Speilsalen

It's quite an extraordinary thing to watch a chef systematically organize a line of tweezers. There’s absolutely nothing left to chance in Speilsalen, the fine dining restaurant of newly refurbished Britannia Hotel, where Head Chef Christopher Davidsen and his young, competitive team will give you a grand and extravagant taste of Bocuse d'Or.

Davidsen won silver in the 2017 edition of this gastronomy grand slam, here he gives his guests a taste of what he’s been perfecting ever since. This is his restaurant, his dream, and together with some of the country's most skilled chefs, waiters and sommeliers he puts on a sparkling show in the hotel’s former mirrored, gilded ballroom where grandiloquent chandeliers dangle from the ceiling and whiffs of greatness permeate the air.

You can choose to dine at the chef's table, or at normal tables seating four to six guests,  no matter where you end up, you’ll also have to choose between the six- and the  ten course tasting menus, and regardless of which one you opt for, it’ll open with three amuse bouches built on top of each other in a row, like they would be in the international competition. All of them are tiny fascinators and look like they belong in a royal museum; a small white porcelain bowl covered with Spesilsalens' aged gold selection caviar, a purple flower and an asparagus tip; a small and just as beautiful tart with intense, salty cured lamb; a golden quail egg on green bed of ramps. The runny egg yolk will wash over your tongue with surprisingly fresh, creamy sweetness, before the wild garlic slaps your taste buds.

Gold turns into caviar, and caviar turns into truffles before you’ll return to more caviar and gold once again. The fermented butter sparkles with a glittering sea belt powder in a golden box, on a golden plate, with a golden knife. This is so seriously exclusive, it’ll make you feel like you just robbed the bank. The obsessive use of luxury products is exaggerated and tends to overshadow the hard work behind each creation. The dishes are more than good enough without the excessive flourishes.

Davidsen’s signature dish of crisp, heart-shaped waffles with radish, fresh cheese, fish and lumpfish roe, uses local ingredients to more modestly portray regional everyday traditions. So does the fresh breath of gin, gooseberries and verbena.

The restaurants' style is French, posh, traditional and classic, all servings are tweezed into place with surgical precision, on custom made china. It’s fun to watch, the three head chefs in high, white toques dancing around each other as if they’d never done anything else, yet this is also a very long-drawn affair.

Head Sommelier Henrik Dahl Jahnsen is a quadruple Norwegian champion. He really excels with the vegetarian dish which was seemingly designed to pair with an FMC Chenin Blanc 2015 (Fucking Marvellous Chenin!) from Forrester Wines. You can notice the exciting change of direction in every drop. The black garlic dumpling filled with fermented and roasted Brussels sprouts is substantial enough to match the rich wine’s oaky, buttery notes and flavors of apricots and honey. The two were definitely made for each other. Just like the frozen apple fruit wine Malus Danica sings with the crème brulée-inspired Childhood Memories dessert of rhubarb and strawberries hidden under a layer of sugar.

Published January 2020