Tales Wine Bar — Storytelling Next to Teller

How to Complete

4 steps curated by Wine Memories

1. 📜 1

   Read the Three Lives Written Into These Walls

   history Free

   📍 WHERE: Stand outside Arkadiankatu 14 and look at the curved row of windows, the century-old stonework, and the entrance to Restaurant Teller next door at Fredrikinkatu 71.

   💡 WHAT: This building has told three completely different stories. First it was KOP Bank — Kansallis-Osake-Pankki — founded in 1889 by Finnish nationalists who wanted banking available in their own language. For a century it competed to be Finland's largest bank before merging into what is now Nordea. Then came Record Store X, one of Finland's most beloved record chains. Then Top Chef Finland 2012 winner Teemu Laurell and his partner Lennart Sukapää opened Restaurant Teller in March 2024 — naming it after the bank clerk, the person who handles transactions and tells stories. And in January 2026 they added Tales next door: the wine bar where the teller's stories are served with a glass. The owners put it best on Teller's website: "within these walls, two iconic storytellers have already served: KOP Bank and Record Store X." You're about to become the third.

   🎯 HOW: Spend five minutes outside before you go in. Look at the architecture — built in the early 20th century during the same era KOP was cementing Finnish banking identity. Then walk into Tales knowing you're standing in the middle of a century-long Helsinki pun.

   🔄 BACKUP: If you can't read Finnish, the story is the same in every language. The curved windows are unmistakable.

   🍷 Log Memory
2. 🍷 2

   Ask Sommelier Heidi Reis's List for a 'Distinctive Discovery'

   wine $$

   📍 WHERE: At your table or at the bar — Tales has ~50 seats. No reservation needed; walk-ins are a deliberate part of the concept.

   💡 WHAT: The wine list at Tales is curated by sommelier Heidi Reis — the same mind responsible for Restaurant Teller's acclaimed wine program next door. She draws from two sources: wines Laurell and Sukapää import through their own company, and carefully chosen external partners. The list is split into 'timeless classics' and 'distinctive discoveries.' The classics are there for safety. The discoveries are why you came. Helsinki wine prices: expect €10–15 per glass for the interesting stuff.

   🎯 HOW: When you sit down, tell whoever's pouring that you want something from the 'distinctive discoveries' side of the list — not a classic, not a safe choice. The wines sourced through their own import operation are particularly worth asking about: these aren't Alko shelf staples, they're wines Laurell and Sukapää specifically went to find. The non-alcoholic selections are also first-class here — if you want to try one, do it without embarrassment, they're treated as seriously as the wine.

   🔄 BACKUP: If you can't communicate the 'discoveries' ask, just say you want something European that's a little surprising. The list leans European throughout.

   🍷 Log Memory
3. ⛰️ 3

   Order the Bread Helsinki Press Called the City's Most Indulgent

   adventure $

   📍 WHERE: Tales' open kitchen — food is prepared in Teller's kitchen next door and finished in Tales' display prep area, visible to guests.

   💡 WHAT: Restaurant Teller's brioche bread was already a signature. For Tales, the team developed a new version: dipped in a garlic-parsley glaze and baked. Finnish press — Helsingin Uutiset, Avecmedia — reviewed it and landed on the same word: 'tuhminta' — which translates to 'most indulgent' or 'naughtiest.' Juomaposti called it a 'surprising bread delicacy' in their opening review headline. This is not restaurant bread. This is bread with intent. It costs almost nothing and sets the tone for the whole visit.

   🎯 HOW: Order it early — as soon as you sit. It arrives from the display kitchen, visibly glazed. Eat it with whatever discovery glass you ordered in Step 2. The contrast between a bold European wine and serious garlic bread in a Töölö wine bar is the exact casual magic this place was built for.

   🔄 BACKUP: If the bread is sold out (unlikely), anything from the small plates menu is designed to share and pair with wine rather than anchor a formal meal.

   🍷 Log Memory
4. ⛰️ 4

   Walk Into a Top Chef Winner's Wine Bar Without a Reservation

   Optional

   adventure Free

   📍 WHERE: The front door of Tales Wine Bar, Arkadiankatu 14, Etu-Töölö — any Tuesday through Saturday from 4pm onwards. No booking required.

   💡 WHAT: Restaurant Teller next door requires advance reservations. Tales was built as the opposite — the place you end up on a Tuesday evening because you were in the neighbourhood. Teemu Laurell won Finnish Top Chef in 2012. He and Lennart Sukapää ran Shelter for eight years at Kanavaranta (one of Helsinki's best harbour-side restaurants). Then they built Teller, which rocketed to the top of Helsinki's restaurant scene in 2024. And then they opened a casual walk-in wine bar next door in January 2026, because not every great evening needs to be planned. This is a Michelin-adjacent team that deliberately made a place for unplanned Tuesdays. The neighbourhood — Etu-Töölö — is not a tourist zone. It's where Helsinki people live. You walking in without a plan is exactly what they built this for.

   🎯 HOW: Just show up. Aim for 5–7pm on weekdays (before it fills) or commit to the full Friday/Saturday run until midnight. If you're in Töölö for any other reason — Sibelius Park, Finlandia Hall, Temppeliaukio church — Tales is a natural end point. The walk-in culture is part of the concept, not a fallback.

   🔄 BACKUP: If it's genuinely full, book ahead via TableOnline (tableonline.fi/en/helsinki/tales-wine-bar/1720) — but this scenario is specifically more satisfying without a plan.

   🍷 Log Memory