In addition to creating travel guides and writing restaurant reviews, we’ve meticulously tracked restaurant rumors across Scandinavia for the last five years. We recently did a major upgrade to the rumors page, with a front page that can now be sorted based on the newest additions or by opening date. You can choose to browse through the list of restaurants that are already open, the list of 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 So Far This Year
We were surprised at how many new restaurants have opened already in 2021, despite the ongoing pandemic and ensuing restrictions. Despite a seemingly never-ending lockdown, Oslo saw the opening of quite a few new spots. The former Pjoltergeist team opened the new brunch spot Pillefyken, Björn Svensson opened Schlägergården, Nud Dudhia opened his sandwich shop Løkka Deli, the Bass team opened Best Friends Pizza – and ZZ Pizza is set to open on July 16th!
In Copenhagen, Silberbauers Bistro opened in the former Manfreds venue, smørrebrød restaurant Palægade reopened again after their tragic fire in 2020, Alan Bates went solo with his new restaurant Connection, and Andreas Bagh’s new restaurant Esmée opened this week in the old Geist space. We also saw a slew of bakery openings in the Danish capital – Collective Bakery, Bageriet Benji, Rondo, Cadence, and Blond (opening this month, hopefully).
Stockholm saw the highly anticipated opening of Björn Frantzén’s new casual concept, Brasseria Astoria, as well as Cave Nizza (the new wine bar from the Café Nizza team) and Villa Dagmar (a luxurious new hotel with a restaurant from the Alöe guys). In Norway, Stavanger was blessed with not one, but two super cool natural wine spots – Lapin, a wine bar from the Restaurant SÖL team, and ANGR Bar & Kjøkken, a restaurant and wine which also serves fried chicken and caviar (inspired by Copenhagen’s fried chicken madman)!
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Restaurant Openings We’re Looking Forward to This Fall
The pandemic did not put a halt to creativity in the food industry – there’s a lot of openings to look forward to this fall. These are the rumors we are most excited about in Scandinavia right now.
Copenhagen, Denmark
The Noma team is rapidly expanding their empire! After opening POPL Burger and Hart Brød + Bar last year, we’re hearing (unconfirmed) rumors of even more exciting plans from René Redzepi and company. Our sources have revealed that POPL will be taking over the former 108 the Corner spot to sell take-away burgers, and Hart Brød + Bar will be moving down the street (close to the Opera House) and expanding into a much larger space. The charming new venue resembles an old red farmhouse, with floor to ceiling windows and a large terrace with wooden picnic tables and benches for outdoor imbibing. Noma has always been at the forefront of the natural wine movement in Scandinavia, so we expect the wine list (curated by Mads Kleppe and the other Noma sommeliers) to feature small winemakers who respect nature and don’t mess too much with the fermented grape juice. Also available: bread and caviar servings, tea cocktails from the Rare Tea Lady, and more. We’ve heard that the wine bar could open as soon as late summer.
Other anticipated openings in Copenhagen include Jatak, the new solo project from Jonathan Tam (former head chef of Relæ), and a brick and mortar restaurant from Will King Smith (owner of the dumpling and noodle bar Will at the Bridge at Broens Gadekøkken). Smith hinted that the restaurant would be located in the city center. Both of these restaurants will serve Cantonese food and are slated to open this fall.
Amager’s sweetheart, Alice, is also expanding! Eigens Clubhouse will be a satellite location of the popular bakery and ice cream shop, in the same courtyard as Alouette in Islands Brygge. The name stems from the previous owner of the building, Anders Eigen, and his infamous Eigens Ballroom (known for its techno parties and rock concerts in the 90s). This outpost will mostly serve as a coffee shop for the people who work in the building, but we might see pizza and natural wine nights here in the future.
Oslo, Norway
Following the success of The Vandelay, Esben Holmboe Bang will open another new restaurant in 2021 – The Conservatory. The location will be near the “Bakgårdsbygget” (the backyard building) of Kristian Augusts gate 11 in Tulinløkka. The area is currently under construction, but 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. The Maaemo team will also open a new cocktail bar in Oslobukta (nearby Maaemo and The Vandelay) called The Freedom Principle.
Another upcoming project we’re excited about is Via Village, a new food court opening this fall in Vika. So far, we already know that De Mi Tierra will finally have a permanent location there to sell their beloved empanadas and Nud Dudhia & Atli Mar Yngvason’s new Thai concept PRIK will be present. The new wine bar and bistro from Mikael Svensson will be in the same building.
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The restaurant group The Core (Vaquera Verde, Way Down South, 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.
Last but not least, Hanne Rutgerson (formerly of Einer and Palace Grill) will be the head chef of Kastellet, the latest restaurant from We Come in Peace (the concept and design team behind Territoriet, Imperial, The Tea Room, Andre til Høyre, etc.). The first floor will be a restaurant and a wine bar, and the second floor will have a cocktail bar, a chambre séparée, and a private wine club.
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Stavanger & Sandnes, Norway
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.
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Sandnes restaurant legend Ole Dysjaland (of Ti Spiseri and Hekkan Burger) also has plans to open Punk Sushi right next to the original Hekkan Burger, with a cocktail bar (Diggbar) in the middle that serves both restaurants. The interior will be inspired by Japanese art and street elements. Both sushi and yakitori are on the menu and everything is available as take-away.
Which of these rumors are you most excited about? Let us know in a comment below.
So much is happening – very exciting!