Ever since the first rumor on this blog was posted about restaurant À L’aise five years ago, we’ve meticulously tracked restaurant rumors across Scandinavia. We recently did a major upgrade to the rumors page, with a front page that can now be sorted based on either newly-added or opening date. You can choose to browse only open restaurants, just the rumors about future openings, or both. Furthermore, you can select only the countries, and even cities, that are relevant to you. Last but not least, we’ve added a submit feature, that allows you easily tip us off about rumors you hear with the click of a button! With a historic archive going back to 2016, we believe it to be the most comprehensive overview of restaurant openings in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. Keeping this list up to date is a great way for us to plan our blog posts and upcoming reviews, and for our readers to discover new places before everyone else.
Restaurant Openings in 2020
We were surprised at how many new restaurants opened last year, despite the Covid-19 pandemic and worldwide lockdowns. Oslo added a bunch of new bakeries, including Kveitemjøl, Farine, and Bread N Butter, and also restaurants we are looking forward to trying, like Apostrophe, Winther, and Geita.
In Copenhagen, the cute wine bar Lille Blå opened its door as soon as the first lockdown lifted. There were also some exciting restaurant openings here, for example, Møntergade, POPL burger, Poulette, and the new Hija de Sanchez Cantina. Chef Kristian Baumann had to close 108, but he was quick to return to the food scene with his pop-up and collab project Koan x Empirical (which will hopefully open in a permanent venue later this year). Copenhagen added a flurry of new coffee shops and bakeries, including April Coffee and two new locations of Coffee Collective – Telefonkiosken and Sankt Hans Torv (continue reading to see what else they are opening this year). Both Juno the Bakery and Alice expanded their existing venues.
The first trip we had to cancel back in March was to Stockholm, and with that, our booking at chef Tommy Myllymäki’s new restaurant AIRA went down the drain too. Luckily, we were able to go to Stavanger at the end of the year, where we visited two new sweet shops: Sirkus Renaa and Doughnut Worry (some of the same people have also been involved in Siddis Gelato nearby). We’ve still not managed to fit in a meal at the new Nordic restaurant K2, though. Hopefully, next trip!
Restaurant Openings We’re Looking Forward to in 2021
Although we’re still in the middle of a global pandemic, there’s a lot to look forward to in the food industry in 2021. These are the rumors we are most excited about in Scandinavia right now.
Oslo, Norway
While not officially confirmed yet, we have reason to believe that Esben Holmboe Bang will open another new restaurant in 2021, following the success of The Vandelay. We believe the location to be nearby the so-called “Bakgårdsbygget” (the backyard building) of Kristian Augusts gate 11 in Tulinløkka. The area is currently under construction, so we expect the restaurant won’t open until late in the year. The new neighborhood will be an exciting addition to the city, with several new buildings and a park area that will open up this part of town more to Oslo residents. We also have reason to believe that team Maaemo will open a new cocktail bar in Oslobukta, nearby Maaemo and The Vandelay.
Nud Dudhia, the owner of Breddos Tacos, is about to open Løkka Deli – an American-style sandwich deli. The location is in Grünerløkka right next to Haralds Vaffel. On the menu, you’ll find patty melts, Reuben sandwiches, fried chicken sandos, and Cuban sandwiches.
Further north in Grünerløkka, the guys from Bass have taken over both of the neighboring venues to their restaurant. On Markveien, in the old venue of Riwaj of India, they will open the pizza restaurant Best Friends Pizza (B.F.P). On the opposite side, on Hesselbergs gate, they plan to expand with another bar called Paradise Bar. These names may or may not be placeholder names.
On the border of Grünerløkka and Sofienberg, chef Luke Henderson from Imperial and The Tea Room is looking to open his next project. The Little Pickle will be a neighborhood restaurant inspired by his time at The Laughing Heart in London. Henderson describes it as a casual spot with simple, ingredient-driven cooking and a good selection of natural wines.
The restaurant group The Core (Vaquera Verde, Way Down South, NightPig, Nye Gressholmen Kro) are also adding another family member in 2021. Located in the old venue of Rendezvous Bar & Biljard in Oslo, La Mayor (“big boss”) will be a refined, contemporary Mexican restaurant with a focus on seafood from small local producers. The head chef at Vaquera Verde, Montserrat Garza (who has a background from The World’s 50 Best restaurant Quintonil in Mexico City) will lead this project.
A place that was supposed to open in 2020 (can you guess why that didn’t happen?) is Pillefyken – a neighborhood restaurant and wine bar from the former Pjoltergeist front of house duo Sverre Bøyum and Susanne Låstad. We’re hoping 2021 is their year!
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Copenhagen, Denmark
Klaus Thomsen, the co-founder of the quality chain of coffee shops Coffee Collective, finally announced the long-awaited Collective Bakery. The bakery will be located in Nørrebro, not far from where the original café opened more than 10 years ago. As the head baker, they have snagged none other than Michael Craig. We had the pleasure of tasting his pastries when he worked at Brøderi Borgskog in Gothenburg, and can guarantee that Copenhagen is about to get another high-end bakery. Lately, Craig has been busy at Lille Bakery and Hart Bageri in Copenhagen, but he has also worked at Amass previously.
As soon as the lockdown in Copenhagen is lifted, Silberbauers Bistro will open in the former Manfreds venue on Jægersborggade. The new restaurant will be a French bistro with a focus on Danish seafood from Mathias Silberbauer. (Some of you might have attended his pop-up at Relæ last summer, while Relæ did a residency at Frændekilde farm.) Chef Silberbauer has a background from Relæ and Bæst in Copenhagen, as well as The Clove Club in London, and Pure & V in Nice.
Andreas Bagh, who has left his position at Marchal to join the restaurant group Sovino Brands, has announced that he will be the co-owner and head chef of a new restaurant. We loved his cooking at Marchal and have previously called Bagh “one of the most talented and also underrated chefs in Copenhagen.” Update: Bagh is taking over the old venue of Geist!
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Stockholm, Sweden
One of the most exciting restaurant openings this year will be Brasserie Astoria from the Björn Frantzén Group. This international brasserie will be located in the Astoria Building (an old theatre) in Stockholm, and Mikael Einarsson will be the head chef. From the website: “The building is going through extensive renovation where details from the original 1870s are carefully restored and updated with modern architecture. The restaurant will span two floors with room for 150 sitting guests, as well as one big bar/lounge and a more intimate bar setting. The restaurant will be open 7 days a week, with the ambition to create a vibrant social space full of life – day and night.”
The guys behind the pizza restaurant Babette in Vasastan and Café Nizza in Södermalm are opening a sister restaurant to the latter called Cave Nizza – a wine bar that will have its own bakery.
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Stavanger & Sandnes, Norway
On what is no doubt the hottest food street in Stavanger, Pedersgata, the team from SÖL is opening a new natural wine bar with a simple food menu (charcuterie and cheese).
Further east, in the former venue of TAKO by Fortou, chef Arnt Skjerve will open ANGR Bar & Kjøkken. This restaurant and bar will serve both natural wine and natural food. The word “anger” means “fjord” in old Norse, and the kitchen will use produce from Ryfylke and cooking techniques from all over the world. The restaurant will have 20 seats and offer a set menu with natural wine pairings. The bar will have 30 seats and Skjerve promises that some of our favorite producers, like Gut Oggau, Christian Tschida, and Serraghia, are likely to be found on the menu.
In Anders’ hometown of Sandnes, there will finally be a decent wine bar! Greip is heavily inspired by Territoriet in Oslo – the wine glass of choice here is Zalto and the music plays from an old school record player. Thanks to the Coravin system, Greip will be able to offer most bottles by the glass.
Which of these rumors are you most excited about? Let us know in a comment below.
Since I live in Amager, and there’s not much happening there (yet), I’m really forward to Pirlo, the new Italian restaurant second to Toto Spisebar & Vin. Now with the restrictions and lockdowns, it seems far away for this to happening.
Oh, fun. Thanks for the tip!