Chef of the Year 2026 hails from Helsinki – a trendy and constantly evolving food city

The title of Vuoden Kokki (Chef of the Year) came to Helsinki this year, as Daniel Romi, chef at Palace, emerged victorious in the Vuoden Kokki 2026 competition.

According to Romi, Helsinki is a trendy and constantly evolving food city, with new businesses opening all the time and new professionals bringing their own perspectives to the scene. Romi points out that the customer base has changed: people are willing to spend more money on restaurants but are also highly selective about where they go, raising the bar for restaurants.

“I believe that in the next few years, we will see many new and interesting openings and, above all, people in Helsinki will be more willing to spend money on restaurants during the week as well,” says Romi.

“As a restaurant city, Helsinki is interesting and constantly evolving, with a lot going on. Diversity is characteristic of the city: there is something for every consumer and something to suit every taste,” adds Leeni Hyvärinen, who was named Vuoden Tarjoilija (Waiter of the Year) 2026.

The Vuoden Kokki (Chef of the Year) competition has been held since 1995 and is organised by Wihuri Metro-tukku. The City of Helsinki engages in cooperation with the Vuoden Kokki and Vuoden Tarjoilija competitions, with the aim of raising the profile of Finnish gastronomy, highlighting excellence in the restaurant sector and supporting Helsinki’s development as an exciting culinary destination.

“Food and restaurant culture are important to Helsinki in many ways. Restaurants and cafés promote wellbeing and create jobs, but they are also an integral part of residents’ everyday lives, tourists’ experience of Helsinki and the city’s vitality. In accordance with our City Strategy, we are committed to promoting the flourishing of food and restaurant culture and to strengthening cooperation with the tourism and hospitality industries," says Tourism Director Nina Vesterinen from the City of Helsinki.
 

A record number of restaurants in the city centre

In the second quarter of 2026, there were a total of 2,684 catering establishments in Helsinki. In the city centre in particular, the number of restaurants has been growing rapidly, and according to a vitality survey carried out in spring 2026, more than 700 restaurants were open year-round on Saturdays in the area, which is a new record. Helsinki city centre is home to by far the most significant concentration of restaurants in Finland.

The strength of Helsinki’s restaurants is also reflected in customer reviews. In a sentiment analysis based on peer reviews from 2025, the sentiment score for restaurants in Helsinki was 87.2, while that for Copenhagen was 85.4 and for Stockholm 84.8. Helsinki also ranked ahead of both cities in the comparison when food and drink services were considered as a whole.

Restaurants bring life to the city

The importance of restaurants is particularly evident in Helsinki city centre. The role of city centres is changing, as people are increasingly coming to city centres not only to shop and work, but also to spend their free time, meet others and seek new experiences.

“A vibrant city centre needs reasons for people to visit and spend their time there. Restaurants, cafés and other food and drink services play a key role in this. They bring life to the streets in the evenings and at weekends too, and make the city centre a place where people want to spend time,” says Nina Vesterinen.

Food and restaurants are also an important part of Helsinki’s tourism offering. Record numbers of tourists are bringing customers to restaurants, and an exciting food and restaurant culture, in turn, strengthens Helsinki’s appeal as a tourist destination.

Food is set to become a new growth sector for Helsinki

Food has also taken on a more prominent role in Helsinki’s economic development policy: food innovation and an attractive food culture have been identified as a key growth sector in the City’s objectives for growth, skills and vitality for 2026–2029.

The aim is to generate new business in Helsinki and strengthen the city’s position as a platform for the development of the food of the future. To this end, the City wants to develop food innovations in collaboration with higher education institutions, research institutes, companies and restaurants. At the same time, Helsinki is seeking to raise the international profile of its food culture through culinary tourism, events and media productions.

“Our aim is for Helsinki to be recognised as the capital of gastronomic expertise and the food industry,” says Chief Specialist Jussi Loponen from the City of Helsinki, who is responsible for coordinating the growing food sector.

“For Helsinki, food is therefore both a key part of a good urban living and a driver of future growth. The City’s role is to create the right conditions so that expertise, research and technology in the restaurant sector and new food industry solutions also give rise to new business in Helsinki,” Loponen highlights.