All posts filed under: PROJECTS

Exciting new restaurant project in landmark building

I can’t say too much about this project yet. But I can say this. In 2023 I will open not one, not two but three restaurants in the former US Embassy in Oslo, a landmark building right next to the Royal Castle designed by Eero Saarinen. The ambitious project is a collaboration with Fredensborg Hospitality. And at the core of our hospitality is an ambitious wine program with a very interesting and extensive wine cellar. https://starwinelist.com/wine-story/norwegian-somm-francesco-marzola-gets-new-top-wine-job-in-oslo There will be different ways to approach the cellar, from our brasserie, the wine bar and the rooftop restaurant. I am very excited – and nervous.

Spaghetteria – all about pasta

In 2021 Salome got a sister! Simpler, more informal and with a heart from Sicily, but no less ambitious. Spaghetteria is my second Italian restaurant together with Dag Tjersland, and in collaboration with the Blandini family from Mocica in Sicily. Katya is the chef, Marika is the younger sister and Maitre’d, and mother Natalina works whenever she wants, making lolli and other hand made pasta. All the pasta is made in house using organic flour, and the dishes include Sicilian specialties along with some other Italian pasta classics, like ragù Bolognese, Carbonara and spaghetti with polpette. https://www.spaghetteria.org/

Salome – Venetian restaurant in Oslo

Salome is my first Italian restaurant, situated in Oslo’s culture and finance district, right next to Deichman Public Library, MUNCH and Oslo Opera House. The restaurant is a collaboration with my old friend and colleague Dag Tjersland and chef Nelson Fernandes. We serve typical Venetian food, most notably a wide selection of cicchetti, carpaccio and seafood – along with classic pastas and modern pizzas. The restaurant opened in August 2020 during a short break in the corona pandemic lockdowns, and even though we have had to close and reopen several times – hardly ideal – we have managed to gain a wide following of clients. https://www.restaurantsalome.com/

Dinner in Rome – The History of the World in One Meal

“Andreas Viestad has written a fascinating, thought-provoking and funny book about the importance of food in history.” – Alice Waters “As enchanting as it is fascinating: Andreas Viestad has a calm gift for evocative scene-setting, story-telling and, crucially, for making and exploring connections that brings everything, illuminatingly to life.” – Nigella Lawson Incredibly happy that my labor of love A Dinner in Rome will now be published in English, by non-less than Reaktion Books! http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/display.asp?ISB=9781789146745 A few words on the book: «There is more history in a bowl of pasta than in the Colosseum or in any other historical building», writes Andreas Viestad in Dinner in Rome. While enjoying a typical Roman meal in a classic restaurant Viestad takes us on a culinary journey, dish by dish, through world history and the history of The Eternal City. This is a book about how a small village in an unlikely place became the center of the greatest empire the world has seen. About the role wheat and salt played in that transformation, how the taste of …

NEW SCANDINAVIAN COOKING

For the past years I have had a peculiar hobby: I have been the host of the public television series New Scandinavian Cooking, produced by TellusWorks. The show had been a runaway success. It was originally scheduled to air on public television (distributed by American Public Television), and I am not sure we really knew what we started. APT wanted new seasons, the series was also aired by BBCFood, RTL in Germany, RAISat in Italy, Cuisine TV in France, and many more – a total of more than 60 countries. I have been the host of ten seasons of New Scandinavian Cooking, and in addition to that we have made seasons from Sweden with Tina Nordström and Denmark with Claus Meyer. The show is all about embracing the ingredients of Scandinavia and it is all shot on location. The aim is to get as close to nature and the ingredients as possible, by fishing the fish we are going to cook with, foraging for mushrooms and wild herbs, and what sets it apart from many …