Northern Lights

It was a fruitless search for a televised ice hockey game that inspired a Finnish couple to open their own Scandinavian bar and restaurant in the centre of Brighton – just so they could watch the ice hockey.

Manu Leppanen took over the former site of The Strand in The Lanes five months ago, and opened the new bar and restaurant with his wife Pale Talvensaari eight weeks ago.

It is their first excursion into the food and drink trade, with Manu also working as a physiotherapist, and Pale as a midwife.

From the little details of a framed Thor comic in the gents toilets and the Finnish skis on the wall, to the speciallycommissioned wood and recycled copper bar which dominates downstairs, it is clear Northern Lights is a labour of love.

And there is more to come as the owners are currently transforming the old upstairs restaurant into a comfortable function room and chill-out area.

With the low ceiling, wood fittings, delicately hued walls, and the classic rock and blues music playing softly in the background, the overall feeling you get when you step inside Northern Lights is one of calm and cosiness.

There is a wide selection of Scandinavian beers available, from the more common Danish Tuborg on draft to the lesserknown Swedish Crocodile and Danish Elephant bottled beers.

For vodka-lovers there is a full range of Finlandia vodkas as well as Manu’s own Fisherman’s Friend vodka, which soon clears your sinuses.

The food is very much of the hearty variety.

“We were designing the menu for a long time,” says Manu.

“Our chef Matilda Murback comes from Sweden and has a lot of experience in Scandinavian food.

What we have come up with is traditional Swedish and Finnish food.”

Anyone fearing they might end up eating Rudolph can rest easy, though.

“We did think about having reindeer on the menu, as it is really big in Scandinavia, but one of our English friends said it might be an issue, especially at Christmas,” says Manu.

Among the treats on the menu is Karjalanpiirakka or Carelia pie, which is a cooked rice filling on a thin pastry base, a dish unique to Finland.

And there are also the much-loved Swedish meatballs, served in a brown sauce and accompanied by hasselback potatoes, which are cooked in their skins and covered in golden breadcrumbs (as seen being prepared by Matilda above).

Every Sunday the restaurant hosts a Scandi roast – lamb in a creamy sauce with hasselback potatoes and fresh vegetables.

The menu also features lighter bites, including open sandwiches made with dark rye bread that has been imported specially from Finland.

Although the rye bread and the beer are imported, the rest of the ingredients are sourced locally.

“It is all free range and local,” says Manu.

“We are not a chain. We are not tied to anything so we try to do our own thing.”

That idea comes across in the bar and restaurant’s regular theme nights, which have already included a night dedicated to The Big Lebowski, a Scandinavian pyjama party and a celebration of Norwegian independance, as well as music-themed nights based around John Lennon, Jim Morrison and Scandinavian indie music.

As Manu puts it: “There is a feeling I get that people are a bit fed up with the fun pubs. Ty are almost like going into a MacDonalds now.

We just thought there is nothing else like this here.”

Sample the menu

Light bites
Open sandwiches served with potato salad on a choice of white sourdough bread or Finnish rye bread.

Choice of gravadlax salmon; meatballs and Swedish-style beetroot salad; grilled aubergine and tomato; prawn mayonnaise; or smorgastorten (a Swedish super sandwich deluxe).

All £4.50
Karjalanpiirakka/Carelia pie, £4.50
Smorgasbord – giant open sandwiches for two to six people sharing, from £6
Salads
Choice of vegan pasta, vegetarian Danish blue cheese, ham and pasta or prawn, £5.50
Main Meals Meatballs in brown sauce with hasselback potatoes, £6.90
Pyttipanna (potatoes, ham and egg fried in a pan), £6.90
Creamy potato bake, £6.90
Chicken and lamb hamburger, £7.90
Desserts
Cheesecake, £2.50
Ice cream with a shot of Scandinavian liquor, £3.90

Open from noon to midnight weekdays, noon to 2am weekends