Hel, yes: Finnish showcase pops up

London – Campsite chic, foraged food and a grouping of Wild Things come together at a temporary restaurant showcasing Finnish food and design this month. Hel Yes!, the pop-up project, has been organised by Helsinki restaurateur Antto Melasniemi with designers Mia Wallenius and Klaus Haapaniemi to serve as a Finnish pavilion, of sorts, during the London Design Festival.

Alongside classic pieces by design houses Iittala and Artek, Hel Yes! will include new furniture, lighting and clothes by fashion designer Heikki Salonen, interior/furniture designer Linda Bergroth, sculptor/video artist Maria Duncker, and furniture and product designer Harri Koskinen. In true Rurban style, most of the ingredients used in the restaurant’s meals will be foraged from around London.

More than a place in which to eat, drink and be merry, the two-week installation, backed by the Finnish Institute in London, demonstrates a clever way to wield soft power and extend brand reach – way out of Hel.

Hel Yes! will run from 15 September to 3 October 2010.