Pauli Hakala

The Climb

At Spis, the work has been defined by discipline before flourish, and Pauli Hakala moved through that structure from chef to Executive Chef without changing the terms of the kitchen. The title followed the practice: repetition, care, and precision in a room where safety is treated as part of the cook’s brief, not as an afterthought. The restaurant’s aim is measured rather than theatrical, with food made to be thoughtful, safe, and aware of waste. That approach gives the kitchen its register. The operation is built on careful choices and steady habits, where what happens in prep carries as much weight as what reaches the plate. With vegetables carrying much of the menu, the cooking reads as modern restraint: lean, resourceful, and attentive to necessity.

Today

Today, Pauli Hakala is Executive Chef of Spis, with responsibility for the full pace of the kitchen rather than a single station within it. The role extends the same working method that brought him there: safety handled as a basic condition of the job, and maintained throughout the process rather than repaired at the end. Low waste is part of the restaurant’s working identity, and it sits alongside a menu that is mostly vegetarian. “We usually don’t take fish or meat waste, so 90 per cent of our food is vegetarian.” The point is practical rather than rhetorical: a kitchen can stay efficient and still make food with clarity, texture, and range.

In Their Words “To make it safe we are very careful. If our food makes people sick, it is not a good business any more.” “We usually don’t take fish or meat waste, so 90 per cent of our food is vegetarian.” Read together, the lines set out the operating code at Spis. The emphasis is on vigilance, consistency, and the basic trade fact that food has to be dependable before it can be anything else.