My big love in Helsinki is Punavuori. This is the home of The Helsinki Design District, several ad agencies and graphic designers hot shops, countless cafees and restaurants and a lot of interesting small shops, the best second hand shops for clothes, records and books in town, a popular park etc.

The best spot to start exploring Punavuori is a little square in the corner of Fredrikinkatu and Punavuorenkatu called Fredan tori, where you can sip coffee and enjoy newly baked pastries in the new Cafe Suksii and have a chat with the owner, Roope and other Punavuorians.

Here you can buy fresh flowers either from the florist Terhi at Punakukka (Punavuorenkatu 2) or from the ‘flower girls’ Eeva and Riitta or vegetables from Janne from his vegetable stall. Or just sit on a bench and watch the passers by.

If you get hungry or need your daily espresso then the right place at Fredan tori is a cafe called Tori. Their meatballs are legendary, served with mashed potatoes and a sauce made with a local brandy. Tori also serves a nice selection of salads and sandwiches, and here you can order breakfast any time of the day. Among the clientele are young Finnish musicians, advertising people, painters, writers etc…..

In case you’re after something stronger than just coffee, take two steps from Fredan Tori to Iso Roobertinkatu with its bars and restaurants catering to every taste: gay, straight, hard rock, karaoke, pizza, kebab, Italian, Thai, gourmet, you name it!

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Fredan tori | Coffee & tea, Snacks, Restaurants (Intern.) | Coffee & croissant € 3.00
Punavuorenkatu 2 | South | +358968743790
Market Mon – Fri 10:00 – 18:00, Sat 09:00 – 16:00 | Restaurant Mon – Fri 10:00 – 21:00, Sat – Sun 10:00 – 19:00

Restaurant Elite was founded in 1932 by a famous Finnish artist, Ernst Mattas and has been on this spot since 1938. It quickly became a popular “living room” of the art crowd, painters, writers, movie stars etc. And they have kept coming here ever since. One of the reasons must be that the Lallukka Artists’ Home is right next door, with 50 apartments for resident artists.

Elite has been an all time favourite of mine, too, for more than 30 years now. This is where we used to come with my friends every Saturday when I lived next door, not in Lallukka, though. On Sundays we would return and eat a long, ‘restorative’ lunch together. I still like to come here quite often, because the place has not lost any of it’s charm over the years. Even the food is rather nice these days, modern, Finnish-Italian-Russian (try the vorschmack) but it’s not, and never has been, the most important thing here. Elite’s charm is, well, that it’s Elite!

In the summer it’s very popular to sit outside, but the best about Elite is the old fashioned atmosphere of a real old fashioned restaurant. So you should absolutely check the charming art deco interior with the walls covered with valuable paintings from the founders private collections. See if you can spot the painting of the world map. Abstract, but very clear when you get the idea!

Elite has a separate, and quite elegant room for those who still smoke.

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Elite | Restaurants (Intern.) | Vorscmack (main) € 17.40
Eteläinen Hesperiankatu 22 | South | +358961285200
Mon – Tue 11:00 – 00:00, Wed – Fri 11:00 – 01:00, Sat 14:00 – 01:00, Sun 14:00 – 23:00

The Punavuori district is an Eldorado for all us music lovers who still want to buy our music as real records, CD:s, vinyls, new, second hand etc. In Viiskulma (Five Corners) there is a cluster of 5-7 record shops within just a few meters from each other. Each shop has its own distinct profile, and what’s nice about them is, that they don’t consider each other as rivals but colleagues. If one of them doesn’t have the record you’re looking for, they tell you which one of the others might have it. So if you find one of these shops, you know you don’t have to walk far to find the rest of them.

In the corner there is one of the oldest record shops in Helsinki, Digelius Music with world music and jazz, even classical. Both new and used CD:s and vinyls.

And just around the corner from here you’ll find Eronen with a nice selection of somewhat hotter sounds like Jamaican, Cuban, African, salsa, soul, reggae etc.

You might also want to visit Lifesaver Shop and browse their selection of soul, jazz, funk, house, disco, hip hop, electro…

And – if you are looking for a good record player, visit A.H. Records, just two steps from Popparienkeli. They also have a nice selection of old records in vinyl.

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Viiskulma | Shopping | Used CD’s from € 1.00
Fredrikinkatu 12 | South | +3589661638
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 18:00, Sat 10:00 – 16:00

You can enjoy all your meals at the 8th floor in Stockmann department store. These restaurants are not inexpensive although you will get good value for your money!

Start your morning at F8 Cafe sipping a latte and enjoying a croissant or filled sandwich.

Have a lunch at F8 Food or F8 Easy. Both restaurants serve different menu everyday (inc. grill, asian and home cooking). Easy is a more relaxed yet stylish place where as Food is more hectic with wok-food and a salad bar where you will have hard time choosing between delicious marinaded artichoke, sun dried tomatoes, cheeses etc.

Stop for an afternoon tea or ice cream at Velvet where music and the couches are smooth and soft. The couches are covered with (what else than) velvet!

For a fine dining there is F8 Fine restaurant. Have the slightly salted salmon with row mousse for a starter and carré of lamb with thyme sauce for the main course. Skip the dessert, because…

… the cherry on a top is the F8 champagne bar. Chocolate and champagne combination is an excellent ending for the day.

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F8 Stockmann | Bars, Coffee & tea, Restaurants (Intern.) | Lunch at Easy € 10.80
Aleksanterinkatu 52 | Central
Mon – Fri 09:00 – 21:00, Sat 09:00 – 18:00, Sun 12:00 – 18:00 (Usually Nov – Dec Sun until 21:00)

This little cute shop sells all the things cool from a few Finnish designers. Antti Asplund, one of the most talented Finnish clothing designers sells his clothes in here. His clothes are unique and the man himself is as well: he adores hats, wigs and pirates.

You can find seriously stunning and bohemian necklaces and earring designed by Youth vs. Future in the shop. The Youth vs. Future brand was founded in Helsinki in 2006 by jewellery designers Laura Vartio and Janni Hyvärinen.

The story behind the pink feather-jewellery: A sudden tragedy took place in Helsinki Zoo Korkeasaari. All 16 flamingos were found dead after a fox found his way to their haw and executed the birds. The designers found this story meaningful in many ways, and invented the pink feathers and have written a short story in honor of the flamingos.

Personally I love the shop because it is small, cosy and luxurious at the same time. I have bought few too many feathers as it is…

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ISLAND -concept store | Art & culture, Shopping | Dress € 50
Iso Roobertinkatu 38 | South | +358400667163
Mon – Fri 12:00 – 18:00, Sat 12:00 – 16:00

Anton & Anton (A&A) is a small food store, where you will find FRESH vegetables, ORGANIC spices and LOCAL food. The fresh stuff is not in plastic and several things are from the farms near to Helsinki. The cheese, bread, meat and fish counters are well worth mentioning.

The customer service is excellent. This is a food store from the past. You feel welcome and the food is pure and as organic as possible. The floor is very cute with the black and white tiles too. (Clearly I have a fixation with cute floors, because I mentioned the floor in Green Dress article as well).

To be honest, I did not mean to praise the place this much and wanted to be critical about it, but I guess it is impossible. So I just say what it is: a perfect little food store where you can find pretty much all you need for cooking and living a healthy life. In these times when the big super markets leave little to no room for the little shops like these it is great to see new little shops opening.

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Anton & Anton | Shopping, Snacks | Yogurt € 3
Museokatu 19 | Central | +358401456808
Mon – Fri 09:00 – 20:00, Sat 09:00 – 18:00

The quickest way to visit the countryside when visiting Helsinki is to have lunch/dinner/multiple drinks at Zetor restaurant.

I have to admit two terrible things: before last summer I had never been in Zetor and it has been in the city for the past 20 years! And… I thought that the customers would all be hillbillies. I was wrong. And amazed how cool, funny and interesting the place was! There are old tractors and stuffed animals inside. The walls are covered with old signs. Instead of serviettes they have paper towels! The place is hilarious and there are all types of customers!

The food is very, very good: reindeer and other meat, fish and salads. The menu is written well: every meal is like a short story, for instance:

“Sausage on the Sauna Stove. Sauna at five is a Saturday tradition the Finns cannot live without. The heat of the moment is cultivated with a sausage, mashed potatoes and pickled gherkin served inside a sauna pail.”

Although the menu is in 20 languages, it doesn’t mean that the place is a tourist trap. We locals and out-of-towners (the Finnish country folk) love it! My friend told me that the place turns into a very happening night club after the sunset. I believe her – she parties a lot.

After the lunch I wondered: did I really love the place that much, or did I just spend too much time in the countryside last summer? Either way I do recommend you experience Zetor!

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Zetor restaurant | Bars, Restaurants (Finnish) | Reindeer meal € 17.88
Mannerheimintie 3-5 | Central | +358107664450
Mon 11:30 – 00:00, Tue 11:30 – 03:00, Wed – Sat 11:30 – 04:00, Sun 12:00 – 00:00

The green Dress has been selling vintage and ethnic clothes & accessories for few years now in Helsinki. Recently they moved to a bigger premise at Erottaja street.

The vintage they sell is rather expensive, but the pieces are unique. I fell in love with a teeny tiny burble Chanel pursue, which – sadly -I can’t afford at the moment, due to the scary number on the price tag. Not everything is expensive at Greendress though: an old necklace was 40 euros and silver earrings were just 10 euros/pair, so I guess no matter what your price-limit is, you will find something nice. The jewelry materials are vintage, dead stock and re-purposed or mixed of all of those.

A good example of their ethnic side are the Afghan Hands -products. Afghan Hands is an organization that supports the role of Afghan women, their employment and education by selling scarves and shawls made by them. The products are made and embroidered in the organizations headquarters in Kabul.

In addition to selling clothes and accessories they have a small juice bar/cafe in the store. You can buy fruit smoothies and organic coffee during your shopping marathon. The Vitamin Water-products and organic juices are good addition, so now the whole store concept is even more ethnic.

The shop is adorable: it has red-white striped floor and colorful clothes and items, so I’m sure even just visiting it will make you happier.

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The Greendress | Coffee & tea, Shopping | Hand-made scarf € 200
Erottajankatu 5 | Central | +358445668090
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 19:00, Sat 11:00 – 17:00

Lumi Accessories was established exactly 10 years ago by two designers: a Finnish lady and a French gentleman. They design bags and other accessories which are well-known all over the globe. They have stores in New York, Paris and Helsinki, of course. Their shop is in Punavuori district.

The Lumi on 14 (In Punavuori) is a concept store where they sell Lumi products but also other, Finnish and foreign, brand’s high quality accessories. The shop is a very cool place with lots of nice small items which are fun to look at and you should visit it even if you are not going to buy anything.

The bags are quite expensive, but they are made of lasting materials. There is something very Finnish about their design, although they have the sense of glamour of Paris and coolness of New York (where the designers live).

An interesting detail: The name of the brand, Lumi, means snow. It was in Millenium when the designer duo was in snowy Finland and they found a felt factory in the middle of the white country.

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Lumi | Shopping | Small leather purse € 80
Pursimiehenkatu 14 | Central | +358442712622
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 19:00, Sat 11:00 – 17:00