VinoLippa

VinoLippa puts Spanish wine and carved air-dried ham in one of Helsinki's canopy kiosks, at the edge of an old Kruununhaka park. Lotta Nikkinen owns it with her father Aki Nikkinen. The kiosk follows drawings signed by city architect Hilding Ekelund. It is a summer place; for an indoor wine bar in the same neighbourhood, Wine Bar Klaava is a short walk away.

VinoLippa serves from a small kiosk with a long jutting canopy, the type Helsinki began building in the late 1930s, under the trees of the park. The menu is Spanish: tapas, Spanish wines by the glass, and air-dried ham carved for platters with cheeses, jams, olives and picos crackers. The house also stages music performances, and weekends bring a DJ.

Go in summer. VinoLippa opened at the start of June 2025, and 2026 was its second summer. Most of Helsinki's canopy kiosks may only open from May to September, because their uninsulated pipes would freeze, so outside those months check the house's Instagram, @vinolippa_kiosk, before setting out. Mornings bring breakfast and coffee; weekends bring a DJ.

Prices from the 2025 season: a glass of Spanish wine from just under €10 to €15, depending on the wine and the pour, and a €17 platter of air-dried ham, cheeses, jams, olives and picos crackers. Coffee is the zero-proof choice. Check the day's hours on the house's Instagram (@vinolippa_kiosk) or its Facebook page before setting out.

The kiosk stands at the north-east corner of Liisanpuistikko, where Liisankatu meets Pohjoisranta, beside the Liisanpuistikko bus stop and next to the guest harbour. Tram 7 runs along Liisankatu further west; check current bus routes before setting out. At Hakaniemi Market Square, Alkuviini runs another summer wine kiosk.

VinoLippa is a summer Spanish wine and tapas bar in the canopy kiosk of Liisanpuistikko park in Kruununhaka, Helsinki. A family business runs it. The name plays on two words: vino lippa, Finnish for a slanting canopy, and vino, Spanish for wine. It opened at the start of June 2025 and serves Spanish wines, tapas, coffee and breakfast.

Liisanpuistikko is one of the oldest parks in Helsinki. It appears as Elisabeths Torg on the 1820 plan and has been Liisanpuistikko, Elisabetsskvären in Swedish, since 1928. The post-war plan shows a canopy kiosk on the Pohjoisranta side, and the city's 2007 history of the park records that it follows drawings signed by city architect Hilding Ekelund. The first canopy kiosks, designed by Gunnar Taucher, date from the late 1930s.

Liisanpuistikko holds two kiosks. VinoLippa is the canopy kiosk at the north-east corner by the bus stop. The wooden cube in the same park was designed by architect Johanna Rope after a design competition and opened in May 2004 as Svenska Klubben's outdoor serving point. Ravintola Lippa is a different kiosk, on Mustikkamaa island. The kiosk is a stop on the Hidden Helsinki trail.