Helsinki city guide

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.

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.

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.

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…