Cappelli

Brief Information

The name Kappeli means “chapel,” although the place did not begin with a church, but with a small kiosk selling pastries and lemonade on the Esplanade. The stall resembled a church building, and the nickname outlived the structure itself: when the dilapidated kiosk was replaced by a restaurant, the old name remained. That is why at Kappeli it is important to read not only the sign, but also the origin of the form: the restaurant grew out of a pavilion that was first remembered for its silhouette.

Popularity quickly changed the building. In 1880–1881, wooden pavilions with a veranda were added to the restaurant, and in 1891 the temporary sections were replaced with metal and glass. Thus the history of the place is visible as a movement from a light kiosk to a more permanent urban structure, but with a pavilion logic: Kappeli remained a restaurant in the park, not an ordinary house on the street.

What to notice first

It makes sense to compare three groups of details: the glass-and-metal parts of the building, the artworks inside, and the bandstand in front of the restaurant. Metal and glass appeared in place of the former wooden pavilions when the restaurant ceased to be a temporary extension and acquired a sturdier appearance. The artistic details explain Kappeli’s reputation better than a list of famous visitors: artists decorated the walls, paying in this way for their winter Sunday breakfasts.

Inside, what matters most is not the formal titles but the places where the works were located: the medallion of Gambrinus was in the kitchen, the image of a Rouen street is also connected with the kitchen wall, “Seascape” hangs in the bar, and the panorama of Helsinki belongs to the basement wall. In front of the restaurant, the bandstand stands as a separate sign: at first there was a shell here for a military band, and later the current stage was built. Kappeli reads as a restaurant where food, music, and painting literally occupied different parts of the building.