Glasshouse Helsinki is proud to include two actual glasshouses in its Aleksanterinkatu store. The glasshouses are filled with examples of the wild herbs that can be found in Helsinki from Lauttasaari to Central Park. The collection is curated by Chef Tallberg.

Tallberg has been the advocate to wild herbs in Finland for years. He says there should be more talk about the herbs and unique Finnish things like everyman’s rights or the right to roam – a concept that makes gathering herbs possible in most places in Finland. “Everyman’s rights should be put on a pedestal”, Tallberg exclaims. On the other hand, Tallberg is happy that more and more people are getting into wild herbs. He does not want to call it a trend since collecting herbs is a tradition that has only been forgotten.

Chef Tallberg is not just advocating; he is a man of action. Tallberg is putting his money where his mouth is by running a wild herb restaurant in the famed Hotelli Punkaharju, in Eastern Finland. 

Tallberg calls is happy to share his tips in his books and on wild herb tours and courses he organizes in Helsinki from time to time. Once you learn from the master, you wake up the hunter gatherer in you. After all, he call wild nature his “garden”. “I always say that a course is two hours, and these two hours will change the rest of your life!” 

And what about those tips? Sami Tallberg’s first tip is that people should be brave and try these wonderful herbs. “The taste of a wild herb can be surprisingly powerful but that is the essence of them. Wild herbs must be strong to survive in the wilderness. The taste is pure nature!”