Up for some Kurdish, Ukrainian or Ethiopian food? Bon appetit, enjoy your meal.

What makes cities like New York or Berlin irresistible? It’s often their gastronomic offerings we come to think of – experiences created by food from all over the world. We would like Helsinki to become a melting pot of all kinds of interesting cuisines as well. What is it like opening a restaurant in Helsinki? What needs to be taken into account? How do the keepers of ethnic restaurants see their role in making Helsinki more interesting and enjoyable?

In Helsinki, there are tens of thousands of immigrants who have all brought their memories, habits and delicacies with them. However, for some reason this is barely visible in the cityscape. AHMET ASLAN, the owner of Café Caisa, the only Kurdish restaurant in Helsinki, explains how difficult it is for a foreigner to open a decent eatery in the city. “When I came to Finland in the nineties, I wanted to open an à la carte restaurant serving food from my home country,” Ahmet says. “However, I didn’t have a Finnish education at that point, so I wasn’t able to get a license for serving wine – so, I ended up opening a lunch place first. When I finally received a local diploma, I returned to my original plans and put up a proper Kurdish à la carte restaurant in Kaisaniemi.”

Café Caisa offers oriental homemade food including meze plates and fresh salads. “On the side, I also try to provide the customers with some insights to Kurdish culture,” Ahmet adds. He hopes that the Finnish government would learn from the likes of France and give more support to entrepreneurship within the restaurant industry. “That way, we might soon be known for our rich food culture, too,” he notes.

Food with social aspects

Opening an ethnic kitchen in Helsinki wasn’t easy for half-Israeli, half-Ukrainian ALEXANDER BITSAK, either. Alexander moved to Finland a couple of years ago because he considered the country to be, in his own words, the best place in the world. He found a perfect space on Kustaankatu in Kallio for his Ukrainian pelmeni restaurant but, coming from Israel at the time, was denied entrance to the country by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “So, I left my beautiful space, went to Kiev, and decided to try again,” Alexander explains. “Finally, I returned to Kustaankatu with a Ukrainian passport. After that, I renovated my restaurant and tried to make it special for customers and Finnish friends alike.”

Alexander used to have a pizza place in Israel, but didn’t want to start one in Finland, as he believes we have enough pizza already. “As a matter of fact, in addition to Ukrainian food like pelmenis and soups, my menu consists of traditional Finnish delicacies such as Karelian roast (karjalanpaisti) and Finnish fish pasty (kalakukko). You really feel at home at Alexander’s restaurant Pelmenit – and not just because of the familiar food. “The customers don’t come here only to eat, but rather to meet me,” Alexander says. “I ask how they are, how their family and health is.”

Like Alexander, Ahmet and us, MARINA LINDSTRÖM from the multicultural co-operative Q-Coop also thinks that Helsinki needs more ethnic kitchens. That’s why she’s planning to open a big restaurant and central kitchen in Kalasatama, a harbour area opened up to residential construction only a few years ago. Her idea is to bring together people and cuisines from all over the world (e.g. West African, Iranian, Ethiopian, Indian and Kurdish) under the same roof to organise lunches, dinners and events as well as to prepare food to be sold in smaller kiosks around the city.

The Finnish-born Marina is working together with two Nigerian women, ESTHER ADEMOSU and FLORENCE AWOYEMI. Together the three used to run the Yoruban Kimito Kitchen in Sörnäinen. Just like many old harbour areas worldwide, food might help bring interesting people and activities also to Kalasatama. But Marina isn’t really interested in city planning in its traditional sense. She’s more into helping immigrants integrate and making Helsinki’s food culture – and with it, the whole atmosphere of the city – more international and open. After all, it’s the cultural aspects that make a true city. †

Text Anni Puolakka & Jenna Sutela / OK Do Photo Hertta Kiiski

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OK Do is a creative think-and-do tank tackling emerging questions at the intersection of design, art and science.

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ahmet aslan, alexander bitsak, anni puolakka, café caisa, esther ademosu, ethnic, etninen, florence awoyemi, food, helsinki, hertta kiiski, jenna sutela, kaisaniemi, kalasatama, Kallio, marina lindström, ok do, pelmenit, ravintolat, Restaurants, ruoka, sörnäinen