By Vesi Maslenishka
We’re always on the look out for new, tasty eats here at Beauty and the Dirt. Though new restaurant, Aster, isn’t exactly local to us, we had to let you know all about its launch because the menu looks pretty damn tasty.
Set across two whole floors, Astra will be combining both a cafe and deli experiences, on the ground floor, and a restaurant and bar upstairs.
But who’s the chef you say?
Well let me tell you – the chef’s name is Helena Poulakka and she will be serving up Nordic cuisine from her Finnish heritage, complemented by classic French dishes and techniques.
The food
The cafe and deli will be serving up traditional Nordic delicacies such as fish roe, pickled herring and wild berries will sit alongside comforting cinnamon buns and Smörgåsbords such as shredded duck, cornichons, fig chutney and sourdough.
Upstairs in the restaurant, more refined dishes of Arctic char and hot smoked Greenland prawns with aubergine caviar and dill and Pyrenean lamb shoulder with braised January King cabbage and lingonberry will be available.
Setting the crowds passing through Victoria up for the day ahead, breakfast options ranging from healthy gluten free granolas and warming porridge to ‘The Nordic’, featuring sherry herrings with smoked vendance, cured salmon, pickled cucumber, crispy rye and egg butter, will also be on offer in the café.
Aster afternoons will be filled with their seasonally changing afternoon tea menu, with open rye sandwiches topped with Atlantic prawn skagen or cured salmon and pickles, a Nordic take on finger sandwiches. Each season will bring a new selection of carefully curated teas for you to choose from, as well as a selection of cakes and pastries drawing on both French and Nordic patisserie traditions.
If you thought that wasn’t enough, each month, Aster will host ‘Series of Senses’ – an experiential dinner exploring the five senses: touch, sound, sight, taste and aroma. The restaurant promise – hand-peeled Atlantic prawns with lemon, crème fraiche and herring roe will be served accompanied by sounds of the sea and, through the use of virtual reality goggles, diners will be transported to the Finnish borders whilst enjoying smoked vendace with roe, fennel and dill pollen.