For one day, our advertising agency became a restaurant. A shared effort, a lot of late-night cooking, and a good cause.
My role
I planned the menu, sourced ingredients, cooked and helped prepare the office for service. I also coordinated practical support from partners, while colleagues handled the event, the space and its identity.
01 · Dine’n Donate
Once the visual identity was ready, Liisa and Ville handled the Restaurant Day registration and Facebook event. DDBistro had a name, a look and a way for people to find us. Then came the less visible work: shopping lists, equipment, preparation and a kitchen that had to fit around an ordinary office.
02 · The website
The event website brought the playful identity together with everything guests needed: the menu, the charity behind the event, opening hours and directions to the office. It introduced DDBistro’s Asian-inspired street food and explained that the proceeds would support UN Women Finland’s work to end violence against women and girls.
03 · Preparation
The night before our Wednesday shopping trip was restless. I kept running through the menu and worrying that, however carefully I planned, something would be missing. Johanna and our intern Otto joined me for the rounds: Vivoan, Heino’s wholesale store and a collection of vegetables we had ordered from Vihannespörssi. There was a little improvisation along the way, but we got what we needed.
The office fridges were big enough for the supplies. The vegetables came home with me so we could start the kimchi in time. Preparation turned into a marathon: it was around one in the morning before we brought it back to the office. We had made about 22 litres. With no car, a blue IKEA bag became our transport. Luckily, I lived nearby.
My kitchen helper stayed with me through it all, after a full working day and an early morning run. That willingness to give your time and energy was what made the whole project possible.
04 · Making it happen
Thursday was for sauces. I wheeled equipment from home to the office because we did not have everything we needed there. The recipes grew out of notes from my restaurant days. I love sauces for the depth they bring to a dish; that evening, chilli and garlic filled the office and made everyone hungry.
Friday was the busiest day. On my way to collect a four-litre deep fryer from Resta Mesta, I looked back at the office and realised people might have trouble finding us. Balloons could help. I contacted an old school friend in marketing at Verkkokauppa.com, and they agreed to donate helium balloons. Otto collected them while I picked up the fryer. When I explained our charity event, Resta Mesta offered the equipment on loan as well.
Every bit of support helped keep costs down. Back at the office, I worked on dessert components and the remaining preparations. Testing the fryer that evening revealed one last problem: we had bought the wrong oil. An early trip to the wholesaler went straight onto Saturday’s list.
05 · Restaurant Day
After the early oil run, it was time to cook. While I prepared the food, everyone else transformed the office: tables moved into place, a chalkboard menu appeared, and decorations and balloons made the space feel ready to welcome people. Nobody was short of something to do.
The final preparations are a blur in my memory. What I remember is that we got there together. Everything was ready, and for a moment all that was left was to wait for our guests.
We raised a wonderful amount for the cause. That belonged to everyone who helped: the team, DDB, the partners who reduced our costs, and especially the customers. For me, DDBistro is a reminder that creative work can be very tangible — a meal, a welcoming room, and people choosing to make something happen together.
The day in motion
Veera’s husband captured the day on film. His video tells the final part of the story better than another shopping list ever could.