Kapui Lau arrived at the airport with her mother-in-law Ritva Hämäläinen. Their restaurant, called Anopin leivonnaiset (Finnish for mother-in-law’s baked goods) had a wide array of Finnish delicacies like reindeer pasties, salmon rolls made with Finnish flatbread and muffins with cloudberry jam, lingonberries and rye.
“I got the idea through my job. I work at the airport at Finnair customer service and it though it might be fun to set up a restaurant here. I immediately thought of my mother-in-law and her Finnish recipes. This is actually the first time we’ve baked together.”
Johanna Noro and Piia Rahkonen sold Finnish baked goods at their cafe, Bun Intended. They served both traditional and modern treats with a Finnish twist, like cinnamon rolls and chocolate cake made with Fazer chocolate.
“I first took part in Restaurant Day a year and a half ago. A week ago I saw on Facebook that you could set up a restaurant here. My boyfriend works at the airport. He’s actually working today, so I thought since he’s not home, I’d come here. I called Piia because we both like to bake.”
“And I was crazy enough to say yes.”
Terttu Nurmio set up a restaurant with her twelve-year-old son Riku. They served blueberry pie, cinnamon rolls and smoked reindeer quiche to airport passengers.
“We wanted to see what it was like to have a restaurant at the airport. It’ll be interesting to see if the the passengers like this. We’ve taken part in Restaurant Day four or five times together.”
And does Riku to want to have his own restaurant when he grows up?
“I don’t know yet.”
Erika Rönkönharju and Tatu Korhonen served coffee, carrot cake, date cake and brownies at their stall.
”I heard from a friend that you could set up a restaurant at the airport. We decided to try what it would be like. We’re here to have fun.”
Sanna Forsman’s and Marjatta Salminen’s New York style deli stand offered passengers American treats, such as sweet cakes and stuffed sandwiches.
“The restaurant is called Never stop dreaming, which is also the name of my travel blog. I love to travel so I was intrigued by the opportunity to set up a restaurant here at the airport. This is my first time at Restaurant Day. I have been thinking about setting up my own café, so this is a good opportunity to give it a try"
Eveliina Haarala and Robert Salotie’s stand sold raw porridge. They had two healthy options served in stylish jars: Coconut oatmeal with chia seeds and fresh bilberries and buckwheat with dates and cardamom.
“This is our first time at Restaurant Day. It’s really different and interesting being here. We hadn’t planned for a restaurant, but then we heard about this.”
Anna Ojutkangas served healthy smoothies and vegan sweets at her stand. Her banana-berry smoothies and date-coconut-cinnamon treats offered a healthy option for busy passengers.
“I’m into health food and smoothies. These are some of my own recipes. This is my first time at Restaurant Day, so I wanted to try something special. Then a friend told me you could set up a restaurant at the airport so I decided to give it a go.”
Outside terminal 2, Alli Aittamaa set up a café with her siblings and friends. Their stall sold coffee, quiche and cupcakes to passengers arriving at the airport.
“Previously we have only visited other people’s restaurants on Restaurant Day, so we decided to see how it was on this side of the table. One of us has wanted to try this for a long time. We were thinking of maybe going to a park with a camper van if the weather was nice, but then this seemed like a great spot. There is a lot of people here!”
