Sushibar+Wine will open a new restaurant on the ground floor of Iso Omena shopping center in Espoo on the 11th of October. At the same time, Matti Sarkkinen, who was awarded as ‘Restaurant Entrepreneur of the Year’ together with Anders Westerholm, will become the CEO of Sushibar+Wine and Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamo’s restaurant will close its doors.
Sushibar+Wine, which expanded its operations to Oslo in the middle of the pandemic, is strengthening its position at home and bringing responsible, handmade sushi to the ground floor of Iso Omena shopping center. The new restaurant will open on Monday, October 11th, 2021. One week earlier, the operations at Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamo will be closed. Matti Sarkkinen, an award-winning We Are Group entrepreneur, will be named as the subsidiaries CEO.
“When we embarked on the path of internationalization, we thought that our new restaurant openings would be abroad, but sometimes there are opportunities that we do not want to miss,” states the new CEO Matti Sarkkinen.
“Once upon a time, when we met with Matti in the summer before high school, we both lived with our parents in Espoo. For a decade or so, we’ve been looking at opportunities, and now the stars are finally in the right position”, states entrepreneur colleague Anders Westerholm.
Sushibar+Wine invests heavily in sustainability; achieving, as the first Finnish sushi restaurant, MSC and ASC certificates for sustainable seafood, as well as the Ekokompassi certificate for long-term sustainability work. In addition, Sushibar+Wine is the first carbon-neutral sushi restaurant in both Finland and Norway.
“Our team has done some hard work and bold decisions throughout the pandemic, and these actions are in line with our values. From now on, I will proudly give my daily attention to the Sushibar+Wine restaurants. Continuous development has been in our blood since the beginning, and I am excited to take this beloved concept to the next level yet again”, reflects Matti Sarkkinen.
Studio Joanna Laajisto is responsible for the interior design of the new Sushibar+Wine restaurant. The bright restaurant, with large windows typical for the concept, is located next to the main entrance at the metro end of the shopping center. The space is spread out on two floors and has its own entrance.
“We wanted to create an authentic ground floor restaurant with its own atmosphere inside of a shopping center. It was great to get to localize the classic Scandinavian style that we have created for Sushibar+Wine and that was originally designed for conquering Oslo. Next summer, a cozy outdoor terrace will be created in front of Iso Omena’s restaurant to add to the atmosphere”, says Joanna Laajisto, one of Finland’s most respected interior architects.
Sushibar+Wine Iso Omena is a ground floor restaurant with 50 seats, the restaurant will be located right next to the main entrance of the metro end at the Iso Omena shopping center in Espoo. Sushibar+Wine has five restaurants in the Helsinki metropolitan area and two in Oslo. The restaurant will be open every day of the week from lunch to dinner and will also deliver food through Wolt, Foodora and its own delivery service. CEO Matti Sarkkinen is a founding partner of the We Are Group restaurant group together with Anders Westerholm. The entrepreneur pair was just awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year award in the restaurant category at the Pro2021 gala, and Sushibar+Wine made it to the finals in the sustainability category.
REKRY!
Additional information and contacts:
Anders Westerholm
anders@we-are.fi
0445292399
Matti Sarkkinen
matti@we-are.fi
0445348302
Photos (Joonas Ojala): Linkki
