Fratello Torrefazione

Finland’s first syphon bar sits inside this Kluuvi café opposite the University of Helsinki, where Kaffa Roastery beans run through espresso, filter and the glass.

Kaffa beans and a syphon bar

Coffee is the clearest reason to notice Fratello Torrefazione. Espresso and filter come from Kaffa Roastery, while the house takes the coffee further through methods including syphon brewing, and that syphon bar is the first of its kind in Finland. It is the order to build a visit around.

Beyond it the drinks list stays approachable: flat white and iced Americano are the regular calls, breakfast sets come with filter coffee or tea, and matcha turns up in the Vihreä smoothie with spinach, avocado, yuzu and apple juice. Wine and beer sit on the same list, which is what makes the café Italian-inspired rather than a narrow espresso bar.

Breakfast sets, schiacciata and a full lunch plate

The kitchen is broad. Breakfast is built around named sets: Pikkubreku pairs a croissant or bun with cheese or avocado, a fresh component such as yogurt, chia pudding, porridge or smoothie, and filter coffee or tea. Schiacciata-breku swaps in Torren schiacciata bread with a chosen filling and keeps the same structure.

Lunch is a fuller plate. It opens with a fresh salad plus bread and spreads, the bread baked on site and served with browned butter, tapenade and rotating cream-cheese or vegetable spreads. Mains run to crispy chicken salad, tomato-vodka pasta with giant shrimp or with halloumi, and a schiacciata sandwich with an antipasto side salad. Salads add Caesar with chicken or smoked salmon, goat cheese, and a vegan Mö Chavre version, while the sandwiches come as mozzarella, Parma-mozzarella, mushroom-truffle and chicken-Caesar schiacciata.

Order the syphon, then stay for gelato

Start at the coffee bar. A flat white or iced Americano will do the job, but the syphon is the thing this room had before anywhere else in the country, so take that if it is running.

Then widen out. Pastries, cakes and gelato give the sweet end, and the Kluuvi setting beside the university library explains who the café is for: students on a break, shoppers with an hour, and anyone who wants a lunch plate rather than a pastry. It is a daytime room, Italian in reference and coffee-led in practice.