Wine Café Feeniks serves place for student concerts and events
You can eat breakfast and lunch at the renewed Wine Café Feeniks, you can sit down for a coffee between lectures or relax at the end of the day with a glass of wine and tapas. The café also hopes to host students’ own events.
Sami Garam, who has had a long career as a chef, and Jyrki Tarvonen, a wine expert and front-of-house professional, decided to start running Café Feeniks together in the R-building at Uniarts Helsinki in Töölö. They renamed the café Viinikahvila Feeniks, which translates into Wine Café Phoenix. The expertise and experience of the owners is reflected in the café’s offering.
Garam envisions Sibelius Academy students organising their own concerts at Feeniks.
“Feeniks could host many kinds of events: matinees, evening concerts, media events or birthdays. Students could sell tickets to their own concerts if they want income. Even if the concerts were free, the performance experience would be valuable for the students. It is enough for us to get customers, and students do not have to pay us rent. Concerts could also be marketed to the customers of the neighbouring hotel,” says Garam.
The new owners are learning about their customers’ behaviour, needs and the restaurant’s weekly cycle gradually.
“Feeniks already has different functions, and they are all in perfect harmony. We do not change the space for the evening other than the lighting. We develop the café according to the actual use of the space,” says Tarvonen.
It seems that the Feeniks/Phoenix has once again risen from the ashes and is flying towards the sun. In addition to the myth of the phoenix, there are other stories associated with the café.
Inquiries about hosting events at Feeniks: feeniks@kokkitehdas.fi
Opening hours
- Mon–Tue 9–15
- Wed–Fri 9–21
- Sat 15–21
Lunch
- Mon–Fri 11–14
- Soup or salad 8 €
- Soup and salad 10 €
- Coffee with lunch 1 €