First Finish Vegetarian Restaurant celebrates 25 Yearsfrom EVU News, Issue 4/1998 and 1/1999 |
Only vegetarian restaurant which is owned by its staff
Kasvis, the vegetarian restaurant is located in the centre of Helsinki. The smoke-free restaurant with 50 seats, serves basic lacto-vegetarian food, vegan food and various macrobiotic dishes. Our fusion kitchen serves some traditional Finnish dishes but also exotic tastes from Mexico, India, Thailand, the Mediterranean and Lebanon, for example. Approximately 150-200 quests per day eat a vegetarian meal at the Kasvis. We have also the licence to sell wine and beer. Our catering services plans and creates parties and buffets of every kind. Nowadays we train vegetarian cooks; at the moment we have two trainees in our kitchen. (There are no official vegetarian cook training programs here in Finland.) We have also an organic grocery shop, where we sell our own organic bread, pastries and other products from our bakery. We also sell organic beans, grain, vegetables, fruit, "happy cows'" milk and soya products (tempeh and tofu). A cosy athmosphere and personal custom service are the secrets of Kasvis' organic shop success. In 1973, an association called Oraan-suojelijat (=plant protectors) was registered.
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 The staff of the oldest Finish vegetarian restaurant | Kasvis (="veggie"), our vegetarian restaurant and tea room was established in June, 1974. It means that we celebrate our 25th anniversary next summer. At the beginning, the employers were working for free to make things happen. The young and the brave wanted to earn their living and to create a whole new vegetarian culture in Finland. As we were the first vegetarian restaurant in Finland, it was very hard to find professional kitchen personnel. The situation is the same today. A couple of our male First Finish Vegetarian Restaurant celebrates 25 Years workers travelled in 1975 to the Netherlands and found Hans Friedrichen from a community called Kosmos, which was situated in Amsterdam. 'Tea Room Kasvis' turned into 'Kasvis grocery shop' in the eighties. The staff has varied a lot over the years, but there have always been responsible peoples who kept things going in the right direction. |
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There is a spirit of happiness and balance among the employees. Kasvis is owned by its staff, which is unusual in Finland. Many of the young and the brave from the old days still have still a connection with Kasvis. They are like proud parents who see their children growing and doing well. We are very anxious to know if there are similar organisations to ours in Europe. We are also interested in finding vegetarian restaurants which could accept our trainee cooks. Anne Starck Ravintova Kasvis Korkeavuorenkatu 00140 Helsinki Finland | |