On Thursday, one of Helsinki's oldest restaurants will open after a long and difficult restoration project. The restaurant closed its doors in 2019.
In the photo the painter standing on the stand restores the ceiling of Cajsan Helme's Topelius hall to its former glory.
The ceiling finished with gold decorations in the picture is dark. When the writer Sakari Topelius held his dissertation in the hall in the 19th century, it was light.
Something extra stands out in the dark lower corner of the photo. Minnacanth-like, slightly fuzzy profile of a woman. Black dress and gray hair pulled into a bun. This figure was reportedly not visible when flipping the image.
The spirit of Cajsa, says the new entrepreneur of the cafe-restaurant, Airi Kallio.
And would it be a wonder if the restaurant was built by Kaisaniemi in 1839 Catharina “Cajsa” Wahllundia would you be interested in following the restoration from beyond the grave?
“It is benevolent. There are spirits in every old house. In every one of them”, says Kallio nonchalantly.
The ceiling of the Topelius hall used to be dark. In the lower right of the photo shown by Airi Kallio, you can use zoom and imagination to see a character from the past.
According to Airi Kallio, the ceiling painting of the Topelius hall was done in 1899 for the restaurant's 60th anniversary. The golden reliefs are made of plaster of paris.
Airi Kallio describes the building as a park pavilion in a central location. People who regularly travel by train have been able to follow the progress of the restoration.
Cafe-restaurant Cajsan Helmi, or the former restaurant Kaisaniemi, will open its doors to customers on January 11 at 11 a.m. Kallio is expecting a crowd to arrive. The renovation of the park has blocked the building, and you will probably enter through the side door.
The actual opening party will be held in the spring. The purpose is to include music and dance performances from the 1920s or 1930s.
The concept of the restaurant has changed. Airi Kallio and his son, CEO of the family business Leo Kallio and pastry chef Ville Kallio have wanted to create a continental cafe-restaurant where you can enjoy both the delicacies and the history of the building.
There will be savory and sweet handmade pastries. You can sip coffee, tea, sparkling wine or champagne with them.
Private events can also be organized, but we want to keep the historic building as open as possible to everyone.
This is what restaurant Kaisaniemi looked like at the beginning of the 20th century.
In the second cabinet, there is an educational board describing the moment when JV Snellman was introduced to Tsar Alexander II in Parola in 1863. A portrait of the Tsar hangs on the wall. According to Kallio, the Finnish markka was created in this cabinet.
This talo is one of the oldest restaurants in Helsinki.
The building was designed by an architect in the 19th century Carl Ludwig Engel. At that time, the park was still called Yleinein gäuspuisto.
Before founding restaurant Kaisaniemi, the Swedish-born Catharina “Cajsa” Wahllund already had experience running restaurants and inns in Turku and Helsinki.
The restaurant became a venue for celebrities of the time: Uno Cygnaeus, Elias lönnrot, Jean Sibelius, Eino Leino, AV Koskimies, Fredrik Pacius, CG Mannerheim, Louis Sparre and the Saturday Society, i.e. a group formed by students and teachers of the University of Helsinki in the 1830s, enjoy the restaurant's food.
According to Kallioi, the walls of the building have seen everything. In one cabinet, the Finnish markka was created.
Cocktail parties were once held in the cabinet named after Mannerheim, where the painter gave the toast Albert Edelfelt. At the time of Prohibition, the gentry were led out by means of secret doors when the inspector arrived. Now Mannerheim's old table stands in the middle of the room.
In the 1990s, the restaurant's popularity waned and the building began to fall into disrepair. The last entrepreneur in the restaurant before Airi Kallio was Mika Hult. The house was left empty when the restaurant filed for bankruptcy in 2019.
The cabinet had a total of fifteen layers of wallpaper. The seventh layer of wallpaper was excavated by steaming. The secret door was used at the time of prohibition.
According to Kallioi, the oven in the cabinet is from the Iris factory in Porvoo.
Opening ceremony this marks the end of the approximately two and a half year restoration project. The furniture and things will probably be looking for their place for years to come.
In the 19th century, the restaurant included a hall, cabinets, kitchen and veranda. At first, the Kalliots intended to preserve only the parts of Cajsa's time.
“Then I realized
that we don't have enough customer places,” says Airi Kallio.
It was also decided to restore the rotunda, i.e. a large semicircular hall built in 1929.
Now Cajsan Helme has 216 customer seats inside, two hundred more on the terrace in the summer.
The Rotunda was originally built in 1929.
The painting on the ceiling of the bar was moved there from the ceiling of the Rotunda. At least a chandelier and a disco ball have hung in the middle of it.
According to Leo Kallio, the chandelier in the bar room is Murano glass.
Restored the building is full of details, all of which have their own history.
Rotunda chairs? From the Helsinki Labor College from the 1920s. Received as a donation.
Topelius hall cabinet? From the demolished Seurahuone in Porvoo. Received as a donation.
Speaker box? The former DJ booth, which has been left as a memory from the restaurant's disco times. Decorated with hand-painted floral patterns.
Leo Kallio shows how, at one stage of the project, the rotunda was just a hole in the ground.
A pile of glass bottles was found under the floor of the restaurant's liquor register. Some of the bottles were identified as DOM Benedictine liqueur, which can also be found in Akseli Gallen-Kallela's painting entitled “Symposion” (1894).
Topelius hall is decorated with two old kilns in the corners. The massive cabinet is from Seurahuone in Porvoo.
“This one has been an extremely difficult project for us in every way”, says Leo Kallio.
That's a lot to say, because the Kallioi family business has previously restored the restaurant Kappel in Loviisa to its 19th-century look and the Tea-ja kaffihuone Helme in Porvoo to its 18th-century look.
When the structures started to be opened, it became apparent that the building is almost in danger of collapsing. Eighty percent of the foundations had to be new.
Almost two million euros have been spent on the building, and the original budget was doubled. The schedule stretched.
Leo Kallio presents how the kitchen technology, such as ventilation and pipes, has been renewed.
The porcelain dishes on display were collected by Airi Kallio.
About the restoration The rocks have been under a lot of stress. We had to worry about whether the money and the workers would be enough. The project has attracted a lot of interest from outsiders, and the Kalliots know that not everyone will like the change.
Maybe at midsummer you can take a breather and pull together everything that has been accomplished.
Can't yet. A week before the opening, the floors are polished. The curtains have to be hung, the pastries put in the display cases and the green plants in place. Leo Kallio's job is to make sure there are enough dishes and cutlery.
On the ceiling of the rotunda is a sky of clouds hand-painted by a French painter. The sharp-sighted can spot the painter's self-portrait on the spot in the direction shown by Airi Kallio.
Airi Kallio turns 71 during the opening week. He points out that Cajsan Helmi will not go anywhere after he or his children die, now that it has been fixed.
He finds it interesting to think about which of the restaurant's customers will be remembered in the future. For example, who could fill Edelfelt's shoes as speaker?
Perhaps even Cajsa's spirit will have enough to follow for decades to come.
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