The table setting, the menu, the crowded table – this is what many young people today look like.
Iida Laiho is a self -taught chef who has worked in different kitchens in Finland and Belgium. Nowadays, his job description includes much more, such as planning, organizing and marketing events. Finnish Design Shop / Jose Jompero
Nightclubs have emptied. How do young people nowadays spend their evening? Iida Laiho26, knows.
Laiho has organized dinner invitations from junior high and high school. He invited a big group of friends, put the food himself and lasted the invitations that were always held.
– From a young age, I have had a picture of being good for hosting and enduring.
After high school, there was a break for dinner party. During the closures caused by the coronavirus, Laiho became enthusiastic about lasting.
– When I couldn’t go anywhere, I noticed how I had longed to last at home. Certain guys stabilized around me who liked to invite people to the evening home, I was one of them.
According to Laiho, young people are interested in meaningful encounters.
Laiho has been cooking and has been arranging invitations for a long time. Finnish Design Shop / Jose Jompero
Laiho has noticed that the popularity of dinner invitations as a night out continued after the heels. He saw how much peers enjoyed the dinner invitations at home, their intimacy and specialty.
– The ideas go forward. I started to think that people could also be called outside the home. A couple of summers ago, I organized dinner invitations in downtown Helsinki on a public pier, and it was one of the best days of the summer, Laiho recalls.
Today, organizing a dinner party is part of Laiho’s work as an entrepreneur. He organizes open dinner invitations, whose seats are reserved quickly.
Young people have a different gloss in the eyes.
For Laiho, providing experiences is important. During the invitations, he tries to be as good as possible to make the invitations work functional and smooth. Juuli Kangasniemi
Laiho has noticed that young people are more interested in restaurants and food culture.
– It’s really nice and desirable. In Finland, food culture may have been a bit weak, but today many value good food. Young people have a different gloss in the eyes.
According to Laiho, young people are interested in food culture. – Food brings people together, he says. Juuli Kangasniemi
Did not replace but took the space.
Club nights have not yet been replaced by dinner invitations, but Laiho says it has clearly taken space for the youth evening. According to him, many people sometimes need evenings so you don’t have to think about a place to follow.
– It’s nice if people are in such a mood that they want to stay with each other late into the night. Even if you haven’t gone to the club, you still feel like you have been out, celebrated and let go.
In dinner invitations, the personal atmosphere of the situation is attracted. At the same table, it is easier to discuss and meet new people than a nightclub or bar. Also, the time spent together in pre -familiar dinner invitations is of high quality and meaningful.
According to Laiho, the intimate atmosphere of the invitations and the naturally created discussions are fascinating visitors. In addition to dinner invitations, Laiho has arranged open breakfast. Juuli Kangasniemi
– Dinner dinners during the corona came to my mind for high school and high school home parties that had not been in a few years. Then I became excited about lasting again.
However, Laiho hopes that the club culture will also remain in the evening as the more intimate meetings.
– I want the club culture to stay alive. There are certain places where I like to visit and I hope they can do well. Maybe such a balance would be good.
It seems easy to arrange invitations in places that matter to yourself.
The design of Laiho dinner invitations starts from the location. He is interested in keeping invitations in places where they are not used to eating. Inspired by the location, dinner menu and table setting are created.
Last summer, Laiho organized a dinner for over 30 friends in the garden of his parents. The menu was built on the raw materials of the garden vegetable garden.
Laiho is happy to organize invitations in places that have a personal meaning to him. Iida Laiho’s home album
– I want to create things that feel personal and bring people to experience something special. It seems easy to arrange invitations in places that matter to yourself.
This summer, open dinner invitations were held in a café owned by the Laiho friend couple on Björkö Island in Turku. The idea for the location came from Laiho’s own father and grandmother’s former home in the outer archipelago.
Trendity is not just about getting good content for dinners.
Aesthetics, visuality and distribution are currently important for young people and also applies to nightlife.
– Spectacular dinner invitations provide beautiful pictures and videos, they like to share. However, I believe that the trendyness is not just about getting good content for dinners. Certainly some will do it because of that, but I feel special in the evenings.
In addition to taste, cooking is of interest to aesthetics and spectacular presentation. Juuli Kangasniemi
In general, Laiho does not believe that dinner culture is just a transient trend.
– Food binds people together, it’s an experience that many people enjoy. It’s not a trend that just comes and goes.