In recent years, a score of young chefs armed with pride in Nordic cuisine and a passion for local ingredients have set up their own restaurants in Finnish capital Helsinki.
Helsinki is a compact city easily explored on foot, which makes discovering its restaurant scene handy to combine with sightseeing or shopping, for example. The Finnish Tourist Board www.visitfinland.com suggests these pit stops when criss-crossing the Finnish capital.
Chef & Sommelier
Situated in the posh area of Eira, a meal at Chef & Sommelier guarantees personal service and several heavenly courses. Organic, handmade and pure are the keywords here – not forgetting cute.
Juuri
Juuri is most famous for its speciality, Sapas, a Finnish take on the famous hors d’oeuvres. Sample the fruits of Finnish nature with these classy finger foods before moving on to the equally wild main courses
juuri.fi
Nokka
Restaurant Nokka takes great pride in its ingredients and maintains close relations with local suppliers and small farms. Their awarded Helsinki Menu is great for first-time visitors.
Olo
Since its inception in 2006, restaurant Olo has been at the top of Helsinki’s dining scene, and its success culminated in a Michelin star in 2011. Modern Nordic cuisine with respect for traditional raw ingredients.
Ask
The proprietors of Ask have worked in various top restaurants in town before setting up this newcomer. Seasonal and organic is the name of the game in a beautiful art nouveau setting in the Kruununhaka area. They offer a daily set menu and source our produce from small farmers and producers. All products comes from organic or biodynamic farming, except the game, wild fish and other foraged products.
Spis
Spis is a small and cosy little restaurant with vegetables at the core of their fresh Nordic ingredients philosophy. Meat and fish are always available, too, as are artisan wines and Nordic beers for drinks.
Teurastamo
The Abattoir by its English moniker, Teurastamo is a slaughterhouse-turned-creative-food-hub. Truly innovative, Teurastamo provides a place for small food related businesses to try out new concepts.
Eat & Joy / Muuuu Maitobaari
Fancy some Finnish local food products to take back home? Eat & Joy Farmers Market in the Kluuvi Shopping Centre is the place to go shopping. The markets are open seven days a week and have delicacies from more than 500 small producers across Finland: wild reindeer (poro), salmon, artisan cheeses, berry jams, fish roe, hand-crafted beer and cider, mushrooms, rye bread, smoked specialities, kyyttö forest cow, artisan chocolates and much more – all direct from the producers. Don’t miss their Muuuu Milk Bar.