Helsinki: A wild culinary city
Food writer Timo Santala explains how Helsinki food scene has become wilder than ever.
Straight from the forest to the plate!
Finnish nature is pristine, and the so-called everyone’s rights allow anyone to forage for berries, mushrooms, and wild herbs. This tradition is evident not only in the forests teeming with berry pickers and mushroom hunters on weekends but also on the plates of Helsinki’s restaurants. Even chefs venture into the forests, meadows, and shores to gather nature’s bounty.
One of the most vibrant seasons is May, when nature erupts into countless shades of green after a long winter, and fresh wild herbs and plants emerge from the ground. Due to the short growing season and long hours of summer sun, wild herbs are exceptionally flavourful. They are used fresh in salads and as garnishes, or preserved through various methods such as fermentation.
One of the best places to experience the authentic flavours of the northern wilderness is the Michelin-starred Restaurant Grön, where chef Toni Kostian is renowned as a pioneer in the use of wild herbs. If you’d like to pick your own ingredients for dinner, reach out to fellow pioneer chef Sami Tallberg, who organises foraging excursions. These trips culminate in a meal he prepares using the wild ingredients you’ve collected together.
Chefs who hunt and fish for themselves!
In Helsinki’s restaurants, many chefs are avid hunters and fishers, just like countless Finns. The quintessential image of a hunting Helsinki chef would undoubtedly be Ari Ruoho, the head chef of Restaurant Nokka. When not working in his Michelin Green Star-awarded restaurant, Ruoho can be found out hunting moose, shooting ducks, herding reindeer in Lapland, fishing for king crabs in Norway, or fly-fishing by the water.
Nokka is not the only restaurant with a menu filled with game dishes from the Nordic wilderness – moose, venison, and reindeer are available in many establishments that celebrate Finnish wild meat and fish. As a diner, your only decision is whether to enjoy your meal in a traditional classic restaurant or a modern Nordic fine-dining venue.
Dining on poisonous mushrooms!
The wrinkly, brain-like false morel is lethally poisonous when raw, but when properly cooked and rinsed, the dangerous yet delicate gyromitrin toxin, which is volatile and water-soluble, disappears. This transforms the false morel into a coveted delicacy. The false morel season is in spring and early summer, as they emerge in sandy pine forests a few weeks after the snow melts. At this time, dishes made with false morels might appear on restaurant menus.
The mushroom season continues when the first chanterelles appear in summer, and autumn becomes a true celebration of fungi, with porcini, black trumpet mushrooms, and finally trumpet chanterelles gracing menus in late autumn. Many restaurants offer exquisite mushroom dishes, but if you’re not yet familiar with distinguishing the tastiest edible mushrooms from toxic ones, consider joining a mushroom foraging trip with a professional guide. In Helsinki, you can even go on a foraging adventure with a top chef, gathering mushrooms that will later be prepared for your dinner.
Wild Food
Helsinki
A restaurant with a compost in the dining room!
Yes, you read that correctly – a compost in the dining room. This is not due to a lack of space or poor hygiene but is a conscious choice doubling as a design element. Restaurant Nolla, where the composter proudly sits, is a pioneer of sustainable dining and has been listed in the Bib Gourmand guide. Nolla takes its zero-waste philosophy extremely seriously. The composter transforms food waste into soil, which is returned to local farmers who use it to grow new vegetables for the restaurant.
Over 90% of Nolla’s ingredients come from local producers. There is also a zero tolerance for packaging waste: all ingredients are transported in reusable containers. Even the grill burns charcoal made from beef bones used in sauce preparation.
Nolla’s ambitious approach to sustainability is unique even on an international scale, and has been recognised with multiple awards, including a Michelin Green Star. Naturally, the fine dining menu changes with the seasons, but another pleasant surprise is the in-house bar, where beers and kombuchas are brewed on the spot.
Natural wines and wild drink experiments!
In the past decade, Helsinki has become a hotspot for wild natural wines, biodynamic wines, and low-intervention winemaking. You can enjoy sparkling pet-nats, orange wines, and intriguing cloudy artisan wines in many places, most notably in the small bars and restaurants of Kallio and Vallila. Great options include Wino, Way, and Bar Petiit, while BasBas Kulma in Punavuori is another excellent choice for a glass.
A unique venue is Winesti, which specialises in wines from Georgia – the world’s oldest wine-producing country. Try their orange wines aged in traditional clay kvevris with extended skin contact. In summer, Let Me Wine’s outdoor kiosk in Karhupuisto is a must-visit for natural wine enthusiasts. Don’t miss the award-winning berry wines from Ainoa Winery or the kefir-based alcohol-free drinks by Möttönen, which are among the most adventurous beverages in Helsinki.
Crayfish with drinking songs and schnapps!
In late summer and early autumn, typically in August, Helsinki hosts lively crayfish parties at homes and restaurants, especially among the Finland-Swedish community. These events often feature more enjoyment of aquavit and other schnapps than mere crayfish. Traditionally, the (preferably) garden-setting for the crayfish celebration is decorated with colourful paper lanterns and tablecloths, and guests wear amusing paper hats.
The crayfish are boiled in salt water with crowns of dill, eaten with fingers, and the juices are sucked out before cracking open the shell and scooping out the meat. However, the main focus of these parties often seems to be the schnapps, accompanied by traditional drinking songs – resulting in a particularly lively and boisterous atmosphere. The melodies of the drinking songs are usually based on well-known tunes, but the lyrics celebrate the joys of drinking, getting tipsy, and occasionally even eating crayfish. Make sure to learn how to say “Helan går!” – Cheers! – in Swedish or simply join in with whatever you can improvise if the songs are new to you.
