Tales Wine Bar: Stories on the Bank-Hall Corner

Tales is a walk-in wine bar at Arkadiankatu 14 in Helsinki's Etu-Töölö, opened in January 2026 by Teemu Laurell and Lennart Sukapää, the owners of Restaurant Teller next door. Teller fills a former bank hall in a building completed in 1921, and the names are an English pair: a teller tells tales. Teller says KOP Bank and a record shop came before it. Sommelier Heidi Reis writes a list of European wines; at opening a glass cost €10 to about €20, alcohol-free wine from €9. You can walk Arkadiankatu from Paasikivi's monument, read the corner, then sit at the open-kitchen counter for the garlic brioche.

What to do there

4 things to do

1. 1 Read Paasikivi's Line Where the Theatre Stood History · Free

   Free, outdoors: the street's name and the bank's president, then a walk west.

   Start where the street got its name.

   Where: Paasikiven aukio, at the east end of Arkadiankatu.

   What: Arkadiankatu is named after the Arkadia villa area and the Arkadia theatre, which stood here from 1861 to 1908; the Finnish Theatre played in it until 1902. The theatre was pulled down in 1908 and the Hankkija house went up on the site. In front of it stand two black granite stones, East and West, Harry Kivijärvi's memorial to J. K. Paasikivi, unveiled in 1980. Find the line cut in the pedestal: "Tosiasioiden tunnustaminen on viisauden alku", acknowledging the truth is the beginning of wisdom. Paasikivi was president of Kansallis-Osake-Pankki, KOP, from 1914 to 1934: carry the bank's name to step 2.

   How: free, outdoors, any time. Then walk west along Arkadiankatu, about 425 m, to Arkadiankatu 14.

   Backup: the Arkadiankatu bridge over the Baana is being rebuilt; cross on the temporary footbridge beside it.

   Log Memory
2. 2 Read the Corner from Malmstén's Park History · Free

   Free, across the street: two doors, one building, and what the house says about it.

   Read the corner before you go in.

   Where: Malmsténinkulma, the small park on the corner of Arkadiankatu and Fredrikinkatu, about 54 m from the Tales door.

   What: the red granite slab with a round bronze medal is the memorial to Georg Malmstén (1902–1981), unveiled in 1992. Across the street stands the building completed in 1921. Find two doors: Restaurant Teller at Fredrikinkatu 71, in a former circular banking hall, and Tales at Arkadiankatu 14. Teller says KOP Bank and a record shop served within its walls before it, and points to the curved row of windows. The record chain Äx opened its first Helsinki shop on this corner in spring 2008. Now say the names aloud: teller is English, a bank clerk and a storyteller, and tales are stories. The Finnish for a bank teller is pankkivirkailija.

   How: free, from the street, any time.

   Backup: none needed.

   Log Memory
3. 3 Take a Counter Seat at the Open Kitchen Adventure · Free

   Walk in, no booking, and sit where the food from Teller's kitchen is finished.

   Walk in and sit where the food is finished.

   Where: Tales, Arkadiankatu 14, from 16:00 Tuesday to Saturday.

   What: most tables are kept for walk-ins, so you need no booking. Ask for a seat at the bar counter, which surrounds the open kitchen: food is prepared in Teller's kitchen next door and finished here. The house bread is Teller's brioche with a cream-cheese filling, dipped in a garlic-parsley glaze and baked; sous chef Katri Häkkilä calls it "sellainen ihana garlic bread". Watch one being finished, and order it if you like.

   How: sitting at the counter costs nothing; food is extra, priced on the menu.

   Backup: if the counter is full, take any walk-in table; to be sure of a seat, book through the link on taleswinebar.fi or call 010 207 3000.

   Log Memory
4. 4 Ask Which Glass Came In Through the Owners' Own Imports Wine · Price: moderate

   One sommelier's list for two rooms; ask for a wine the owners brought in themselves.

   Ask for a glass from the owners' own imports.

   Where: at your seat in Tales.

   What: sommelier Heidi Reis writes the wines at Tales and the list at Teller. The Tales list focuses on European wines: some the owners import themselves, the rest mainly from small importers. Ask which wines tonight came in through the owners' own imports, and take a glass of one. Reis says she chose ecologically and socially sustainable wines to bring out the makers behind them.

   How: at opening in January 2026 a glass cost from €10 to about €20.

   Backup: alcohol-free wine from €9 a glass, or a tea-based drink; alcohol-free drinks can also be bought to take away.

   Log Memory

Insider tips

• Teller next door is a separate restaurant with its own hours, Monday–Friday 17.00–24.00 and Saturday 14.00–24.00, closed Sunday; Time Out calls booking there almost essential, while Tales keeps most tables for walk-ins.

• Tales opens Tuesday to Saturday only; no hours are published for Sunday or Monday.

• The record chain Äx opened its first Helsinki shop on this corner in spring 2008; its Kamppi shop is now at Fredrikinkatu 59.

• Alcohol-free drinks can be bought to take away; Sukapää says one corner waits for the day the law lets them sell all wines that way.