Page 66 - WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE DISCOVERING ENGLAND

Chef Johan Laursen, who greeted us oil murals depicting Norwegian history utes of Oslo: beaches for bathing, small
during our meal, prepared a supremely inside, where the Nobel Peace Prize cer- islands for camping, Olympic ski re-
succulent filet of saithe, a white fish, emony is held every year on Dec. 10. sorts.”
floating in a light shore crab broth and
adorned with perfectly poached peas We wandered over to the National Gal- Outside on the sunny patio, we dined on
and carrots. On the side were delight- lery which has a fine collection of paint- Ekeberg’s trout with chanterelle mush-
ful small oblong brown rolls made with ings by Edvard Munch (“The Scream”) as rooms, salsify and shellfish vinaigrette.
barley, the first grain ever cultivated in well as Monet and Cezanne. We walked
Norway, and flavored with fennel and up tony Karl Johan avenue, Oslo’s main One other night in Oslo we raved about
caraway seeds. street filled with shops and grand his- our three-course seafood extravaganza
toric hotels, like The Grand, where play- just a block from The Thief at Tjuvholmen
“We only eat cod in the months with ‘R’ wright Henrik Ibsen lunched everyday. Sjomagasin. Running into a very well-
in them,” Chef Laursen told us. “Eighty traveled couple from South Africa whom
percent of my time is just finding nice The Royal Palace sits at the end of Karl we’d met at the hotel, they told us this
stuff to produce really nice food.” He Johan. We explored the extraordinary was one of the best meals they’d ever had.
knows the origins of his ingredients new Opera House designed by Snohetta,
personally and aims to take “the best the firm that also designed Ground Zero Tjuvholmen Sjomagasin is all about sea-
of traditional Norwegian and Scandina- in New York City. Covered in Carrara food. It’s a canal-side restaurant as well
vian cuisine and give it a contemporary marble with a roof that is also a slanted as a fantastic fish market, so everything
twist -- keeping in pace with the times walking platform, the architects wanted here is as fresh as can be, including the
and world around us.” the building to look like an iceberg. lobsters and king crabs that live in the en-
try’s aquarium.
We walked to Oslo’s famed City Hall, the We were ready for dinner. We dined at
classic building constructed between the reborn historic Ekeberg Restaurant “Most of our dishes are made on our char-
1930 and 1950 where every element is high above the city where views take coal grill, which is why they taste so heaven-
Norwegian, from the marble and wood in Oslo’s seacoast glory. Its charming ly,” says the restaurant. Its excellent wine
to the wooden carvings of Norwegian maitre’d Robert Berggren told us, “ev- selection pairs perfectly with every dish.
legends outside and the monumental erything you need lies within 20 min- We started with a few morsels of briny-

66 Wine Dine & Travel Winter 2014