Roasted Ducks, Rolling Donkeys, and Waiting, Waiting, and Waiting

When in Beijing, one is spoiled for choice with restaurants serving the famous Beijing roasted duck. Quanjude (全聚德), for example, is a well-established brand with many locations across the city, though it seems to have become a bit out of touch with the younger generation. Da Dong (大董), with an impressive 160-page menu full of duck dishes, has earned a Michelin star—which also means its prices can be higher than many others. ...

Babbo Collective

Babbo Collective Olaf Ryes, the latest addition to the growing chain, made its debut today. Originally envisioned as Pasta Baby, a standalone Italian bistro, the newly opened café-restaurant has been folded into the Babbo Collective identity. “For the moment, I just want to focus on the Babbo Collective brand. The essence remains the same: we’ll still be making hand-rolled pasta here,” co-founder Lennart Pedersen told us. Lennart Pedersen works in the kitchen. ...

Jorda Rundt

The charm of geometry is hard to resist—this is probably the feeling of most people when they step into Jorda Rundt (meaning “around the world” in Norwegian) café for the first time. Housed inside the historically significant “Rondellen” (meaning “the roundel” in Norwegian) building by the entrance of Oslo’s Aker Hospital, the café’s seating area is arranged along the circumference of a perfect circle. Constructed in the 1960s and originally used as a guard station and flower shop, the building was put on the historical preservation list by the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage in 2012. It was designed by the famous Norwegian architect firm Morseth & Wiel Gedde. ...

The Little Pickle

The Little Pickle, a Michelin-guide restaurant located on the edge between Grünerløkka and Tøyen, opened its own bakery and café. The newly opened bakery and café has assembled a talented Japanese team, who have been active in Oslo’s food and coffee industry in recent years. Among them are the restaurant’s baker and pastry chef Nozomi Miyawaki (宮脇のぞみ) and her husband Tsukasa Miyawaki (宮脇司)—the couple used to work at Ille Brød, one of Oslo’s best known sourdough bakeries, and Ayae Maki Fredheim (真木彩衣), who used to roast at Lille Oslo Kaffebrenneri and now running her own independent roastery Hibi Kaffe. Even though Hibi is still in its early stages, the roastery has already attracted attention in the industry, and is today the coffee provider to the bakery Farine, restaurant Panu, as well as Michelin 3-star restaurant Maaemo. ...

Sellanraa Bok & Bar

Named after the character Isak Sellanraa in Nobel prize winning author Knut Hamsun’s famous novel Marken’s Grøde (in English: Growth of the Soil), Sellanraa is a café, bar, and restaurant fittingly located in the Trondheim Literature House. Sellanraa focuses on locally sourced ingredients from Trøndelag, and updates its menu depending on the season. Ay, I’ll buy you coffee, that I will. A paper of coffee, was it? Why not a pound? A pound of coffee, while you’re about it. ...

Lut/Laget

Very few new places attract as much attention as Lut/Laget. Located in Clemenskvartalet, part of the latest developmment in Bjørvika, Lut/Laget is many things at once: a two-storied French style brasserie (their interior decoration features an Eiffel tower), a bar, a bakery backed by Åpent Bakeri and a pizza restaurant as part of the Lofthus Samvirkelag. The name Lut/Laget, originally meaning “joint-stock company” in Norwegian, emphasises this multi-faced cooperation between Lofthus Samvirkelag and Åpent Bakeri. But the collaboration behind Lut/Laget goes much deeper. The pastry chef Diana Elizondo used to work at Maaemo, whereas the bistro chef Martin Gnecco is from restaurant Panu—and they are a couple. ...