Scan Magazine
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Restaurant of the Month |
Finland Ravintola Juku food court. Photo: Mika Alavesa
Restaurant of The Month, Finland
Enjoy authentic Asian cuisine in Western Finland Ravintola Juku began as a vision. Kun Rahko had recently graduated from university in Finland and moved with her Finnish husband Juhani to Seinäjoki in western Finland’s Ostrobothnia region. A native of China, Kun had a dream of bringing authentic Japanese food to the area, where, at that time, no other Japanese food could be found. In 2014, her dream came true with the opening of Ravintola Juku. By Molly McPharlin
Ravintola Juku is where many of Seinäjoki’s residents tried sushi for the first time. For the first two years, the restaurant’s only employee was Kun herself, working in a 17-meter square business space in a local shopping centre. In 2016, Juku moved to larger premises and expanded its menu, offering stir-fried wok dishes as well as sushi. “Despite the more traditional tastes of South Ostrobothnians, customers responded very positively to it,” says Ju90 | Issue 171 |
October 2024
hani Rahko, who runs Ravintola Juku with his wife Kun. “By 2018, we opened a second restaurant using the same concept in Vaasa, Finland.” A fresh selection of sushi at Juku. Photo: Hanna Solomon
Juku has expanded its eating establishments to include food courts inside supermarkets. “The concept is that the chefs are visible to customers, allowing everyone to assess quality and hygiene with their own eyes,” says Rahko. In 2020, several Juku food points were opened in Western Finland and they now have 14 locations and are still expanding. Juku also began a takeaway service in 2015 and now produces about twenty different products under their own label to retail in both local stores and supermarkets. Experienced food entrepreneurs The team behind Ravintola Juku has extensive experience in the restaurant industry. Kun Rahko, herself, comes from a family of restaurant entrepreneurs in China. Some of Juku’s chefs have special expertise in Japanese cuisine, others in