Ad for Tine
Osteriet pop-up restaurant by Tine opens to the public in Oslo today at 3 PM and will run for two days only – Friday the 30th of September and Saturday the 1st of October. The concept is a multi-course meal prepared by highly experienced chefs, where every dish includes cheese in some way or another. Believe it or not, but the dinner is free of charge! Seats will be given on a first come, first serve basis and there are no reservations. Line up, people!
Internet-Users Decided the Menu
I assisted the marketing agency We Are Live, who organizes this event for Tine, in finding qualified chefs for the job. Last night I was invited to the pre-opening of Osteriet, but I knew nothing of what was awaiting me. Apparently, people have been able to send in suggestions about what kind of cheese based dishes they would like. In the next step, Tine’s chefs made a selection of these ideas to create more than 25 unique dishes. These constitute the menu of a multi-course meal in several seatings. The menu will change every three hours.
The Second Branded Pop-up Restaurant in Grünerløkka
I arrived early outside the yellow house in Øvre gate 7 in the lower part of Grünerløkka. Yes, there are actually some houses in Grünerløkka – not only apartment buildings. The Osteriet sign was easy to spot above the entrance gate of the green wooden windscreen walls. Already, this reminded me somewhat of the IKEA Ätbar pop-up from last year with all the green plants everywhere and string lights hanging in the air. I quickly realized, though, that this must be someone’s home and not a commercial premises. Yet, on the ground floor, they’ve installed a cheese shop! Here, you can sample or purchase a wide variety of Tine’s cheeses. Lo and behold, who’s that man behind the counter? If it isn’t Øyvind Skogsholm Hansen, who used to run the restaurant Melkerampa in Mathallen. I haven’t seen him since he quit Oslo life and moved to Trondheim.
Experienced Chefs in the Kitchen
The kitchen at Osteriet is led by experienced chef Jonas André Nåvik. At the age of 29 he has already managed to work in the three Michelin-starred and former 6th best restaurant in the world, Alinea in Chicago, the two Michelin-starred restaurant Mathias Dahlgren in Stockholm and three years as head chef of Engø Gård. Today he’s got several different projects going on, with the most obvious link to this event being Melt – a melted cheese food truck and grilled cheese bar. I even got a restaurant rumor out of him, that he’s looking towards Oslo now. At his side was Britt Elisabeth Fossdal – cook, food enthusiast and adviser in the company Designkokken.
The Foodies Around the Table
Seated next to me were Gitte and Filip from 52 More Years. I met this lovely couple recently on a journey to Skåne in Sweden, and then again at the Lakrids lunch at Feinschmecker. Gitte is an actor and Filip is a photographer, but they are both foodies and love a good meal. Further down the table, I could spot some of the regulars at events like these: Julie from Julies Matblogg, Maja Hattvang with her boyfriend, Cecilie from Bord for to and Shanna from Basilico.
Osteriet’s Multi-Course Cheese-Based Dinner
Osteriet will serve you a multi-course meal free of charge. We got two starters, one main course, and one dessert, but they might not be able to offer that many courses for each person today if the queue is long. The first course we got was a chanterelle soup. In the bowl was a chanterelle purée next to Tine’s cream cheese. Soon, the bowl was filled with a deliciously smelling chanterelle soup, before it was finished off with fried chanterelles, croutons, and thyme. The soup was rich and flavorful with different textures that makes it more interesting to eat. Tine’s cream cheese didn’t play the biggest part in this dish, though.
Next up was a really cool dish. It was served as a starter, but in a restaurant, this would typically be a cheese serving. Tine’s blue cheese “Selbu Blå” had been frozen with liquid nitrogen and crushed into small rocks. It was served atop an ice cold purée of pickled pears, along with balsamic vinegar, pecan nuts, and cress. Obviously, this dish took me straight back to the classic frozen blue cheese dish at Maaemo. I tasted a less successful version at Tango in Stavanger, but chef Jonas did everything right. He knew that the pieces of frozen cheese needs to be the right size, and can’t be too cold when they are served.
“I think grilled cheese is … it’s just so good! Everybody likes a good toast.” – Gitte Witt
The main course was a toast, of course. A spicy chorizo toast to be precise. Two pieces of bread stuffed with three-year-old Norvegia cheese, pepperoni, chorizo and pickled chili, fried in butter and sprinkled with sea salt. Simple and delicious. It became clear to me that this man – Jonas André Nåvik – knows his toast! Gitte, seated next to me, could hardly control her excitement: “I think grilled cheese is … it’s just so good! Everybody likes a good toast.” I have to agree with her. We both craved for a second slice.
A Spectacular Show to End the Meal
One internet user had suggest “brunostdessert,” and the challenge was accepted by Jonas. For the grand finale he whipped out an espuma and a container of liquid nitrogen. From the espuma he sprayed “trollkrem” – that is a traditonal Norwegian dessert cream made of lingonberries – into the liquid nitrogen. At minus 193 degrees C the cream went from liquid to solid in seconds, and Jonas went on to hammer the frozen bits with a kitchen tool to make them smaller. A pannacotta made with Norwegian brown cheese was topped with these airy pieces of frozen “trollkrem,” and finished off with cuts of French toast. I totally loved this one! Jonas told me after the meal that the dish was inpired by one version of the famous baloon dish, which they used to serve at Alinea in Chicago.
Are you planning to attend Osteriet, or did you already go there by the time you read this? Please share your experience in a comment below.
Disclaimer
This is a paid ad for Tine.
Looks amazing! Beautiful pictures <3 Have 2 go there this weekend 🙂
You should! Great chefs in the kitchen.
Thanks for the tips! If it were not for your blog, I would not have learnt of this event. Really enjoyed the brunch (the famed grilled cheese sandwich!) there. More sedate atmosphere than when Andreas Vierstad was at the helm in Ikea’s pop up!
Glad to hear that you found it because of me, and happy you liked it 🙂