I first heard about the beautiful and marvelous Nuuksio when I was 15 years old from my friends. Our discussions within our circle of friends revolved around how to get there and where to stay.
After a couple of years, we managed to gather 7 interested friends who were fearless of the weather, and we decided to go on a weekend trip to Nuuksio. We brought our own tents after learning about the buses to Haukkalampi in Nuuksio. Even then, we couldn’t reach our destination, so we walked about 3 km from the main road to Nuuksio’s Haukkalampi.
It was summertime, and we had beautiful sunny weather. Spending time in nature was something I was familiar with since I was 6 years old. My mother made sure that every summer, once the holidays started, my siblings and I headed towards our cottage by the lake.
We became familiar with camping by the campfire, using outdoor toilets, and fetching milk with a 5-liter jug from a nearby farm.
Berry and mushroom picking became a routine during the peak seasons.
Food preparation played a significant role in my family and continues to do so. At that time, my grandfather earned the esteemed title of a French-style steak flipper. My grandmother worked as a cold food preparer at the Palace Hotel.
Later on, my brother worked as the head chef at the same hotel/restaurant for several years. In the 1960s and 1970s, my grandparents owned restaurants in Helsinki, including Laulumiehet, Kerhonen, and Ostrobotnia. On the other hand, my mother established two different bars, one being the famous Lounasbaari in Lohja, and the other being Mylläri-bar in Myllypuro.
My sister worked directly under the CEO/innovator of Sodexo for many years, covering the entire European region, with the headquarters based in Paris.
Now, my daughter has graduated as a chef and has become a restaurant manager after attending the Haaga Institute. She is currently working in Paris at a Michelin-starred restaurant, specializing in dessert preparation.
As you can see, food has played a significant role in our family, and that’s why I want to offer it to my customers as well.
As a small story about the taste of the food, I can share an experience when a German incentive group visited us. They stayed in tents and sleeping bags one night, and the next night, they stayed at a 5-star hotel. We won them over with both the atmosphere and the taste of the food.
Even back then, we had our own outdoor program services. We became familiar with various forms of fishing, cleaning and preparing fish over the campfire. While we didn’t engage in canoeing, rowing became an everyday activity, as well as swimming and playing in the water. We often built huts and rafts, mostly for the joy of building, even though the end result and the joy of success were short-lived.
Before 1968, nobody knew about the existence of Nuuksio.
When we finally arrived in Nuuksio and set up camp, each of us had brought a small amount of alcohol. I remember not being able to drink it all and ended up taking half of it back home because the hangover was so terrible.
That night, we discovered the Nuuksio Girl Scouts’ cabin, where we headed with newfound courage from the drinks. It was amazing to witness the beauty and diversity of nature in Nuuksio, with its many lakes and ponds that we explored. I fished perch and roach for us and taught others how to handle the fish.
