Dispatches


Ben - Helsinki's picture
Norris
06/27/2012 / (0) Comments / In Latest Blog / by Ben Norris

Juhannus (Midsummer) is one of the biggest celebrations in Finland. It’s a weekend for everyone to clear out of Helsinki and head to summer cottages with family and friends--a chance to relax and enjoy good food and drinks. Thanks to the hospitality of some new friends, this past weekend I headed 80 miles west of Helsinki to celebrate in Hanko, a small city on the southernmost tip of Finland that’s full of extraordinary coastline views.

It’s generally hard to cook gourmet in large...

Ben - Helsinki's picture
Norris
06/19/2012 / (0) Comments / In Latest Blog / by Ben Norris

This past week, a friend and I trekked 1,000 km north of Helsinki to Sodankylä, a small town north of the Arctic Circle that hosts the annual Midnight Sun Film Festival. With films scheduled for all hours of the day--the 24 hours of sunlight in Sodankylä helping us ward off sleep--the festival went by like a cinematic blur, film after film after film interrupted only by quick meals, a few hours’ rest in the car, and a quick swim in chilly Lapland rivers.

With most of our time spent in...

Ben - Helsinki's picture
Norris
05/15/2012 / (0) Comments / In Latest Blog / by Ben Norris

This past Saturday, I said my goodbyes to New York for the upcoming year. I’m trading the Lower East Side for Helsinki, Finland, where I’ll be living until the summer of 2013.

Before leaving the city, my (former) boss agreed to take me out for dinner and drinks in celebration. For many people, dinner with a boss would be miserable: small talk, formalities, awkward breaks in conversation. Luckily, I’ve had the opportunity to work with an insanely brilliant--and sometimes just insane--...

Ben - Helsinki's picture
Norris
05/01/2012 / (0) Comments / In Latest Blog / by Ben Norris

Thousands of bagged onions, carrots the thickness of baseball bats, slats stacked with bean sprouts, seafood jammed into narrow tanks in restaurant windows: all can be seen on Allen Street in Chinatown around 7AM on weekdays. Delivery trucks line the road, dropping off boxes upon boxes of what’ll soon be the week’s meals. There’s something intriguing about seeing thousands of pounds of food stacked in boxes before you, and witnessing this process is truly a spectacle.

Yet my...

Ben - Helsinki's picture
Norris
03/23/2012 / (0) Comments / In Latest Blog / by Ben Norris

By way of quick introduction, I’ll start my ChowGuys dispatches with a brief background on my personal and culinary history, hopefully giving you an idea of who I am and where I’m coming from.

Born and raised in Southeastern Virginia, I spent the majority of my adolescence in Virginia Beach before attending the College of William and Mary. In my high school years, my experience in the kitchen was minimal: I could set the table and clear the dishes, but I was otherwise useless when it...