At most festivals and public events, food is something you tolerate. It is lukewarm, overpriced and forgotten the moment you swallow it. We decided to walk away from that world entirely.
ToastSaga begins every toast the long way. We hunt down bread from small artisan bakeries, bring in game from the northern wilderness and shave Italian truffle as if it were the most normal thing to do at a winter market stall. Good flavour is never an accident. It comes from people who care a little too much and refuse to accept shortcuts.
Our vegan, gluten free and lactose free toasts get the same treatment. They are not boxes to be ticked, but dishes we test, argue about and rebuild until they taste as good as anything else on the menu. No favourites and no “just for the special diets” compromises.
We make food that does not usually appear at a market. That is exactly why we carry it there. Built for crowds, cold winds, sudden rain and that one friend who always manages to get mustard on their scarf.
Welcome to ToastSaga.
Soft bread. Serious ambition.
Mikko holds a Master’s degree in Economics and spent over twenty years running a brick and mortar furniture and interior design business. After stepping back from entrepreneurship for a moment of well earned rest, Aylin’s idea of crafting truly high quality toast rekindled his business spark. He suggested testing the concept at the Tuomaan Markkinat Christmas Market, the moment ToastSaga began taking shape. A passionate fisherman, Mikko’s personal favourite is our Pyhäjärvi toast made with Finnish pike.
Aylin is a long time entrepreneur in the interior design world, with a deep love for all things beautiful and delicious. As an avid home cook, she was immediately inspired by the idea of creating artisanal toast combinations where imagination, not the bread, sets the limits. At Tuomaan Markkinat, her go to choice is the Pyhäjärvi, with delicate pike terrine, bright spinach and pea pesto and pickled fennel under a light blanket of Parmesan.
Jenni is the only Finnish chef to have completed the Grand Diplôme program at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. She oversaw all official catering for Finland’s EU Presidency in Brussels in 2019, and at ToastSaga she is the architect of our recipes and flavour philosophy. As she puts it: “Food needs cojones, and so does the cooking. Great ingredients matter, but flavour always comes first.” A devoted forager and pickling enthusiast, her favourite toast is the Nuuksio made with mushrooms and truffle.
Kusti, also known by his pen name Tuomas Vimma, is a lifelong food lover with a background in advertising, media and writing. He has published food themed novels and non fiction, and worked as a restaurant critic for City magazine. Today he serves as CEO of the WeChef cooking school. At ToastSaga, he handles our zero waste policy, largely by making sure no leftover bread goes uneaten. He loves all our toasts equally.