After a break of almost ten years, there is a restaurant with two Michelin stars in Finland.
Eero Vottonen brought two Michelin stars to Palace. Tiina Somerpuro, Tommi Anttonen
After almost ten years of waiting, Finland has received a restaurant with two Michelin stars, when the Palace located in Helsinki’s Eteläranta 10 received two Michelin stars on Monday evening. Head of the kitchen Eero Vottonen is a happy and grateful man.
– I am incredibly happy and proud of the entire team, which does an incredible amount of work every day. The stars are awarded to restaurants and they are often personified by one person, but the star would not come without the entire staff who work for them constantly.
The Michelin stars were awarded on Monday evening in Stavanger, Norway, where Vottonen himself could not attend due to scheduling reasons. For Finland, the evening was quite festive, because in addition to Palace’s two stars, Finland also got one new Michelin restaurant, while Kaskis in Turku got a star, which the restaurant has been asking for for a long time.
Vottonen celebrated the stars with his staff nowhere else but at the Palace.
– We held the supervisory parties here and then they grew into big parties, says the top chef and says that he is also happy that the people behind Kaskis Erik Mansikan and Simo Raision on behalf of.
– I know that they have done an incredibly great job for this.
Table reservations are already pouring in
The news about Finland’s new two-Michelin-star restaurant has caused Palace’s reservation book to swell immediately during the first hours.
– I came to work in the morning and visited the office, and 200 messages had already arrived in the email. Yes, this arouses interest and you have to be happy about it, Vottonen says.
Michelin stars are not only a reason for joy for the restaurant, but the whole of Finland can be proud of the stars. The achievement makes the whole country famous and moves Finland forward as a tourist country. More and more people travel for food and choose travel destinations based on food culture.
The last restaurant with two Michelin stars in Finland was in 2013, when Hans Välimäki’s Chez Dominique closed its doors.
– It was high time to get a two-star restaurant in Finland. Unfortunately, we have been a long way behind compared to other Nordic countries, now we have caught up a bit.
You have to reach the top every night
Vottonen has been in charge of Palace’s kitchen since 2017, when the restaurant was reopened. In 1987, Palace was the first restaurant in Finland to receive a Michelin star.
The first star after reopening came to the restaurant in 2019, and now it was time for another. There is a lot of work behind. Achieving Michelin stars requires not only hard work and a perfectly polished menu, but also absolute consistency.
– If you think you don’t have to worry anymore, it will quickly backfire. You must always be hungry and develop. Every night you have to be ready and in a good mood to open the doors.
And the stars, they have to be earned again every year.
Plenty of fish and shellfish on the menu
From the very beginning, the red thread of Palace’s food philosophy has been raw materials, for which a lot of effort is seen. The restaurant sells a menu that has been polished to the last detail and changes according to the seasons. The menu contains about 20 dishes, when all the small dishes are included, and the duration of the dinner is four hours on average.
Raw materials such as fish, shellfish and birds come to the kitchen whole. In the restaurant with two Michelin stars, everything is made from scratch, starting with the broths and sauces. That’s why putting up a menu requires more work hours than the customer might think.
Vottonen describes the taste world of Palace’s menu as emerging. The menu has been thought out so that it is pleasant to eat and offers something for all the senses.
– The menu is very focused on fish and shellfish due to the fact that I like to eat them myself. In addition, Finnish vegetables are now highlighted in the summer.
Time to celebrate and enjoy
The visits of the Michelin inspectors to the Palace were not a surprise, as they have visited the restaurant every year. Vottonen says that he recognized two inspectors during the spring.
– The second one was very stereotypical, you could tell from afar that he was a Michelin inspector. The other one was more difficult to recognize, I was a bit suspicious of him, and when you talk to colleagues, you can quickly say one plus one if a like-minded person has been to another restaurant.
However, Vottonen reminds us that it doesn’t matter who sits at the table. In the top restaurant, every customer is offered a top experience.
– As a word, fine dining brings to mind something very fine and pompous, but it is anything but. The fine dining experience is a warm and wonderful experience for all the senses. Reaching the stars is great, but the most important thing for me is a customer who leaves us satisfied.
Vottonen says that he is happy that Palace’s customer base is quite diverse. The customers are young and old, business travelers, birthday heroes and those celebrating their engagement and wedding anniversaries. Every customer is respected, it is a matter of Vottonen’s heart.
– Achieving two stars has been my biggest dream until now and professionally the biggest thing I’ve ever achieved, but you can get three stars. So there is room for improvement, but now is not the time to think about it. Now let’s enjoy this.