Smak Tromsø
Elegance and innovation
Tromsø is one of northern Norway’s most enchanted places, a town of charm, attitude and breathtaking landscapes. The glory of the midnight sun in summer and nature’s own Technicolor spectacle, the northern lights in winter, and one of the region’s best restaurants, one that builds on the area’s heritage while simultaneously pushing the local gastronomy forward. Smak is husband- and wife team Espen and Eva-Linda Ramnestedt’s stroke of genius; she reigns over the front of house, he manages the kitchen. Theirs is a labor of love, dedicating their time to collecting the scant produce that the short seasons provide, and working with the few farmers who understand their vision. Needless to say, curing, drying and fermenting things bridges the gap between long winter and short summer.
A meal here might start off with cured meats from a selection of pork, wild sheep, elk, and reindeer, on beautiful display in the cozy restaurant whose dining room has been purposely designed to adapt to both long, cold nights and never-ending, late-June sunshine. An elegant flatbread toast is layered with sour cream and scallop roe bottarga, and a mini sausage with the customary mustard and ketchup is a cheeky take on the most Norwegian of all Norwegian dishes, pølse-i-brød, aka hot dog.
Asparagus, clearly fletched from further afield, is served with a morel mayonnaise, cured egg yolks and elm leaves. A roll of lacto-fermented celeriac is filled with cream cheese and last year’s powdered chanterelles. Smak’s sourdough bread alone, baked with fennel seeds and served with the house lard and butter is worth the long trip here. The fish soup, a north coast staple is perfectly thick and potent, the langoustine, however, could use a bit more cooking.
Technique and tradition go hand in hand in Espen’s kitchen, his method of grilling reindeer should be mandatory learning in cooking school. While dining here it’s impossible to not relax, the whole experience is so stable and calm, and even on a hectic evening, the machinery is well oiled and the hospitality of that rare kind that you only find in this region. Smak is exactly what you’d wish to find in these parts, modern dining that doesn’t loose touch with its Norwegian roots.
Published January 2020