Can a restaurant become your second home?

Looking for a new home from Helsinki, I unexpectedly found two – just a few hundred metres apart. After moving to my new place in summer 2015, Grön opened four months later and stole my heart right away. 

So I wasn’t surprised when Toni Kostian won The Chef of The Year 2016 title in Finland just a few months after he had opened Restaurant Grön with Lauri Kähkönen. Restaurant Manager Lauri one of the warmest characters that I have encountered in the restaurant business.

The food at Grön was love at first bite. Exciting and creative, unique in taste, from locally sourced top ingredients, many of which pickled or fermented.

The atmosphere is laid-back and the short yet well curated – and above all, reasonably priced – wine list is appealing. Many beautiful, food-loving Austrian natural wines from top guys such as Strohmeier, Tscheppe and Tschida.

However, there is something magical in Grön that escapes definitions. And that is a sign of something exceptional. Despite my efforts to further analyse this infatuation, I just noticed that after my first visit I started to feel (and behave) like at home at Grön.

NOT JUST GREENS

In the beginning, I often got to hear dubious comments from those who had never tried Grön. They thought that this restaurant would only serve veggie food (grön = green in Swedish). For these sceptics I always said:

“Yes, it’s true that Grön uses loads of vegetables, root vegetables, wild herbs and edible flowers. But they create and serve amazing meat courses as well.”

If you ask me or certain female friends of mine, Grön’s tartar is the BEST in Helsinki. So good that removing it from the list would seriously damage my prospering relationship with this restaurant. Also the recent addition to the menu, lamb knuckle – served with fermented garlic, Brussels sprouts, dried cranberries and thyme lamb bouillon – is fabulous.

FELIPE – The Star of The Table

I often fill up my stomach with Toni Kostian’s seriously addictive sourdough bread. It is based on a secret recipe and his sourdough starter called Felipe.

As Toni says, Felipe has good and bad days, but so far I haven’t noticed it. Many have wanted to buy the recipe. But Felipe is not for sale.

Neither have I ever left Grön dissatisfied. Based on my twenty visits, the kitchen has never had a bad day. But if I have to look back and pick just one dinner, the most memorable menu was served in May 2016. All those bright colours, edible flowers and feather-light textures as well as techniques and combinations I didn’t even know to exist.

BRILLIANT WINE PAIRINGS

Last spring Grön also set the most dangerous trap for a foodie: two tables on the street. Even though that end of my home street is quite noisy at the time Grön opened, it didn’t prevent me from stepping ”in” for impromptu dinners. This is why I often chose another route home, just to avoid the temptation to sit down.

One factor that made Grön very special was Pekka Rantala, a talented and socially brilliant young sommelier who created exciting wine pairings for Toni’s culinary art.

Usually preferring to choose the wines, I always let Pekka decide for me. And he remembered in detail what I had ordered during previous visits. If that’s not true service, then what is?

Even though I’m starting to accept that ambitious restaurant professionals change locations, Pekka’s departure left a huge gap behind. But my love for Grön remains, and the wine pairings still continue to surprise me on every visit.

Yesterday I introduced Grön to my mother. We finished our dinner with Baked Alaska: pine parfait with meringue and preserved pine shoots.

My mother may live 60 kilometres away, but Grön is well worth visiting from further afield. When my foreign friends ask for restaurant tips in Helsinki, Grön is always the first name that comes to mind.

Restaurant Grön
Albertinkatu 36, Helsinki
Tue-Sat 17–24
Tel: +358 (0)9 428 933 58
Metro: Kamppi

 

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UPDATE (2026): Having watched Toni’s journey over the years, I couldn’t be happier for Grön receiving its second Michelin Star on June 1st, 2026. Congrats! Current tasting menu (188 €), vegan also available. Wine pairing (142 €) + wonderful wine list.