Restaurant Grön

Had a brilliant meal here, one of my highlights in Helsinki. An up-and-down, back-and-forth, left-to-right, twisty-turny exploration across Finland’s picked and pulled, all the uprooted goodies from the soil, forming an almost exclusively plant-led tasting menu (they have two stars, one Michelin red, and another of the green and eco variety). Every dish was colourful and vivid, dotted with small leaves, flowers, micro-herbs and, on occasion, caviar, for a sense of inflated luxe. The small, stark and industrial restaurant space is warm and full of contented chatter from guests, each deliberating and discussing recipes and the dishes before them. The kitchen is open, so you can peek in while a young team meticulously fiddle and plate - it really did appear to be a very young and talented team, making the kitchen output all the more impressive.