Finland for foodies: HEJM, Vaasa
Finland holds culinary secrets waiting to be discovered by food enthusiasts. Join us as we embark exploration of Finland's culinary treasures. In this article series, Finland for foodies, we cover a few bites of the wild delights. Next up HJEM in Vaasa!
Julkaistu
Teksti
Lasse Pakarinen, Mia Heiskanen
Kuvat
Christoffer Björklund
In their thirties, Simon Selin and Mattias Åhman have already established two restaurants in Vaasa, HEJM and FRÖJ. At the heart of their thinking is locally produced food and Nordic influences. Selin and Åhman, who grew up in Ostrobothnia, were among those in their chef class in Jakobstad who approached their craft with the most passion, and the idea of entrepreneurship together arose back then.
“We challenged each other, who could cook faster or better. We joked back then that someday we would probably open a restaurant together,” Selin says.
Their paths diverged after school. In 2017, Åhman won the Chef of the Year competition and moved to Helsinki. The men were once again living in the same city and began collaborating. At the same time, the idea of opening a joint restaurant in their hometown of Ostrobothnia started to take shape.
The duo’s first restaurant saw the light of day in 2019 with HEJM, which means “home” in the Ostrobothnian Swedish dialect. The restaurant heavily emphasizes local ingredients, such as fish caught from nearby waters. HEJM restaurant creates dishes from local ingredients, largely based on Scandinavian cuisine. They employ traditional techniques, such as pickling, salting, and drying. In HEJM, the focus on locally produced ingredients is evident in dishes that tell a story and offer an experience. The basic idea in HEJM’s menu is pure domesticity.
“We cook food that we want to eat ourselves. It means well-seasoned, authentic flavors. Not magic tricks, but fancier home-cooked food,” describes Åhman.
The same laid-back atmosphere continues the dining side. Selin notes that when the restaurant opened, the slogan was “Vaasa’s new living room.” The goal is a cozy atmospherewhere everyone is welcome.
Meet The Chefs
Mattias Åhman & Simon Selin
HEJM (home) is a restaurant founded in Vaasa by restaurateur-chefs Mattias Åhman and Simon Selin, focusing on local ingredients and classic Scandinavian techniques. Åhman and Selin have been friends since school, so their division of labor naturally fell into place from the very beginning.
Go visit HEJM
- restauranthejm.com
- Sininen tie 1 B, Vaasa, Finland
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