It is with great pride that Fursetgruppen and Grand Caf Oslo welcome new and old guestsÊonce again to Grand Caf restaurant and their wine cellar. TheÊdoors open on Thursday 20th October at 4pm. ÊBoth Fursetgruppen and Grand Caf Oslo are humble and proud to help continue and create a newÊcultural history with Grand Caf.
-WeÕve been looking forward to finally being able to reopenÊGrand Caf and we are happy to welcome everyone back,Êsays Marketing and Communications manager inÊFursetgruppen restaurant group, Marianne Nygrd-Hansen.
Grand Caf
The new Grand Caf will be a restaurant with a uniqueÊatmosphere. High ceilings and grand spaces are ready toÊwelcome old and new guests. The two head chefs Alexanderʯstli Berg and Christofer Bengtsson are in charge of theÊkitchen staff.
The kitchen is open plan so that guests can view the chefsÊpreparing food using ingredients mainly from ScandinaviaÊbut with guest appearances from other parts of the world.ÊThe head chefs focus on great flavours and hints at excitingÊdishes.
-The team is really looking forward to seeing how GrandÊCaf will once again come alive and become OsloÕs naturalÊhot spot. It will be great to experience a fully and newlyÊrenovated Grand Caf, and to hear the guestsÕ opinions onÊboth the food and the dcor. We hope that we will surpriseÊeveryone Ð positively, says general manager Anine Tenn¿e.
The wine cellar
Now you can find a large, open wine cellar in what wasÊpreviously the Bonanza nightclub at Grand Hotel. A wineÊconcept with room for a considerable collection of greatÊwines at different prices. You can enjoy a class of wine inÊcosy and rustic surroundings while eating snacks like hamÊand cheese from the bar. Led by chef sommelier FabioÊBorgianni who has broad experience from different food andÊwine concepts. The wine cellar will also be home to smallÊand large parties, wine tastings and wine courses and hasÊtwo spares of different sizes.
The history
WeÕve focused on keeping the historic lines by for exampleÊuncovering and recreating Lars BackerÕs decorated ceilingsÊin addition to renovating the Thonet chairs which have beenÊa Grand Caf staple for decades. At the same time we haveÊfocused on the interior decorating with contemporaryÊreferences to create a Grand Caf not only embrasing historyÊbut also today. Guests can marvel over the sight of the threeÊfamous Krohg paintings that are still present and even moreÊvisible today. Art history is still an integral part of the spaceÊand our goal is for it to be passed on by people from theÊpresent. We greatly respect history, but at the same time it isÊour responsibility to create a Grand Caf suitable for ourÊtime.
– Our starting point has been the colourful people andÊinteresting diversity of guests from all parts of society whoÊhave visited Grand Caf. The restaurant has been a uniqueÊmeeting point and an arena for socializing, regardless ofÊsocial position, for over a 100 years. Several of theseÊcharacters are visible in the painting ÓKristianiabohemenÓÊby Per Krogh Ð well-known authors, artists and otherÊcentral people living their spiritual lives at Grand CafÊtowards the end of the 19th century.ÊWeÕve focused on interior dcor, communications solutionsÊand a visual expression for continuing and managing theÊcultural inheritance, says Bj¿rn Tore Furset, owner ofÊFursetgruppen.
To embrace history further a photo art direction has alsoÊbeen developed as a supplement to the painting Ð as a clearÊreference between past and present. NorwegianÊphotographer Baard Lunde is behind the photos that can beÊfound on different surfaces, like the foyer.
Top photo: Christian Rignes and Bj¿rn Tore FursetÊbyÊEivind Taksrud
Photos below byÊStian Broch
