In the heart of punavuori lies Sushibar, a restaurant combining Japanese cold foods and the very best of Finnish design. The restaurant brings a welcome addition to the food selection of Helsinki Design District.

At the corner of a jugend building lies a stylish black-and-white restaurant. Two large corner windows open out to a street that has a culinary history so vibrant that books have been written about it. The dining space oozes nothern aesthetics, and you could easily imagine Scandinavian delicacies like root vegetables and Baltic Sea fish served here. However, the vitrine filled with sushi, sheets of nori waiting on the shelves, and chopsticks beg to differ.

Then again, the fish connotation isn’t completely off. You could call Sushibar a fish restaurant. However, the fish on offer here isn’t cooked in a traditionally Finnish way, but rather served as bite-sized Japanese sushi.

The proprietors of Sushibar, MATTI SARKKINEN and ANDERS WESTERHOLM, had for a long time wanted to open up a restaurant in Punavuori, their native part of Helsinki. Their modest aim was to make it “the coolest sushi restaurant in the world”. The duo also owns the more traditional Japanese restaurant Raku Ya.

“With Sushibar, we wanted to combine Scandinavian design and Japanese food in a way that’s easy to approach. We wanted to make a restaurant that doesn’t imitate the design of a Japanese restaurant, but rather sticks to Nordic elements,” says Westerholm.

They didn’t have to start completely from scratch. Sushibar, which focuses on take-away food, has been influenced for example by restaurants in Barcelona, where people enjoy foreign culinary experiences in a familiar Spanish environment.

A design evangelist

To realize their vision, Sarkkinen and Westerholm hired a group of the most talented and celebrated graphic designers, illustrators, spatial designers and chefs in Finland. The interior design was done by interior architect ELIISA KORPIJÄRVI, the graphic look was put together by JOHANNES EKHOLM, the unique Sushibar pattern was designed by illustrator PIETARI POSTI, and the menu is the work of RIINA HELLEN, who has worked with sushi her whole career.

Design is an integral part of Sushibar. People sit on Artek chairs and eat out of Marimekko dishware. Finnish speaker manufacturer Genelec is also one of Sushibar’s partners. “Sushibar’s deli also sells Marimekko dishes and supplies for cooking Japanese food at home,” Sarkkinen says and adds, “It’s an honor for us to be working with the top names in Finnish design.”

Design hasn’t trumped greener values, however. Sushibar’s set of Alvar Aalto’s classic chairs were bought second-hand and worn as opposed to just buying new ones because they’re new. Westerholm says green thinking is a given for Sushibar. Even take-away foods come in eco-produced quickly-decomposing packaging. All waste from the restaurant is recycled.

Although the combination of Japanese cuisine and Scandinavian design is sure to appeal to tourists, Matti Sarkkinen believes that the location of the restaurant is more attractive to lunch-seekers in the vicinity than foreigners exploring Helsinki.

“Just like all of Design District, Sushibar is also a state of mind where customers looking for healthy and delicious food can enjoy the aesthetics of the food and design combined with homely simplicity and a communal way of thinking,” Sarkkinen describes.

Japanese acquaintances

Sashimi, nigiri, inari, futo, sake, wasabi, umeshu, sapporo and misoshiru are familiar foods to many Finns. Japanese salads, however, may be less familiar.

“Our menu contains traditional sushi rolls as well as some more special alternatives,” Sushibar chef Riina Hellen describes. “The menu will see small constant changes, but alongside traditional sushi we’ll always have Japanese salads, green-lipped mussels and other small delicacies.”

“Japanese salads can be either noodle-based or salad-based, in which case they may contain for example salmon or shrimp and be seasoned Japanese style with for example a miso dressing, ginger or other Japanese spices and flavors,” she adds.

And how about inari? Tofu in soy broth. Simple and easy. †

Sushibar, Uudenmaankatu 15, Helsinki

www.sushibar.fi

Text Pauliina Lindsberg Photos Kari Sarkkinen

Tags:
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