4th Restaurant Day goes international

Freezing conditions in Helsinki put the resilience of the outdoor chefs and their clients to the test; in Reykjavik, the weather was considerably milder

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By Kaisa Hakkarainen
     
     
WURSTBUDE 35, Venttiilikuja, Vallila.
      ”I’ve got a surprise for you”, Taru Vilpas whispers to Jalmari Auvinen. ”I brought you some hot cocoa”.
      The occasion is the fourth-ever Helsinki Restaurant Day, a day when enthusiastic town residents can set up pop-up restaurants and cafés in various parts of the city to demonstrate their culinary skills and serve home-made food to the public.
      To celebrate the occasion, Auvinen and his friends decided to set up a German-style sausage grill in the courtyard of his apartment building in the Vallila district of town.
      After purchasing delicious wurst sausages from Auvinen, his neighbours quickly dive back into the warmth of their homes to enjoy the food indoors.
      The restaurateurs of the one-day pop-up grill, however, are at the mercy of the freezing weather that just keeps getting colder. Taru Vilpas felt sorry for the men.
      When the slightly fortified contents of the thermos have been evenly distributed it is time for the neighbours, who did not know each other from before, to raise their drinks in a toast. “To neighbourliness!”
     
PORKNAM, The Old Church Park, Kamppi.
      The scent of coriander is strong in the air and the queue of customers is just getting longer as restaurant professionals Tuomas Tarna, Antti Porna, and Jarmo Liimatainen prepare Vietnamese pork baguettes at their barbecue.
      “This is food-making without bureaucracy, in the name of civil disobedience”, Liimatainen enthuses, his beard covered with a thick layer of frost.
      “Well, at least this civil disobedience is producing the best fast food in town”, says an admiring Markus Huttunen and turns the pram that he is pushing towards Hietalahti.
      Later in the evening, Huttunen plans to spend some time in another Restaurant Day restaurant serving Lebanese food.
     
THE HOG AND APPLE, Karhupuisto Park, Kallio.
      “Shake the gas bottle”, urges Richard Scott. The bottle is about to clot up in the sub-zero temperatures (it's actually down a lot closer to -20°C), in spite of the fact that a white duvet has been lovingly wrapped around it.
      Two young couples have brought English grub into the Karhupuisto Park and there are enough eager customers to form a queue here, too.
      A roll is filled with roast pork, caramelised red onion, and apple sauce. Warm brie has been reserved for vegetarians.
      Hot, non-alcoholic apple cider is a big hit among those waiting for their rolls. A foil wrap ensures that the takeaway food stays warm just a bit longer.
     
B-SMOKERY, Töölönlahti inlet, Taka-Töölö.
      ”I cannot remember the last time I had as much fun at work as I did while planning this restaurant”, enthuses film producer Mark Lwoff in the backyard of the Opera House.
      This is the second time the men from the production company are working as one-day restaurateurs. The pop-up concept this time is American-style barbecued pork and beef burgers.
      On the other side of the Opera House, along the Mannerheimintie main artery, an unbroken queue of people stroll towards the “Winter Classic” outdoor ice hockey game that is about to take place at the Olympic Stadium.
      Markus and Antti Lehtonen make a little detour on purpose and come by the B-Smokery.
      “The food here is better than we'll get at the game”, the father and son say while splitting two different portions of food between them.
     
TIRAMISU LIFT (ME UP!), Reykjavik, Iceland.
      Sari Peltonen peeks out of the top floor window of an old wooden building and sees the tops of the heads of two people standing below.
      These are clients writing an order for Peltonen, and soon she lowers the tiramisu cakes to street level in a basket.
      This is the fourth time the Restaurant Day happening has been organised in less than a year.
      This time around the event has gone international. Nearly 300 pop-up restaurants in 48 different cities in 12 different countries are taking part in the event.
      In Iceland, a dozen or so impromptu restaurants popped up to mark the day.
      In the capital Reykjavik, the Restaurant Day was a satellite event of a sort related to Helsinki’s World Design Capital year.
      “The Restaurant Day concept suits extremely well the Icelandic mentality”, Peltonen says and she reckons that next time even more pop-up restaurants will appear in the country.
      This time around the home-made specialities served in the Icelandic capital included for example shrimp soup flavoured with whiskey.
      The temperature in Reykjavik was a rather balmy two degrees on the plus side.
      Lucky them.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 5.2.2012


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Godfather of "Restaurant Day" becomes Helsinki Resident of the Year (5.1.2012)
  Dozens of pop-up restaurants set up in Helsinki on restaurant day Saturday (21.11.2011)

See also:
  Authorities take hard line on unlicensed serving of alcohol beverages on Restaurant Day (10.11.2011)

KAISA HAKKARAINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
kaisa.hakkarainen@hs.fi