Nolla

The story

Nolla: Helsinki's Zero-Waste Finnish Modern Cuisine Restaurant (Bib Gourmand)

A Philosophy of Transparency

Nolla – Finnish for “zero” – opened in Helsinki with a mission: to denormalise the vices of the industry. Founded by a trio of chefs – Luka Balac, Albert Franch Sunyer, and Carlos Henriques – the restaurant is built on environmental and social responsibility, transparency, and community. Their approach earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2026, a nod to cooking that is both good quality and good value.

Step inside, and the experience feels unassuming. But behind every dish is a radical set of practices. The kitchen avoids single-use plastic, conserves energy, and, most importantly, sources with surgical precision.

Sourcing at the Core

At Nolla, “local” is defined by distance, not geography. Vegetables come from within a 100-kilometre radius, meat from within 200 km, fish from Finnish waters within 250 km, and dairy under 300 km. Most produce is organic, biodynamic, regenerative, wild, or foraged. Only six essential ingredients – salt, coffee, tea, wine, seaweed, and rapeseed oil – arrive from further afield. Even the charcoal is Finnish organic birchwood.

This dedication to place drives a menu that changes eight to ten times a year, following the micro-seasons of Finland. Vegetables and grains make up double the amount of animal protein. Meat – often poultry or game – is purchased whole from local farmers. Fish is never farmed and never endangered. Nothing is wasted; waste is treated as a design flaw, not an afterthought.

About the Menu

The current menu offers a four- or six-course tasting option. Starters might include cured pike perch with blood orange and fermented pumpkin seed dressing, or a beetroot tartare with black walnut cream. Mains range from grilled burbot with roasted carrots and crayfish butter sauce to roasted white-tailed deer with creamy parsnips. Desserts include milk-bread ice cream with coffee oil and black garlic cream.

Wine and non-alcoholic pairings are available, and the kitchen happily accommodates allergies and diets.

Nolla is a restaurant that asks questions – and answers them with every plate. It’s modern Finnish cuisine rooted in responsibility, where the joy of the table and the health of the planet are one and the same.