In good taste

Just a short drive to the east of Helsinki, Porvoo is popular among day-trippers who come for its 18th-century Old Town, with its riverside warehouses and pastel-painted wooden architecture. Today the city of about 50,000 is often compared to San Sebastián, thanks to its diminutive size and the growing pull of its drinking-and-dining scene.

Monocle follows a winding country road through fields of rye and oats to Ylike Farm on the outskirts of Porvoo. Its history can be traced back to the 18th century but Emily and Thomas Simpson brought the land back into production in 2022. Originally from England, they now grow more than 50 varieties of vegetables, herbs and edible plants here, including chard, fennel, cabbages and (this being Finland) five types of potato.

“What I like about Porvoo is that it has a very distinct food identity that you can’t find anywhere else in Finland,” says Emily, uprooting a plump beetroot from a bed of soil. “There are almost no chain restaurants and much of what the independent bistros have on their menus comes from close by.”

The Simpsons sell their produce to both restaurants and individual customers. “We’re building an earth cellar for preserving vegetables over the winter,” says Thomas. “We would also like to get more involved in local cookery classes, bake our own bread and learn fermenting.”

Less than 5km north of Ylike is Bosgård, another organic farm that is one of the main suppliers of beef to Porvoo’s restaurants. When Monocle visits, more than 300 Charolais cattle are grazing in the fields surrounding a 19th-century manor in a setting far removed from industrial farming. There’s also an on-site farm-to-table restaurant. “The farmers here work together and there’s a strong sense of community,” says Aarne Schildt, Bosgård’s owner. “Restaurants and residents alike want to buy local produce, which keeps the food scene vibrant and gives it a unique feel.”

Finns love fish and you’ll find it on the menu in most restaurants in Porvoo. Borgå Fiskhus is a leading supplier and works with many of the region’s fishermen. Inside, the sweet aroma from an in-house smoker fills the air and a counter displays fresh fish such as salmon, zander, perch, white fish and pike. When Monocle visits, it’s crayfish season and most of the patrons exit the shop carrying bucketfuls of the freshwater crustaceans. The fishmonger’s biggest hit? “Restaurants love our warm-smoked salmon more than anything else,” Theo Skogberg, the shop’s service area manager, tells Monocle from behind the counter.

Porvoo’s Old Town, where you’ll find most of the city’s restaurants, cafés, bars and bakeries, is a compact maze of cobblestone streets that boasts dozens of culinary attractions. These range from Michelin-starred finery to cosier bistros and quaint little cafés that serve the local speciality cake: the runebergintorttu, a rum-and-almond torte named after Finland’s national poet, Johan Ludvig Runeberg, who lived in the city.

Monocle stops for lunch at Ravintola Salt, a restaurant inside a wooden villa that dates back to 1780, near Porvoo Cathedral. We feast on a simple but satisfying meal of smoked fish, potatoes, courgette, mustard seeds and beurre blanc, served with sweet malted bread. In the kitchen we meet the head chef, Erik Tornberg, a Porvoo-native who went to the city’s culinary school and worked his way up the local restaurant scene. “This is a city where a chef will never go unemployed,” he says, even though many culinary professionals have relocated from Helsinki to Porvoo in recent years, in search of a gentler pace of life and other benefits that small-city living offers. “Don’t get me wrong,” says Tornberg. “You can’t rest on your laurels here.”

The brightest star of Porvoo’s food scene is Vår, which earned its – and the city’s – first Michelin star in 2023. When Monocle visits, its menu includes crayfish, cold-smoked pike, a beetroot vorschmack and malt brioche, served with fennel and cucumber. “We are lucky to be surrounded by independent farms that cater to our needs,” Niko Lehto, the restaurant’s co-owner, tells Monocle as a voileipäkakku (a savoury sandwich cake) is served. “This allows us to source things such as garlic flowers, which are impossible to find even in Helsinki.”

Vår is an example of how Porvoo’s food scene and the wider city is evolving. Following international acclaim, it has started to attract more foreign visitors. “Almost a fifth of our patrons now come from abroad,” says Lehto. This is a challenge for the hospitality infrastructure of a city that is more used to catering to domestic day-trippers.

Thank goodness, then, for Runo, a 56-room hotel designed by Joanna Laajisto that opened in 2021. It’s managed by Erkka Hirvonen, while the bar – an asset long missing from Porvoo’s culinary scene – is overseen by other team members. “We live in one of Finland’s most beautiful cities and this has had an effect on the food scene too,” says Hirvonen of the talent that has been tempted here to set up new businesses. “Good food is about taste and how it is presented. But it’s also about where you enjoy it.” — L

Tech corner
Sight and sound

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra smartphone

The rounded corners of this phone give it a welcoming new look but the tower of cameras on its back remains in place last year’s S24 Ultra. There’s now a faster processor, better photographic sensors and the next version of Galaxy AI, including the Now Bar, which shows apps on the lock screen and can even tell you when to leave home to catch that flight.
samsung.com

Technics EAH-AZ100 

Technics describes these new in-ear wireless headphones as reference class and they do sound impressive, with direct, clean and balanced audio. They also have a cute design and active noise-cancelling, and pair with three different gadgets so you can connect them as you move from your phone to your laptop, for instance.
technics.com

Oura Ring 4

Finnish firm Oura’s new ring is slick and slim with sensors that are flush, making it comfier.  Sleep tracking remains key and Symptom Radar can even alert you if you’re coming down with a cold before you’ve even sniffed.
ouraring.com