MAY 2011 FEATURE

Spotlight on Baltic Capitals

By Monique Burns
There must be something in the water. What else could explain the cultural surge along the Baltic’s broad blue reaches? In the great Scandinavian capitals—Copenhagen, Helsinki and Stockholm—art, architecture and design reign supreme. In 2012, Helsinki takes center stage as the World Design Capital. Elsewhere on the Baltic, Estonia’s capital city of Tallinn showcases its artistry as a 2011 European Capital of Culture.

Copenhagen
For decades, Copenhagen has been on Europe’s art and design radar. Consider architect Arne Jacobsen, who created Europe’s first design hotel, Copenhagen’s 1960 Radisson Blu Royal (www.radissonblu.com), and Jørn Utzon, who designed the Sydney Opera House. Think writers like Hans Christian Andersen, who created Copenhagen’s iconic Little Mermaid, and Isak Dinesen, who penned Out of Africa. And don’t forget Bodum crystal, George Jensen silverware, and Royal Copenhagen china, whose refurbished flagship store recently opened on pedestrian-only Strøget.
Today, Copenhagen’s cuisine is causing the biggest stir. This year, the city’s restaurants netted 11 Michelin stars, more than any Scandinavian city. At two-star Noma (www.noma.dk) in Christianshavn, Chef René Redzepi creates new Nordic cuisine using fresh local ingredients like halibut, musk ox and berries. Rasmus Kofoed, who won the prestigious 2011 Bocuse d’Or gold medal, has opened Geranium2 (www.geranium2.dk) in Østerbro. In hip Norrebrø, northwest of downtown, visitors can find moderately priced Restaurant Relæ (www.restaurant-relae.dk), whose chef Christian Puglisi made the Wall Street Journal’s Top 10 list this year.
Copenhagen’s hotels are also booming. Opening this month in the new Ørestad district is Copenhagen’s largest hotel, 814-room Bella Sky Comwell (www.bellaskyhotel.com), with red, purple and green accents enhanced with native ash and oak. The country’s first theme hotel, colorful, 396-room Tivoli Hotel (www.tivolihotel.com) opened in July 2010, not far from famed Tivoli Gardens. The 12-room Copenhagen Living (www.cphliving.com), Denmark’s first floating hotel, hit the scene in 2009.
West of downtown, the former meat-packing and red-light district of Vesterbro now has trendy galleries, shops and restaurants like Mikkeller brew pub (www.mikkeller.dk) and Karriere (www.karriere.dk), with a moving bar counter and other art installations. The third branch of Meyer’s Deli (www.meyersdeli.dk) opened here last spring. Copenhagen City Museum (www.kbhbymuseum.dk) offers Vesterbro audio tours.
The cOPENhagen Card, offering free entry to 60 museums and attractions, plus free public transport, starts at 33 euros (about $46). Each October, on Copenhagen’s Night of Culture (www.kulturnattan.dk), visit 200 museums and cultural venues for 10 euros (about $14). For more information, visit www.visitcopenhagen.com and www.visitdenmark.com.

Helsinki
Helsinki has its share of fine restaurants and trendy cafés, serving both traditional and new Nordic cuisine. It’s also known for music, from traditional offerings at the Finnish National Opera to hit songs like “F-F-F-Falling” and “Sail Away” by Rasmus, one of many rock and metal bands. Architecture and design have been this city’s calling cards since 1875, when the world’s second-oldest design trade organization, Design Forum Finland, was established. Creations by early 20th-century architects Alvar Aalto and Eliel Saarinen helped the city gain further recognition from the Thirties to the Seventies, and today it continues with Helsinki’s recent designation as 2012 World Design Capital.
Integrating design into virtually every area of life, the city itself is a veritable museum of architecture. Columned neoclassical buildings with green copper-domed roofs surround Senate Square. Elsewhere, the city boasts Northern Europe’s largest concentration of Art Nouveau buildings, including Eliel Saarinen’s majestic Helsinki Central Rail Station. Modernistic Functionalist buildings include Alvar Aalto’s marble-sheathed Finlandia Hall.
Helsinki’s Design District (www.designdistrict.fi) has 200 galleries, design studios, shops, restaurants and design hotels on 25 streets in the center city. At the Design Forum (www.designforum.fi), see and shop for both classic and new products, from vases to passport cases. The Design Museum (www.designmuseum.fi) houses 75,000 objects, 40,000 drawings and 100,000 images. For 2011, the annual Helsinki Design Week (www.helsinkidesignweek.com), is slated for September 9-18 with special events and exhibits. The Helsinki Card (www.helsinkicard.fi) is available for 35 euros (about $50), providing free entry to major museums and sights, and free public transport.
Visit www.visithelsinki.fi, www.wdc2012helsinki.fi and www.visitfinland.com for more information.

Stockholm
From Orrefors crystal to hip IKEA furnishings, from Camilla Norrback’s eco-friendly garments to Odd Molly blue jeans, Sweden—and its capital Stockholm—is a design paradise. What other city can claim to have the world’s longest art exhibit,—the Stockholm Metro,—with nearly 70 miles of sculptures, mosaics, paintings and other installations?
Since the days of 19th-century playwright/novelist August Strindberg and the 1901 awarding of the first Nobel Prize, the literary arts also have flourished here. Today, the Stockholm Museum (www.stadsmuseum.stockholm.se) offers a 90-minute Millennium Tour, visiting sites from the best-selling Stieg Larsson trilogy—The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked Over the Hornet’s Nest.
There are many Millennium sites to be found on Södermalm Island, south of Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s Old Town. Among the many fashion and design shops is 60-year-old Konsthantverkarnas Förening (www.konsthantverkarna.se), Stockholm’s oldest and largest handicraft shop, with pottery, glass, wood, silver and textiles. Södermalm’s SoFo, south of Folkungagatan street, is a hip haven of galleries, cafés, and eateries like Nytorget Urban Deli (www.urbandeli.org) and bohemian Roxy (www.roxysofo.se), where three female restaurateurs serve up multicultural cuisine like Spanish parrillada with grilled meat and chorizos.
Downtown, not far from the harborside Radisson Blu Strand Hotel (www.radissonblu.com) is Michelin two-star Mathias Dahlgren (www.mathiasdahlgren.com) in the landmark 1874 Grand Hôtel (www.grandhotel.se). In Gamla Stan, try two-star Frantzén/Lindeberg (www.frantzen-lindeberg.com), where unusual ingredients like pollen and violets often accompany main courses.
The Stockholm Card offers free admission to 80 museums and attractions, free public transport, and free or discounted boat, bike and city tours, beginning at 425 SEK (about $65).
Learn more by visiting www.visitsweden.com, www.visitstockholm.com and www.stockholmtown.com

Tallinn- Estonia — By Jeanine Barone
Tallinn may have spent centuries under foreign rule—most recently under the Soviets—but since Estonia declared its independent in 1991, the capital city is making up for lost time by frantically developing its stylish identity. Not far from the defensive towers and Gothic churches are fashionable boutique properties, fusion restaurants, urbane wine bars and edgy art.
One of the most curiously named restaurants, Ö (www.restoran-o.ee), which means island in Swedish, serves up Euro cuisine that’s heavy on Scandinavian and Estonian products. Diners can select from among delicacies that include smoked quail with mustard sauce and rabbit filet served with a creamy cèpe sauce. Past tall cast iron gates, another restaurant, Egoist (www.egoist.ee), said to be the most expensive in the city, is housed in a centuries-old mansion that’s detailed with antiques galore. Elevant, a cozy eatery with Asian accents, (www.elevant.ee) specializes in fusion Indian cuisine that includes, among the myriad curry dishes, some unusual offerings, such as moose curry.
Oenophiles will be more than satisfied with Negossiant Vinoteek (www.negossiant.ee), a wine bar and shop stocked with selections from all over the world, including some rare bottles. With its warren of cozy stone rooms and vintage furnishings, it’s hard to find a more romantic venue than the Gloria Wine Bar (www.gloria.ee).
Despite the city’s medieval roots, Tallinn has a vibrant art and design scene. The city’s vanguard institution is the modernist Kumu Art Museum (www.ekm.ee), a glass, copper, brick and concrete ensemble that is built into a limestone cliff and displays contemporary and classic art. Set in a 17th century building, the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (www.etdm.ee) exhibits an array of contemporary works by local artists, which can include textiles, product design, jewelry, ceramics and furniture.
Three 14th century merchant houses serve as the home of Three Sisters (www.threesistershotel.com), a boutique hotel that mixes old and new. No two rooms are alike, with some complete with a claw foot tub and a four-poster bed. Another accommodation, the Hotel Telegraaf (www.telegraafhotel.com), is aptly named for the 19th century telegraph building where it occupies. Relaxation is de rigueur here, whether you swim in their heated pool or relish a Tibetan massage in their day spa. For more information, visit www.tourism.tallinn.ee