At the traditional Finnish restaurant Savotta Finnish design can be discovered in the restaurant’s milieu, food and table settings. The interior decoration and dishes have been inspired by Finnish forests and lakes, with a dash of Finnish “sisu” (in English: perseverance) and logging traditions that take you back in time to the logging camps of old days.

Savotta’s china is designed by the well known Arabia. The hundred-year-old floorboards, the old chairs and tables and many other old artifacts have been brought from all over Finland.

Source: A&S restaurants

In honor of Helsinki’s World Design Capital year, the Head Chef of Savotta has created a three-course-Finnish Design Menu (€39). The Design Menu offers the most famous Finnish home‐made dishes throughout Finland’s history, prepared according to Savotta’s classical recipes.

Source: A&S restaurants

As appetizer traditional Finnish salmon soup is served. Karelian meat casserole plays a significant role in the menu seeing as it’s the main course. The casserole used to be e.g. one of Marshal Mannerheim’s favorite dishes. To top the menu off there is as dessert a blue-white blueberry delicacy that shares the colors of the Finnish flag.

At Restaurant Saaga on the other hand the enchantment of Lapland and its design can be discovered. The interior decor has the touch of Lappish artists and artisans. The dishes are served on wooden platters and slate stones, in wooden Kuksa cups and ice, which provide a feast for all senses.

Source: A&S restaurants

In honor of Helsinki’s World Design Capital year, the Head Chef of Saaga has created a three-course-Lappish Design Menu (€39). The Menu highlights Lappish traditions and authentic Northern ingredients.

Source: A&S restaurants

Lappish barley‐blinis start off the menu as appetizers. As main course there is healthy and tasty reindeer meat from the Fell Lapland area in Western Lapland. The highlight of the menu is the unique cranberry dessert – a living proof of Lappish design!

Last but not least, restaurant Saaristo offers a true romantic atmosphere in the archipelago through Finnish design. The Jugend style building, designed in 1899 by the Finnish architect Selim Lindqvist, has served as the setting for unforgettable celebrations, lunches, dinners and crayfish parties for over 100 years already.

Source: A&S restaurants

The skillful wood cuts in the dining room and the wood-carved animal figures in the beams and balconies showcase Jugend style design at its best. The building and its colorful history offer a unique setting for a Finnish-Scandinavian taste experiences.

In honor of Helsinki’s World Design Capital year, Saaristo’s Head Chef Anniina Hyvättinen has created the longest, a stunning five-course Design Menu (€58), which offers distinctive and genuine Finnish and Scandinavian tastes.

Source: Iittala

The menu emphasizes design also in its Finnish tableware, e.g. world-renowned Arabia’s china and Iittala’s glassware are used in the table settings. The starter is e.g. served in Iittala’s ”Vitriini” box designed by Anu Penttinen in 2010.

Did you fall in love with the traditional Finnish, Lappish or insular menu?