El Fant Cafe & Bar by Yatofu
Located in the heart of Helsinki's Old Town, El Fant Café & Bar by Yatofu finds its home in Torikorttelit, a historic district known for its 18th-century architecture, cobblestone streets, and proximity to iconic landmarks like the Helsinki Cathedral and the City Museum.
Here, nestled among Michelin-starred restaurants and artisanal boutiques, El Fant cultivates a deeply local sensibility, an homage to Finnish craftsmanship and community.
The café presents a quiet study in texture and tone, with its material palette anchored by Finnish pine sourced from the forests of Northern Finland. This choice, deliberate and culturally grounded, forms the backbone of the design. Four-centimetre-thick pine boards line the café and define its furnishings, all custom-built in collaboration with Puutamo, the woodworking studio led by young female carpenter Eveliina Ylönen. The result is a warm, tactile setting where the grain of the wood tells a story of heritage, purity, and endurance.
Rather than relying on decorative artifice, the design invites a slower reading of detail and intent. Surfaces remain largely unadorned, emphasizing form and craftsmanship. Tables and seating, carved with subtle irregularities, speak to a handmade quality that embraces imperfection as authenticity. Built-in elements in galvanized steel, produced with Helsinki-based metal studio Paja&Bureau, add quiet structure and contrast, their industrial sheen softened by the raw texture of wood.
Yatofu's approach is less about spectacle and more about presence. There is a studied calm to the layout, which offers open sightlines and shared tables to encourage mingling, conversation, and an unhurried rhythm of use. Here, the interior acts as a host: relaxed, contemporary, and deeply aware of its roots.
Throughout, the narrative is one of continuity between generations, between urban modernity and rural craft. By choosing to work exclusively with young Finnish artisans, Yatofu embeds a future-facing sensibility within the walls of El Fant, drawing on local talent to reinterpret traditions through a present-day lens.
In its simplicity, El Fant becomes more than a café. It's a gesture of quiet optimism, an architectural affirmation of community, material honesty, and the enduring relevance of craft in contemporary life.
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