Restaurant Day in Finland

So you have a great idea on a food dish?  You always wanted to share your special recipe with others but never had your chance?  Well, you can in Finland, because Restaurant Day, which takes place approx. 3 x per year means that you can set up and advertise your "restaurant" and you don't need a license to do it.  The awesome concept of Restaurant Day is sweeping across Finland and other countries in rapid pace.  "Restaurant Day is a worldwide food carnival when anyone can set up a restaurant, café or a bar for a day. It can happen anywhere: at your home, at the office, on a street corner, in your garden or inner courtyard, at a park, or on the beach – only your imagination is the limit". - Restaurantday.org 

My wife and daughter always wanted to try to sell their own cupcakes, so they finally decided to make a batch of 100 for the final Restaurant Day of summer 2014. The menu for their cupcake stand in Espoo was 1) vanilla and lemon, 2) chocolate hazelnut, and 3) raspberry.  The cupcakes turned out very well and were purchased steadily during the few hours the stand was open.  To our surprise, even on a slower Sunday afternoon they sold 100 cupcakes in just 2.5 hours time, exceeding our expectations.  My son and I journeyed over to Helsinki for part of the day.  We went to one of the parks in downtown Helsinki where we saw at least 50 pop-up restaurants.  Countries from all over the world were represented in Helsinki.  There were treats from Turkey, falafels from the Middle East, bratwursts from Germany, tapas from Spain, burritos from Mexico, chorizo sausage from Argentina, Cuban food, ribs, sushi from Japan as well as many Finnish dishes and options. You name it, you could find it.  My son and I only covered a park which is just one city block in size, but that was plenty for us to choose from. The Restaurant Day map showed hundreds of pop-up restaurants all over Helsinki, so we barely scratched the surface.  This really cool concept is perfect for new entrepreneurs or folks just trying to have a bit of fun selling what they love to make.  The great thing is that you don't need a permit and can set-up shop just about anywhere you want during the day - even in shopping centers and other commercial (but public) areas.  I am excited that this Finnish invention started and is spreading over to other countries.  However, I would be pretty surprised to see it enter the United States, which has much stricter laws about who can sell what and where.  This grassroots organization is not for profit and definitely is giving back to the community in great ways.  I really hope that this amazing concept continues to grow and continues to encourage others to participate.  If you live in Finland or another country that participates, I definitely recommend that you visit during the next Restaurant Day.  For more information check: http://www.restaurantday.org/en.

Summer vacation part 2 (Greece)

After the first portion of our summer vacation we spent a few nice sunny days in Finland with a few of my cousins from the United States and later got ready for the main highlight of the summer, a trip to the Island of Crete.  Greece had been on my wish list for many, many years and for some reason we had never made it down there.  There are so many possibilities in Greece and various Islands to explore, it was overwhelming just trying to decide on the best itinerary for a one week trip.  After doing our research on the Greek mainland and many of the Islands, we decided on the largest of the Greek Islands (Crete).

Crete offers so much variety for the visitor and it seemed like the best choice for a family with younger children.  Sure there are more romantic smaller Islands to explore as well as the main land with it's distinct culture and many archaeological wonders like the Parthenon.  With the Greek crisis still going on we had no interest in going to Athens for now and wanted to avoid the smaller, touristy Islands like Mykonos, Naxos or Santorini.  Crete features a bit of everything, gorgeous beaches, special Cretan food and wine, many archaeological ruins from the Minoan era and gorgeous canyons and mountains.  Our family stayed at a Scandinavian sponsored resort near the city of Chania.  The resort had a mix of Swedes, Finns, Norwegians and Danes.  I think I was the only American in the entire resort and our kids were probably the only children who spoke English.  That wasn't a problem and the Greek staff was very friendly and curious about our mixed Finnish/American family.

During the week we visited two of the most well known beaches on the Island (Elafonisi and Phalasarna).  We also journeyed half way across the Island to visit the famous Minoan ruins of Knossos which feature ruins of a civilization that dates back as far as 3400 BC!  It was amazing to think about a civilization even older than the Greek and Roman periods while I was walking around their ancient city with my family.  We also spent a few days exploring the famous city of Chania which features a wonderful old town and Venetian port from the 16th century. However, perhaps the best part of the trip was just relaxing around the sandy beaches and swimming pool while soaking in the sun and enjoying the wonderful Greek food and drink.  In comparison to Finland where it costs roughly 100 euros for our family (4 total) to enjoy a decent dinner with food and drinks, it was about half of that or 50 euros total.  I am still going through Greek salad burnout now, but while there I was thoroughly enjoying those tasty fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and Feta cheese in the classic Greek salad.  The week was very special and raced by quickly, but the pleasant memories are forever burned into my mind.  Crete is a special place and I definitely plan on returning to Greece in the future.

Stayed tuned for the final portion of our summer vacation, part 3 which will be featured in my next blog post! 

Food culture differences (Finland versus US)

A new American girl just started at my daughter's international school in Espoo.  Recently at school, my daughter was the last one in the cafeteria with the exception of the new girl.  Why had they stayed behind when everyone else was done eating and had left?  They both had trouble eating their food plates and when the teachers were not looking, they dumped their food in the garbage.  :) It seems that they are missing their mac n cheese, french fries, burritos and chicken nuggets.  Yup, the food staples of the American school child are definitely not found in Finland.  In Finland school cafeterias feature items that you might even find in an adult buffet.  Depending on the day, you might find salmon, potatoes, meatballs, stew and even fish soup.  It is "real food", not just the preservative laden food that you would find in US school cafeterias.  My wife and I think that this would be a good shift for her in order to adopt better habits, but she is really slow to change.  It is hard to break these habits and she still yearns for Kraft Macaroni and cheese any chance she gets.  There seems to be some kind of market for "American" food here in Finland, because there is a specialty shop that sells American goods and there is an "American" shelf at the local K market food chain.  I personally tend to stay away from that stuff, because I just don't really feel like spending 5 + euros for some Peanut Butter or Jello pudding.  I can live without my American items for now.  :)

Surprisingly enough there is also a noticeable difference in lunch culture of Finland versus what I was used to in the States.  Finland tends to favor large, heavy lunches and many of them tend to be "all you can eat" buffet style places.  Many of these buffets feature heavy meat stews, fish, potatoes, bread and butter, heavy pasta salads, etc.  It is pretty rare to just find basic food, a light sandwich or burrito kind of place.  Also, not sure if it is just my office or not, but almost everyone tends to go out for sit down lunches, definitely not an "eat at your desk" culture. In my previous job in California, I think only about 30% of the people went out for lunch.  The rest either grabbed something to go or brought their own lunches from home to eat at work.  I think part of this has to do with America's "rat race", go go go work culture, where the Finns actually take time to go to lunch.  I have already mentioned in earlier blog articles, about the differences in food varieties in Helsinki versus San Francisco so I will not go into too much detail here.  Finland is however making some strides in establishing more ethnic varieties of food as more as more immigrants have been coming here. See my earlier post "Work life in downtown Helsinki".  http://scandinavianinterlude.blogspot.fi/2012_03_01_archive.html

Finnish staples

Work life in downtown Helsinki

I realize that I haven't posted to my blog in several weeks.  It is not writer's block which is ailing me, it's now a lack of free time.  Life has just become very busy again, and that is a good thing.  I started a new job at an Internet media start up in downtown Helsinki and I am very psyched about working there.  However, I have neglected this blog long enough so I hope you enjoy this entry.

My new job is located near the Kammpi and Punavuori neighborhoods in downtown Helsinki, which is very close to the city center.  I live in Espoo and luckily my commute is no longer than a 15 minute minute bus ride, 5 minute car ride and about a 5 minute walk.  It definitely beats my previous commutes in the San Francisco Bay Area which were roughly 1 hour or longer.  Working downtown is nice because I am engulfed in all the cultural and historical surroundings of the city.  Just steps outside of my office building are multiple restaurants, boutique shops, hair salons, art & design shops, and various other services.  This is a very bohemian and somewhat eclectic part of the city.  Helsinki has never been known as a "hot bed" of culture, but I sense things are changing and the city is slowly becoming more trendy and international.

What mystifies me the most are the amount and selection of restaurants in downtown Helsinki.  Finland doesn't have a reputation as a foodie city and Finnish food itself is less than exciting.   When I leave my building and meander a few steps outside I am surrounded by Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Nepalese, Turkish, Mexican, Italian and countless other ethnic varieties of food.  The choices seem to keep growing everyday as I discover more and more places.  The main issue in Helsinki has always been the scarcity of good/fresh ingredients for ethnic foods.  Also, I think the Finns taste in food was never really geared towards exotic ethnic foods.  Historically this has been a meat, fish and potatoes country.  The only spices Finns seemed to know are salt and pepper.  I am particularly excited about the two new Mexican restaurants that have popped up downtown.  In my previous visits to Finland I had never discovered a true Mexican restaurant and most of them are considered Tex-Mex (think Chevy's style without beans, fresh salsa or Margaritas).  These new places are truly Mexican and have fresh ingredients, and feature Mexican chefs.  Immigration to Finland has been occurring a greater pace now and perhaps that is why so many ethnic restaurants seem to be popping up on every street corner.

Now that the Winter thaw is slowing fading away and the Spring sun is making it's appearance, I look forward to taking lunch strolls along the old streets of Helsinki.  Within 5 minutes I can be at the center of the city and within 10 minutes I can be at Finland's most famous street, The Esplanadi.  The Esplanadi is a long street that features a picturesque park, and is a great place to hang out in the summer sun.  Just a few more minutes away I can be at the famous harbor that features a daily open air market.  Helsinki is a fairly compact city and one can navigate it fairly easily on foot alone.  I look forward to more adventures out and about in the Capital city as the Spring sun slowly turns into Summer's endless white nights.