Maaemo

Eating at Maaemo is a zen-like experience. The kitchen floats above the glassed-in dining room, making the restaurant harmonious and undisturbed. Watching the front of house team is like witnessing a ballet where all movements are flawless. We’re well taken care of from the second we lay eyes on the building, to the last delicate bite of the meal; a chewy young pinecone preserved in honey.

The interior’s black and white color-palette brings to mind a moody Scandinavian winter’s day. It correlates with the restaurant's ambitions to reflect Norway’s nature in a raw and honest way. Chef Espen Holmboe Bang’s menu blends cultural history with contemporary trends, his is a unique and very personal take on traditions. Sour cream porridge with reindeer heart, butter, and plum vinegar; fermented trout with leeks and horseradish; and savory waffles cooked in aged beef. These are all creative inventions pushing heritage forward. A thoughtfully selected sting of fresh organic wines with classic, pure flavor profiles, enlarges the experience. It opens with the dry but concentrated Riesling Von der Fels, carefully crafted by Klaus Peter Keller.

Two waiters approach the table simultaneously, depositing white stones with bright green, dew covered elm leaves that look as if they’d been picked at dawn’s first fragile hours. The foliage hides a beer-braised langoustine and a warm potato flatbread called “lompe”. Soft and sweet, this dish is also a balanced bonsai of aromatic dill and acidy. When the stones are naked, the waiters return with the precision of the tide, clearing the table in a rehearsed choreography.

A favorite dish, you wonder? Impossible to say. Was it the tender, succulent and salty king krab in a cream sauce, with chicken butter and aromas of smoked reindeer? Or the crispy sweetbreads with onion and wild garlic? Perhaps the delicate fresh milk sorbet with rhubarb root and blueberries. All three could easily become new signature dishes, ditto the oyster and mussels with its elegant combination of warm and cold elements. And the browned butter ice cream with even more butter on top and a secret coffee caramel base. Both have been on the menu since day one, and it’s evident that these timeless creations have improved over the years.

Bread is a highlight at Maaemo; the sticky fresh roll covered in birch syrup is a playful delight that takes the edge off the formality. It’s messy and comforting, leaving behind nothing but smiles and crumbs.

Maaemo has been in service for almost ten years, during this time, the kitchen has grown from three chefs to more than twenty. There are 45+ people employed at the restaurant today, making the premises a bit tight for Holmboe Bang’s grand ambitions. Maaemo will re-open February, 24 at its new location on Dronning Eufernias gate.

Published January 2020