The Savoy Restaurant

There are some restaurants in London you have to remortgage for but still do not feel out of place, Sheekeys comes to mind. There are others, even whole districts, you would never even set foot in, those other worlds you would prefer to avoid for all the money in the world. The Savoy Helsinki is a restaurant designed by Aalto in 1937, and it feels like that's where you've gone as soon as you get out of the lift. The gentlemen diners are wearing dicky bows and dress shirts, the ladies artic fox stolls and pearls. They both admire their flambé. I felt like Billy Gibbons and Julie was suddenly, at best, Julia, from Pretty Woman. We were out of time and out of place in pre War Finland. Not that that isn't necessarily a worthwhile experience it's just that's exactly what it is, an experience. You get to immerse yourself, at a price, in Aalto's now all too familiar nature metaphors just before the Finns join the war on the wrong side. It's an excellent location for a good game of spot the Nazi.
Julie gave herself away by saying the best thing she liked was 'the bread' That's my girl. I thought I got away with it until asked to comment on the house speciality, something cooked for 48 hours, when I stopped myself using the word 'sludge' and instead improvised on 'earthy', all the time understanding it was delicious of course. However I do not particularly recommend the Pike. We escaped before having to re-remortgage for desert.