Famous Finnish (and Ex-Quay) Chef to Open Blanca Bar & Dining in Bondi

Bondi Beach is set to become home to another killer restaurant, with Finland's biggest celebrity chef Tomi Bjorck to open Blanca Bar & Dining. You may not have heard of Bjorck, but everyone in Finland has. Aside from stints in the kitchens at both Quay and Longrain, he's been head judge on MasterChef in his native Finland and owns four restaurants in Helsinki and one in Sweden. Late last year though he relocated to Sydney, and has since partnered with chef Samuel Cole (ex-Dinner by Heston Blumenthal) to bring the new restaurant to life.

The pair will join Bill's Bondi, Da Orazio Pizza + Porchetta, A Tavola Bondi and Gelato Messina Bondi in the Hall Street dining precinct little known as The Hub. Blanca won't be riding on the success of Noma and 'Nordic' food though; Bjorck told Good Food that the new Australian venture will feature more than "just Nordic cuisine" with a wide-ranging menu and "strong pastry" (whatever that means).

Some of Bjorck's other ventures include the Soil Wine Group, a company that imports quality wines for fine dining restaurants and designs menus for Finnish airline Finnair. The celebrity chef is currently in Europe launching LIQ, a line of liquorice with flavours including salted caramel and orange and black pepper.

As for other details on Blanca, Bjorck and Cole have remained tight lipped about the project, but have said that 80-seat venue will open sometime towards the end of this year, or the start of 2017. For more developments, we suggest keeping an eye on the Blanca Instagram.

Via Good Food. Image: Bjorck's Helsinki restaurant, Boulevard Social.