![\"Pilvi](\"http:\/\/viininjuurilla.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/latva.jpg\")
<\/a>As drinking to an empty stomach would be blasphmeous, Latva offers an interesting selection of \u2019sapas\u2019, small sharing plates of Scandinavian fare, most of it organic and sourced from small local producers. The sapas list reads like a condensed version of the menu of Latva\u2019s neighbouring sister restaurant, Juuri, a beacon of Finnish gastronomy in its own right.<\/p>\n
Latva occupies one of the most charming street corners in the area, right across the street from the Design museum. The bar terrace has an exquisite view to the scaled-down, red brick gothic spectacle of the Johannes church.<\/p>\n
Latva also caters to beer lovers: the bar boasts a list of no less than a couple of dozen domestic microbreweries.<\/p>\n
latva.fi<\/a>,\u00a0juuri.fi<\/a><\/p>\n Soil<\/b><\/p>\n The concept of tapas<\/i> may have lost a bit of its bite due to blatant overuse: when you see a pile of sushi labelled as \u2019Japanese tapas\u2019, you\u2019re looking at a culinary term that\u2019s fallen victim to\u00a0its own success.<\/p>\n Not so at Soil, where tapas still refers to the real thing: expertly carved slivers of succulent air-dried ham from a breed of\u00a0half-savage black pigs; delicious crumbles of aged manchego; chunks of spicy, nutty chorizo and more \u2013 simple staples that are transformed to extraordinary delights once the quality is right.<\/p>\n To make sure the tapas list lives up to its original standards is chef Matti Romppainen<\/b>, who spent years in Barcelona running a Finnish fine dining restaurant.<\/p>\n So that\u2019s all well and good. But what to wash all that down with?<\/p>\n \u2013 Why don\u2019t you try this, suggests sommelier Janne Halla<\/b>, holding a bottle of red wine from one of only 40 producers in the little known Spanish region of Toro. Toro sits southwest of\u00a0Duero along the eponymous\u00a0river, and supposedly marries only the good elements of both Duero and Rioja \u2013 and judging from this delicious sample the rumours may well be founded.<\/p>\n The wine list has an obvious emphasis on Spain, as restaurant manager Lari-Pekka Ikonen <\/b>explains, although the three caballeros also import wine from all over the world.<\/p>\n soilwineroom.fi<\/a><\/p>\n Baskeri & Basso<\/b><\/p>\n Baskeri ja Basso (\u2019the beret and the bass\u2019) is the brainchild of French-born sommelier Nicolas Thieulon<\/b> and ex-rockstar chef Kalle Kiukainen<\/b>. The laid-back bistro is set in a lofty industrial space, transformed with impeccable taste into a glorious mix of grit and chic.<\/p>\n Nicolas, Niki for short, wanders into his grand glass-walled walk-in wine cellar and emerges with a clear bottle of the lightest red wine. Du vin pour les anges<\/i>, the label reads flatteringly, \u2019wine for angels\u2019. Niki\u2019s wine cellar is more a reunion of friends than a collection of wines, and like the rest of the items in the cabinet, this wine was sourced by the man himself, face to face, up close and personal. After a couple of minutes\u2019 sipping and chatting I, too, feel intimately acquainted with its author Olivier Cohen, a natural wine maker from the south of France.<\/p>\n Baskeri ja Basso is to my knowledge the first restaurant in Helsinki to give natural wines center stage in their wine cellar, a welcome trend that\u2019s already rampant in Copenhagen and gaining momentum in Stockholm.<\/p>\n \u2013\u00a0Although that\u2019s not an end in itself, cautions Niki, who is allergic to wine nerds. \u2013 All of our wines owe it to themselves to taste really good, heighten the pleasure of eating, bring people together in a happy atmosphere and, you know, let the\u00a0good times roll!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>