Went to the new fine dining place Luomo (www.luomo.fi) for dinner last night.

Run by two ex Chez Dominique guys (Jouni Toivanen who runs the kitchen and Mika Mattila who runs the front), Luomo aims to combine local ingredients with cutting edge cooking techniques (including molecular gastronomy). Given that the restaurant has only been open for six weeks or so and yesterday was their first day after the Summer holiday period, the effort was quite impressive.

We had the seven-course menu with recommended wines. Portions were sized just right and we did not feel gorged even after the petit fours.

The amuse-bouches was a tribute to Kauppatori (the main market place) and included meat pastry ice cream, a seagull bomb, and smoked herring. Rather interesting was also the "coffee" served with the amuse-bouches which was made from black olives.

First course was chantarelles served with boiled egg yolks, rucola, and parmesan coupled with a robust Crozes Hermitage white.

Next came a miniature crayfish party -- crayfish tails and crayfish icecrean, dill foam (which was amazingly good), akvavit jelly, and marinated toast crumbs. Quite appropriately, the crayfish was accompanied by a beer (a specialty beer developed by Adrian Ferran).

Next came palm heart filled with shredded goose, served with goose liver snow. This dish was served with a nice, crips German Riesling.

The fish course was an impeccably braised halibut with miso and japanese noodles, served with chilled sake.

Before the meat course, as blueberry granita and sorbet was served.

The meat course was lamb's neck (did not ask, but I suspect it was cooked sous vide) with Moroccan spices accompanied with a young (2006) Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru.

The two desserts were a strawberry assortment and a chocholate with caramelized onion. A Moser-Lenz Trockenbeerenauslese and a Tawny Port were served with the desserts. The strawberry dessert was excellent, while the chocholate being really the only letdown of the night.

Technically, all the dishes were impeccable. In some of the dishes, the chef might have been better off with a slighly more restrained approach to the different flavors, as some of the highlights of the night were a bit crowded by a few ingredients too many.

The seven-course menu cost 58 euros per head, which is a good value considering the quality. At 69 euros, the wine package seemed a bit expensive given the wine choices, though.

If Luomo can keep up this level of quality and innovation, I'd be very surprised if they do not get a Michelin star in short order, possibly even next year. With a little polish and smoothness that can only come with experience, we potentially have a second two-star place in town in Luomo in the next few years.

The ambition level of Luomo is certainly at least two-star; I do not recall a new restaurant in Finland that has aimed at this level of sophistication from the very start. Execution-wise Luomo is a solid one-star performer, which is quite an achievement for a brand new place.

Overall, Luomo is a very welcome addition to the Helsinki fine dining scene and a place that can at some point give Chez Dominique a run for its money.

Cheers,
T.