Hungry in Helsinki

Art and architecture complement the Finnish capital’s surprising culinary scene.

By Lucas Aykroyd

I've attended five Winter Olympics, but tonight I’m enjoying a gold medal–worthy dinner in a former visitor center created for the 1940 (postponed to 1952) Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. At Restaurant Lasipalatsi (Glass Palace), I’m savoring each bite of my fillet of lake-caught pike with butter-braised horseradish, spinach and new potato salad. The classic second-floor restaurant, featuring functionalist design with red seating, overlooks Mannerheimintie, the main Helsinki thoroughfare.

Sipping my Mallaskoski wild blueberry ale, I feel at home. I’m half Finnish and have visited the beautifully minimalist Nordic capital (population 660,000) more than 20 times to see family or check out international hockey tournaments. Yet previously, Helsinki’s underrated culinary scene passed me by like its iconic green-and-yellow trams.

Bikes and trams are popular modes of transportation

Fine dining in Finland is admittedly pricey, which is why I tend to stick to snacking on fresh peas at Helsinki’s harborside Kauppatori (market square) or inhaling the rich scents of sourdough rye bread, herring and cheese at the Vanha Kauppahalli (old market hall), built in 1889. But on this trip, I’m finally seizing my opportunity to explore what’s boosting Helsinki’s reputation for excellence in food and drink.

All aboard!

Rewind to my arrival at Helsinki Central railway station, crowned with a 160-foot clock tower. This 1919 Eliel Saarinen–designed edifice with stout Finnish granite walls blends art deco and art nouveau elements.

Olivia, the bustling on-site Italian restaurant, illustrates how great architecture enhances the charms of Helsinki’s dining destinations.

Olivia occupies the former railway ticketing hall, which is capacious, high-ceilinged and intimately lit. My pizza giardiniera with cherry tomatoes and sliced radishes is a perfect pick-me-up after a long flight. I augment my feast with a succulent caprese salad and fried calamari, washing it all down with a piney IPA from Helsinki Bryggeri Brewhouse.

Downtown Helsinki landmarks are mostly within easy walking distance, and the Scandic Grand Central Helsinki is no exception. The 491-room hotel, which opened in 2021, sits right around the corner—a convenient place for me to sleep off those delicious carbs. It’s a transformation of the Finnish railway company’s century-old offices, featuring expansive windows and a courtyard garden.

Books and bites

The innovation theme continues the following day. Prior to lunch, I investigate Oodi. Helsinki’s $132-million library has a space-age facade, robots shelving books, and 3D printers and recording studios for patrons. After stimulating my intellectual appetites, I’m peckish when I reach PikkuFinlandia (Little Finlandia), a five-minute walk away, next to Töölö Bay. It’s a can’tmiss temporary installation, substituting for the nearby Finlandia Hall event center, which is undergoing renovations. The best part of the 23,000-square-foot building, which evokes a forest with Scotch pine pillars, is the spacious café bathed in natural light. Here I sample chef Mika Jokela’s light bites with seasonal ingredients.

Oodi, the city’s library, is an architectural marvel

“I like to serve Finnish food and use Finnish products,” says Jokela when he stops by my table. Smoked reindeer mousse with potato flatbread? Check. Anise fennel soup? Check. Finnish cheese platter? Check. From the presentation to the textures, my meal harmonizes as beautifully as Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2

Smoked reindeer and Finnish mushrooms are the stars of this dish by chef Mika Jokela

Divine dishes

Helsinki’s most-photographed building is the Lutheran Cathedral, built in 1852. The next day, after gazing up at its famous green dome, I head across Senate Square to lunch at Brasa. For those who crave food cooked over an open fire, this elegant, year-old establishment with warm contemporary decor beckons. The use of Japanese charcoal with spruce branches enhances the flavors.

This time, I go full protein. A starter of grilled marble beef tartare with mustard cream and capers leads seamlessly into a main of charred cod with wasabi leaves and fish velouté sauce. A glass of light Hartwall Aura lager, brewed in Turku, Finland’s oldest city, is the ideal complement.

Clearly, artistry is as integral to Helsinki food as to Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s bold mythological paintings, which I grew up viewing at the Ateneum, Finland’s leading art museum.

Enjoy a coffee on the Amos Rex art museum terrace

Nowhere is that artistry more apparent than at Ateljé Finne. Impassive carved nudes decorate the restaurant walls. It’s the former studio of sculptor Gunnar Finne, whose 1932 Fact and Fable statue adorns the Esplanadi park near the harbor. At dinner, I revel in the creative culinary approach. The menu, laden with Finnish ingredients, changes every two months.

My gin and tonic includes Tënu gin, made by Finnish monks with forest botanicals. Frankly, the house-made bread and salty whipped brown butter alone are worth coming for. The Ahlberg garden salad savvily mingles romaine lettuce, radishes, toasted barley and a lemon vinaigrette. And the reindeer Wallenberg, a Nordic meat dish wrapped in thin pastry, is creamy-good decadence.

Jonesing for java

Where next? As a consistent caffeine consumer, I’m jonesing to check out Helsinki’s coffee scene. Many Finns drink eight cups daily.

So it’s off to the Paulig Kulma, which does triple duty as a café, roastery and barista institute. This is the flagship downtown location of a Finnish coffee brand founded in 1876. I order a light roast Colombian coffee with notes of strawberries, enjoying it with an avocado salmon sandwich and blueberry cheesecake.

Why not a booze pilgrimage as well? A recent study ranks Helsinki’s public transportation system the world’s fifth best. My trip by metro to The Helsinki Distilling Company certainly proves rewarding. It’s in a converted, brick-walled abattoir in the revitalized Kalasatama industrial neighborhood. “The main thing that makes our Helsinki dry gin different is the concentration of juniper and our use of fresh lingonberries from the north,” explains Belfast-born head stillman Michael Newitt. It’s definitely one of my tasting favorites, along with the Helsinki Applejack with sweet, aromatic apples.

Book a distillery tour at The Helsinki Distilling Company