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Chef from Lapland Reinvents the Dining Experience: You Can Begin Your Evening in the Sauna.
In Lapland, true luxury is not loud. It is quiet, elemental, and rooted in rituals that have shaped our culture for centuries. When I, Sirly Ylläsjärvi, created Restaurant Elsa, my vision was not only to build a fine dining destination in the Arctic—it was to redefine what a complete culinary experience in Finland could be.
RAUHÁ embodies that vision.
Originally built in 1994, the smoke sauna and cabin had stood untouched for years, holding within them a quiet strength that only time can create. When I restored the building, I didn’t simply reopen a sauna. I revived a cultural sequence that is deeply Finnish: first you cleanse, then you gather, and only after that do you sit down to eat. It is a rhythm that prepares the mind and the senses for something meaningful.
RAUHÁ offers guests the opportunity to begin their evening the way Finns have always prepared for celebration—through heat, stillness and renewal. The smoke sauna, the electric sauna and the warm outdoor pool create a calm that aligns perfectly with the dining philosophy at Elsa.
Because at Elsa, our ambition is clear:
to bring the world’s northernmost Michelin recognition to Lapland, and to do so through the purity of our ingredients, the integrity of our craft and the stories our land holds.
Experiencing RAUHÁ before dinner elevates the entire evening. The body relaxes, the mind sharpens, and the guest becomes fully present—ready to appreciate a tasting menu shaped by Lapland’s seasons, light, and silence. This is not a pre-activity. It is part of the story. A prologue that makes the main chapters resonate more deeply.
For guests who seek authenticity without sacrificing elegance, RAUHÁ and Elsa together form a concept found nowhere else in the world:a Finnish fine dining journey that begins in the sauna and culminates at the table.
