Taste the New Nordic Trailblazer at Olo

How to Complete

4 steps to experience this fully

1. 📜 1

   Find the 1817 Yellow House That Changed Finnish Cuisine

   history Free

   📍 WHERE: Pohjoisesplanadi 5 — the peach-yellow townhouse on the harbor, 50 meters from the Presidential Palace. Stand on the esplanade side and look up at it.

   💡 WHAT: This building is older than Finnish independence by exactly 100 years. Lampa House was built in 1817 when Finland was still a Grand Duchy of Russia. The fish market at Kauppatori behind you has been trading since 1743. For most of its 200-year life, nobody thought you could serve world-class cuisine in Helsinki. Then in 2006, four Finnish restaurateurs proved them wrong by opening Olo here — and in 2011, the Michelin Guide gave it a star it has never once surrendered in 14 consecutive years.

   🎯 HOW: Before you walk in, pause on the esplanade. Face the harbor. The building to your right is the Presidential Palace. The yellow house in front of you is where Finnish fine dining began. Take that in.

   🔄 BACKUP: If approaching from the Market Square side, find the Havis Amanda fountain (installed 1908) and walk north — Olo is the yellow building immediately ahead.

   🍷 Log Memory
2. 🍷 2

   Let the Man Who Won Finland Twice Pour Your Wine

   wine $$$

   📍 WHERE: Your table at Restaurant Olo. When your sommelier approaches, ask if Dmitrii Frolov is in the house tonight.

   💡 WHAT: Dmitrii Frolov is the only person to have won Best Sommelier of Finland back-to-back — 2024 AND 2025. He went on to represent Finland at the Best Sommelier of Europe, Africa and Middle East championships. Before all that, he won Best Sommelier of Russia in 2016. He started as a waiter in 2004. His pivotal moment: tasting two Chablis from the same producer, same vintage, but different levels — and realizing the difference was entirely terroir. He moved from Russia to Finland two years before his Finnish crown. The wine program he shapes avoids the predictable French domination that plagues Nordic fine dining — expect gems from Spain, Austria, Portugal alongside Nordic surprises. His pairing philosophy: refill before you notice the glass is empty, say the most important thing and nothing more.

   🎯 HOW: Book the wine pairing (EUR 179) or the Prestige Pairing (EUR 281) when you reserve — not at the table, it needs to be pre-arranged. The Prestige is where the rare and unusual wines appear. If you want only one add-on from the entire evening, let it be this.

   🔄 BACKUP: If Frolov isn't in that evening, ask the sommelier team about the specific wine from Spain or Austria they chose this season — they'll tell you why with the same precision.

   🍷 Log Memory
3. 🍷 3

   Taste the Dish 2,000 Years of Sámi Reindeer Herding Created

   wine $$$

   📍 WHERE: Your table. This is the signature course on both the 'Shorter Way' (EUR 69, 6 courses) and the full tasting menu (EUR 195, 11 courses).

   💡 WHAT: Sautéed reindeer — poronkäristys — is the Sámi people's foundational dish. The Sámi have herded reindeer across Finnish Lapland for over 2,000 years. Olo's version features Lappish almond potato, a small oval variety that ONLY grows in the Lapland microclimate — it doesn't exist anywhere else on Earth. The mash it makes is unlike any other potato on the planet. Chef Mikko Pakola's version goes further: thin frozen slices of reindeer slow-braised in butter, plated with Olo's legendary sourdough. Before this restaurant existed, no Michelin inspector would have come to Helsinki looking for a dish like this. Olo is the reason they do now.

   🎯 HOW: When the course arrives, ask the server where the reindeer came from — they will tell you the specific farm or region. Eat it slowly. Notice that the almond potato mash tastes different from any mash you've ever had — slightly nuttier, more silken. That's 67 degrees north latitude and a very specific soil type doing its work.

   🔄 BACKUP: The 'Shorter Way' menu (EUR 69) includes this dish. If you're coming for a first visit without the full commitment, this is your entry point — book it.

   🍷 Log Memory
4. ⛰️ 4

   Request the Chef's Table and Eat Inside the Story

   Optional

   adventure $$$$

   📍 WHERE: The chef's table — a front-row seat inside the Olo kitchen, beside Chef Mikko Pakola and his brigade.

   💡 WHAT: This isn't a counter you watch from behind glass. You're at a table inside the kitchen itself — every course arrives from hands to table in seconds, and the conversations are with the people who made your meal. Previous guests describe it as 'an incredible evening of good food, service and chats with the kitchen crew.' The Lampa House has four separate dining rooms upstairs, but the kitchen table is the layer below — the one that doesn't appear in the travel magazines. It's Access Reveal in its purest form.

   🎯 HOW: Email or call when booking (olo-ravintola.fi or +358 10 3206250) and ask specifically for the chef's table. It's not listed as a booking option — you have to ask. Combine with the Prestige Wine Pairing (EUR 281) for the full experience: the wine Frolov chose paired with the dish Pakola is cooking inches from your face.

   🔄 BACKUP: If the chef's table is unavailable, request a window table overlooking Pohjoisesplanadi. On a winter evening with harbor lights and frost on the glass, the four dining rooms upstairs have their own magic. Ask specifically — it matters.

   🍷 Log Memory