Luxury belongs to everyone – Restaurant IKI, which will open in the heart of Helsinki, invites people to visit
Restaurant IKI, which will open in the Signe property in the heart of Helsinki, combines high-quality food with a cosy atmosphere. “For us, people are guests, not customers. We want to create a low-threshold meeting place where everyone can enjoy luxurious food experiences”, says restaurateur Severi Lukkarinen.
According to Severi Lukkarinen, CEO of MW Dining Oy and one of the founders of Restaurant IKI, which will open its doors at the end of October 2026, the idea behind the new restaurant concept is to build a communal urban culture in the heart of the city.
“We want to create a meeting place where high-quality food experiences are available to everyone and where different people naturally encounter each other. Everyone can come exactly as they are and feel that they belong, even if they come alone”, explains Lukkarinen.
Coming to our restaurant is like visiting a friend.
The mission is supported by a central and attractive location in the heart of Helsinki. IKI will open in Signe, a commercial and office property, built next to Stockmann and Three Smiths Square. The building’s spaces and services will bring together city centre employees, visitors, residents and tourists.
According to the restaurateur with a long experience, a communal meeting place is created not only by location, but above all by people – committed personnel working as a team.
“When employees feel like one family, then presence and care are also conveyed to customers”, he says.
East meets North
The idea of easy accessibility will also be reflected in the atmosphere of the restaurant. Instead of white tablecloths, the decor will offer earthy natural materials and hues from the Asian colour palette. Although the restaurant is situated in a modern setting in a top location in the heart of the city, the premises are designed to exude a cosy, relaxed atmosphere.
Citrus peel will be used to make syrups and used coffee grounds will go to producing coffee liqueur.
The restaurant’s cuisine merges the best of East Asia and the Nordic region. According to Lukkarinen, it will not be an actual fusion kitchen, but an open-minded way of combining different raw materials, techniques and flavours. The Asian twist will be visible even in small things – Japanese yuzu juice will be served instead of traditional lemon or lime juice, and Japanese sansho pepper will be used as a seasoning instead of black pepper.
“For us, quality is a big thing, we don’t compromise on that. As is sustainability. We use locally sourced ingredients whenever possible and try to utilise them as efficiently as possible in order to minimise waste”, notes Lukkarinen.
Spaces for different encounters
The dining experience will be based on sharing and savouring dishes together in the 360-square-foot restaurant. Instead of a traditional menu, guests can pick their favourites from the à la carte menu and choose several dishes to share.
The spaces also encourage natural encounters. Located next to the kitchen, a chef’s table for eight brings diners close to the chefs and the kitchen’s activities, enabling solo diners also to enjoy a communal experience.
“We will have about 60 customer spaces and a bar with about 20 seats. In addition, a private dining room for about 10 people will be available for meetings, private events and functions. Outdoor seating will also be set on Kalevankatu next year”, says Lukkarinen.
The chef’s table will also allow for a communal dining experience for those who come alone.
The idea of low-threshold luxury has been taken into account in pricing. The idea is that everyone should have the opportunity to savour langoustine or caviar – and dine out more than once a year. More expensive raw materials are utilised in smaller quantities, making their use more cost-effective.
Lukkarinen does not want luxury to mean a feeling of exclusion to anyone.
“We want to be a place that connects rather than separates people. While you can come to the restaurant to enjoy a slow meal, you can also drop in for a glass of wine, a beer or a small snack at the bar.”
IKI and Signe share a mission
According to Lukkarinen, Signe, built according to the highest environmental standards, has provided an ideal setting for designing a dream restaurant.
“It has been great to be able to design premises for a property that approaches quality and sustainability as ambitiously as we do. Even minor details have been handled in a sustainable manner, the materials are of high quality and the building technology is top-notch”, he praises.
Striving to be a meeting place for the city’s residents, the restaurant also offers tailored services to companies operating in Signe. The private meeting room, equipped with modern meeting technology, allows guests to arrange full-service meetings and order high-quality catering services from the kitchen, or alternatively the entire restaurant can be booked for the event.
In the future, the goal is to expand the restaurant’s operations more and more outside of mealtimes and bring city residents together with various events and campaigns.
“We don’t want to be just a place to eat. We want to bring people together and be involved in creating a vibrant urban culture”, Lukkarinen sums up.