The idea behind the Smaku food event is to showcase the city’s culinary offerings through affordable tastings. Laura Varis, the founder of Smaku Events Oy and the event producer from the very beginning sums up its core idea:
“Smaku is a food tourism event based on locality. The participating restaurants create their own servings for the tasting, which is like a delicious business card. It tells you the go-to flavours for the restaurant.”
In Helsinki, localism will be celebrated by bringing Smaku to four different areas. In September, we’ll experience Smaku Downtown, Smaku Kallio, Smaku Töölö, and, unique to Helsinki, Smaku Sea.
“These four events are a good cross-section of Helsinki. There are the sophisticated Töölö, urban Kallio, bubbling city centre and maritime Helsinki,” says Smaku Helsinki’s producer, Titti Myhrberg.
She highlights the Smaku Sea event, which will take you on culinary journey to maritime Helsinki.
“Helsinki has plenty of charming restaurants and cafés by the sea. In addition to these, Smaku will introduce you to island fare. The islands Lonna, Suomenlinna and Vallisaari are already participating in the event,” Myhrberg says.
Myhrberg is delighted that Smaku Helsinki is partnering with the City of Helsinki. Smaku Helsinki is one of the events of the Feast Helsinki food year.
“Smaku Helsinki supports our Feast Helsinki food year nicely by highlighting local flavours and factors. We look forward to the experiences Smaku has to offer during Helsinki’s food autumn!” says Helsinki’s Tourism Director Nina Vesterinen.
Smaku has previously made restaurant offerings known in Porvoo, Loviisa, Naantali and Rovaniemi. The event has attracted not only residents, but also diners from outside city limits, even from abroad, to experience new flavours.
Varis from Smaku Events reminds us that the point of the event is not only to provide taste experiences but also to highlight the ambitious work of local entrepreneurs and celebrate high-quality ingredients.
“When organising the Smaku event, we’ve always fully trusted the local entrepreneurs. Even when it comes to things like taking photos of their dishes or buying flowers.”
Smaku is not a competition, but instead aims to strengthen community spirit in the area. The event is organised with the understanding that the success of one company is good for the appeal of the entire area.
Myhrberg estimates that dozens of restaurants and cafés will participate in Smaku Helsinki, which will be held from 4 to 14 September. The call for restaurants is currently underway.
“About twenty restaurants have already registered for Smaku Helsinki. The restaurants involved range from fine dining spots to laid-back block bistros.”
The reception by restaurants has been enthusiastic. Myhrberg has noticed that she’s not the only one who’s been waiting for an event like Smaku in Helsinki.