Top chef and food designer Linnea Vihonen had dreamt of a kitchen renovation for a long time. What she most wanted from her new kitchen was to have plenty of storage space, high-quality appliances and outstanding worktops. Coming from a restaurant background, she wanted stainless steel worktops in her kitchen, no question about it. Besides her restaurants, Finns know Linnea from food shows such as Kokkisota, Mitä tänään syötäisiin and Maalla, merellä ja lautasella.
A beautiful black kitchen with steel worktops is also practical.
For her, some of the reasons for choosing stainless steel worktops were that they are easy to clean and hygienic, and they have attractive qualities when it comes to working with dough. A stainless steel surface gives nice friction when you knead the dough against the worktop, Linnea explains. This is important for a chef who enjoys baking.
”I went for patterned stainless steel worktops, because they hide any scratches. A stainless steel surface will have small marks just as any other type of surface, but thanks to the pattern they’re not that visible. I love these worktops for their visual effect, ease of maintenance, and functionality”, says Linnea.
Linnea’s choice from Stala’s collection of patterned steel surfaces was GW03, designed by Gert Wingårdh. GW03 has a rhythmic pattern of hand-drawn lines tracing the surface, almost giving it a hand-plastered appearance.
All worktops in Linnea’s kitchen are from Stala’s patterned stainless steel collection Trace, designed by Gert Wingårdh.
Watch a video where Linnea talks through her kitchen renovation and her choices. In the video, she also showcases her cooking skills, creating a vegan dish with dinosaur kale and melon. Read on to find the recipe.
Chopping up dinosaur kale is easy with Stala’s wooden chopping board SET-2. A good, sturdy chopping board makes cooking much more enjoyable, says Linnea.
(serves 2–3)
150 g dinosaur kale
4 garlic cloves
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp finishing salt
1/2 lemon, juice
1 tbsp dark sesame oil
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1/2 cantaloupe melon
1 mango
1/2 avocado
Handful of fresh basil
1/2 lemon, grated zest
Chunk of Parmesan
Freshly ground black pepper
Rinse and chop the dinosaur kale. Peel and chop the garlic. Heat the oil in a pan and add the dinosaur kale and garlic.
Sauté for about five minutes until the kale is soft and translucent.
Season with salt, lemon juice, sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds and give it a mix.
Peel and chop the fruits and place them on top of the warm dinosaur kale.
Finish with lemon zest, Parmesan, freshly ground black pepper and a scattering of basil leaves.
You can also use edible flowers to garnish.
Rinse the dinosaur kale. Stala’s silicone draining basket SET-1 is a great helper. Sauté the kale and the garlic for about five minutes until the kale is soft and translucent.
Peel and chop the fruits and place them on top of the warm dinosaur kale.
Sautéed dinosaur kale with mango, melon, Parmesan and lemon. Colourful, delicious, and also very beautiful to look at. Ahh yes!
> Linnea Vihonen - a visionary in food experiences (in Finnish)
> StalaTex – Stainless for Life
> Friends of Stala – The designers behind StalaTex collections
> What is the story behind Trace? Gert Wingårdh – The creator of Trace