beer, one of customer favourites too.

We were excited about the main course as we were tasting two completely different dishes. I had a vegetarian option of lentil koftas, smoked yoghurt, orzo pasta, spinach and roasted cashew which was very Indian inspired dish and one of the best ( and most satisfying ) vegetarian dishes I’ve found in Helsinki. The dish was paired with sweeter and soft, Summer popular beer, fruity Rose.

The other main course was slow (overnight) cooked red deer entrecôte with mushroom risotto and brussel sprouts. Risotto worked wonderfully with the meat which was juicy, tender and perfectly flavoured. Adding a matching beer to it ( ESB – extra special bitter beer, English style beer ), brought the whole, already great taste experience to a whole new level.

Even though we were quite full, we couldn’t pass on a dessert so we went for a lemon pie and raspberry sorbet which were outstanding! So worth “unbuttoning” our pants and making space for this sweet tooth bomb as it was the most delicious lemon pie ever! I felt the taste of Summer in my mouth. 🙂

I hope that I have convinced you to visit this amazing restaurant if you’re living in Helsinki or will be visiting my city in the near future. If you want to spend a buck or two more and having a unique experience, then Bryggeri Helsinki is so worth it!

*This post has been made in collaboration with restaurant and brewery Bryggery Helsinki, all of the opinions are my own.

*Thank you Ali Suviala for making this collaboration possible!

*Photography by: Natali K. photography

Food, Lifestyle, My Work

Visit Helsinki: Krog Madame

April 6, 2016

One of my biggest passions besides photography and writing is cooking. Anything that has to do with food, from going to the Farmer’s market or Market Halls to cooking for friends or baking cakes and cupcakes for birthdays and such, gets me all happy and inspired because I get to create. To be able to make something with my hands is the best feeling ever. I’ve always loved to put my heart, soul and hands into a good use at the same time and cooking/ baking allows me to do exactly this.

Taking that fact and a fact of me having the privilege to travel around the Europe and States, having experienced eating at some of the best restaurants “out there” and in my own city makes it really “hard” to leave an impression on me when dining out.

I have been born in Russia and brought up in Croatia. Both countries have rich and long tradition cuisines and my both grandmas (and mom) were pretty amazing cooks too, so I am used to a very tasty, fresh and high quality meals of Mediterranean and Russian cuisines. So far, I’ve been mostly presenting Asian orientated cuisines and meals on my blog, but every now and then, a gem like Krog Madame makes it’s way to my beloved section of “Visit Helsinki” posts!

If you want a Top Chef contestant to cook a special meal for you, go to Krog Madame. If you want a unique experience of Spanish tapas, Mediterranean inspired dishes with a Lebanese twist, go to Krog Madame! 🙂

This very busy and hip bistro is located in Kamppi which is as central spot as it gets in Helsinki. Easy to find and an abundant lunch and a-la-carte lists bring in lots of happy foodies, business people, families, etc. to Krog Madame throughout the whole day, for a whole week.

During the Summertime, they also have a terrace on which you can enjoy cocktails, wine and for example just recently started “Spanish tapas Thursdays”. Every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday there’s also a DJ playing some good tunes to keep the Summertime vibes “on point”! 🙂

Joseph, the main chef at Krog Madame has positively surprised me with the delicious food which he’s created for Krog Madame. From the imaginative and different take on starters to beautifully presented and “lick your fingers” tasty main dishes to the best dessert platter there is in town. He definitely knows what he’s doing and how to give people “what they want” while still getting them to try something new and different. For instance, I was absolutely amazed by his beetroot – barely tartar. By the shape and color it does look like a usual meat tar-tar but this is the most delicious tar-tar I ever ate in my life. Sweetness of beetroot and honey combined with the density of barely, crunchiness of beetroot chips and smoothness of the goat’s cheese, made this as my favourite of all of the starters.

For mains we were presented Jose style lamb skewer “the Lebanese” way with his tzatziki dip and chicken breast with gnocchi and veggies with lemon aioli and ginger-coriander pesto. They say that photos speak louder than words and that is so true, so judging by my photos, you can imagine the goodness of the taste and how hard it is to not want to finish off everything thats ‘s your plate. 🙂

Then, the dessert platter arrived and I was overwhelmed by all of the colors and should I say shapes? Everything on this platter was something I have pretty much tried before in my life but made in such a new, “scattered” way which made “typical” cheese cake and tiramisu skyrocketed me into a sweet tooth world and left me craving for me ever since I have visited Krog Madame. Dear people, if you want to try the best dessert of your life, order the white chocolate cheesecake with salted peanuts, berry pure and white chocolate crumble… Oh my… I die! 😀

Mr. Joseph has also recently published a cook and travel diary book – Jose’s Meze with gorgeous photographs of his trip back home in Lebanon, traditional Lebanese cuisine recipes, daily and nighttime life of Lebanon as well as stories about his closest piers. You can buy this book at the restaurant or pretty much any book section at any store in Finland (Prisma, City Market, Sokos, Antilla) as well as order it online too – Adlibris , Suomalainen and Booky .

Krog Madame changes their menu to a Spring/ Summer appropriate one today, so this is another very good reason to why go there and treat yourself a nice, delicious dinner perhaps. 🙂

*This post has been made in collaboration with Joseph and Krog Madame.

*Thank you to Joseph for making this happen and to Rita for coming along.

*Photography by: Natali K. photography

Food, Lifestyle, My Work

Takeaway with Wolt

March 16, 2016

Good morning my dear readers!! I hope that you’re doing well and that the week has been going well for you. I have completely packed week, lots of work but I ain’t complaining. 🙂 When I have a busy week like this one, I usually don’t have time or energy to dedicate myself to cooking at home, so takeaway from a restaurant is the first solution that comes to my mind.

Food, Lifestyle, My Work

Visit Helsinki : Tokyo55

March 13, 2016

This Sunday is a perfect day to continue with my “Visit Helsinki” series of posts in which I recommend you the places of my choice which you could visit when in Helsinki, from places to dine at to places to shop at, hotels to stay at, etc. After many amazing restaurants which I have presented you so far, which many of them were Asian, I simply had to present you Tokyo55. Japanese restaurant, catering and a sushi academy were opened back in 2009 and up until this day, it stayed one of the locals’ favourite place to go and enjoy, for example, fresh and delicious Tokyo55’s signature sushi rolls.

Food, Lifestyle, My Work

Visit Helsinki: Heavenly YUME

March 2, 2016

Hello my dear readers! I have a new post ready for you from my series of “Visit Helsinki” posts in which I present you the best places in my city where to go dining, shopping, exploring, hotels to stay at, etc. I’m so glad that the response to these kind of posts has been so welcoming and accepting that I’m more than excited to continue bringing you and discovering you the real gems that Helsinki has to offer, no matter if you’re a local or a tourist, this city has a lot to offer and I’m here to prove that with my “Visit Helsinki” posts. 🙂

Food, Lifestyle, My Work

Visit Helsinki : Farang

February 21, 2016

After already having been to 3 out of 4 Helsinki based B&W restaurants, I was more than eager to visit the 4th one and so to say close the circle, with the restaurant where it all began… FARANG!

Back in times when Björck and Wikberg used to work together at Michelin awarded Chez Dominique restaurant was when an idea of a great quality, authentic Asian restaurant in Helsinki was born. It took about 5 years of planning, researching and taking a trip to Southeast Asia, to finally open up Farang in 2009 offering all of the authentic Asian flavors and a fusion kitchen which was something very new and refreshing on Helsinki’s food scene.

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