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, Restaurant Grön opened four months later and stole my heart right away. 

Thus, I wasn’t surprised when Toni Kostian won The Chef of The Year 2016 title just a few months after he had opened Grön together with Restaurant Manager Lauri Kähkönen. Lauri, too, is a wizard in the kitchen and one of the warmest characters I have encountered in 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 have been pickled or fermented. The atmosphere is cosy, and their short but well-thought – and above all, reasonably priced – wine list is appealing. Plenty of Austrian, beautiful and food-loving natural wines from top estates such as Strohmeier, Tscheppe and Tschida.

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

Still, I hear dubious comments from those who have never tried Grön. They think that according to its name, this restaurant is only about greens.

For those sceptics I always say two things. 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, their tartar is the BEST in Helsinki. So good that removing it from the list would seriously damage our prospering relationship. Also the recent addition to the menu, lamb knuckle was fabulous. It is served with fermented garlic, Brussel sprouts, dried cranberries and thyme-seasoned lamb bouillon.

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

Neither have I ever left Grön dissatisfied. After some twenty visits, their 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 preparing methods and combinations I didn’t even know to exist.

Last spring they also set the most dangerous trap for a foodie: two tables on the street. Even though the street is quite noisy around the time Grön opens, it didn’t prevent me from stepping ”in” for ex tempore dinners. Later, I often chose a different route home, just to avoid the temptation to sit down once again.

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. Normally preferring to choose the wine by myself, I always let Pekka decide for me. He remembered in detail what I had ordered during my previous visits. That’s what I call true service.

Although I am about to accept the fact that ambitious restaurant professionals tend to change locations, Pekka’s departure left a huge gap behind.

Yet my love for Grön remains. And yesterday it was time to introduce this restaurant 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 pops into mind.

Albertinkatu 36. Tue-Sat 17–24. Tel: +358 (0)9 428 933 58.

 

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UPDATE (June 2026): Having watched closely their journey over the years, I couldn’t be happier for Grön receiving its second Michelin Star on June 1st, 2026. Congratulations! Current tasting menu: 188 €. Wine pairing: 142 €.