Yet Another Restaurant Day!

Yesterday was Restaurant Day (Feb.17th) or in Finnish - 'Ravintola P�iv��.'
The point of Restaurant Day is to sell food of your making or to experience little pop-up caf�s/restaurants for 1 day.  Restaurant Day occurs four times a year and I think it's a great way for people to share food from their culture - especially if they are foreigners!  In a small city like Jyv�skyl� (compared to Helsinki or Tampere), the amount of foreign food is very limited at restaurants and we do not have a North American-style bakery!  

Yesterday was my "one-year anniversary" of selling for Restaurant Day as "Hooked On Sweets" and I hosted it outside for the first time.  Normally I set up my shop in a yarn store (permission required) called Poppeli.  

But recently Restaurant Day has been alternating between Saturdays and Sundays and because yesterday was a Sunday - Poppeli was closed!

What was I going to do?!

Well, I decided to set up on a long red bench located in downtown Jyv�skyl�!  There was no permission required and the police didn't swing by until the last 10 minutes of my selling!   They sat a few meters away facing me in their super-obvious-it's-a-ghost-vehicle (aka solid grey and same shape as their vans) and didn't leave until I did!

I drew a sign clearly stating that it was Restaurant Day and people have been very welcoming of me selling at a downtown location.

I offered take-away only - although the bench was so long, anyone could have sat there to enjoy their goodies!  However, sitting on a metal bench during a windy February day might not be ideal!

I get asked a lot of questions during my times of selling and they're all pretty good questions, that you as a foreigner probably experience all the time!

1. How long have you lived in Finland for?
2. Why do you live in Finland?
3. What part of Canada are you from?
4. Did you bake this all yourself?
5. Do you make any profit off of this?
6. How do I set up a caf� myself?
7. I bought ___ pieces - can I have some thing for free?

1-3.  I've lived in Finland for 4 years and moved here because my husband is studying to do his phD here (also a Canadian).  We're from Nova Scotia - home of Ellen Page (actress - Juno and Inception) and Sidney Crosby (a hockey player that no Finn seems to know of but is supposed to be the next Gretzky), the blueberry capital of Canada, home of Jost Winery and we have a lot of humidity too.

4.  Yes I baked everything myself - I take about 2 days to bake everything and try to make it as fresh as possible for Restaurant Day.

5.  It is possible to make profit depending on what your prices are like.  As a stay-at-home mother currently, waiting to study Finnish intensively, this is my only source of income that I can make independently.  I also think that asking if profit and how much of it is being made is quite intrusive because it's really no different than asking, "How much do you make?"  It's not something I would ask another person - let alone a pop-up-caf� owner.  Then again, curiosity killed the cat...

6.  You can set up a caf� yourself once every 3 months and you must register on the Restaurant Day site (listed below) in advance.  I strongly encourage it because it's a great way to educate others about food from your country and if there aren't any regular businesses that sell food from your country - it's a great way to see if there is potential to open a business some day!!

7.  I don't know why this is becoming a common trend and the people asking me this have been Finns.  I don't think it's fair to ask for free food because this certainly would not work at a restaurant or any shop..."Can I have a free pair of sneakers since I bought a pair and some socks for my kids?"  Yep, sounds ridiculous as you asking me (or any other Restauranteur) for free food because you chose to buy X-amount of food.  Not that I do not appreciate your business - but I certainly don't enjoy being asked for my hard work to be given away.

One thing that was pointed out to me several times by customers - both new and regular visitors to Hooked On Sweets - was that there were not many restaurants set up yesterday in Jyv�skyl�.  And there wasn't - perhaps because of the colder weather or because it was on a Sunday - I'm not sure why.  In fact, there were two places that were registered that were already restaurants/caf�s prior to Restaurant Day.

Yes, they were promoting new foods or discounts for the special day but a lot of comments received from my customers were that it was not fair to the one-day restaurants that were open because they are open everyday of the week (minimum five days) and Restaurant Day is not like that at all.

Looking at the Restaurant Day map now, the day after, those two registered businesses are no longer listed on the map even though the other pop-up caf�s are.

As long as you respect the property you're selling from and clean up after yourself - it's pretty much a green light to sell anywhere.

For more information and rules - check out Restaurant Day's site.  They are also listed on Facebook but you register yourself via the website.

So take advantage of this oppourtunity, have fun and share your culture and love of food!!