Evie Goes to Restaurant Day in Vaasa

Episode 4

Restaurant Day (Ravintolapäivä) originated in Helsinki, so I travel to nearby Vaasa, with my daughter Evie, to visit some of the pop-up restaurants and speak to some of the restaurant organisers about their experiences.

Guests: Heimo Oksanen, Walter Syö, Malin Holm and Evie Wiltshear

Download an MP3 file of Evie Goes to Restaurant Day in Vaasa

Show Notes

It was 15th November 2014 and I decided to check out what Restaurant Day was all about. I looked at the options in the local region and decided to head to Vaasa as it had more variety of restaurants in a small area. I took my daughter Evie and her Great-Aunt Hilu with the aim of visiting three or four restaurants, trying some different foods and not eating myself senseless (it has been known!)

I’d been preparing for this trip for a few weeks, so I knew where I wanted to go, and the first destination was ‘A Taste Journey: Around The World in 30 Minutes’ which was actually located in Vasa övningsskola a primary/teacher training school, with a large English department and a multi-cultural group of pupils. You can hear from Heimo, Head of the English department, about the variety of food that was prepared by the pupils’ parents and what they were raising money for.

After restaurant #1 we were already quite full, but we avoided the dessert so we still had room for something at the Theatre Restaurant, where we were greeted by the ‘staff’ in full costume, dressed as characters from a circus. The entertainment was 360 degrees, as the cavorting, capering waiters added to the performances on the stage. The atmosphere was dark, strange, a bit creepy (at first) and completely unforgettable! You can hear me talk to Valter the Monkey-man as well Evie’s comments on the podcast.

Finally, we headed to MOY, a hair salon & kirppis, which was busy and friendly. We had time (and room) for one more coffee and a few small cakes, while Evie checked out the clothes that were on sale. I also managed to speak Malin about how she wanted to use Restaurant Day as a way to publicise her new business.