Elle Decoration UK - 08.2019

WHERE TO STAY Norway’s largest hotel, Clarion

Hotel The Hub, boasts an urban rooftop garden, where it grows

greens for its local produce-championing restaurant Norda (from

£190 a night; nordicchoicehotels.com). For a stay inspired by the

glamour of ocean travel, there’s Hotel Amerikalinjen, located in

the former Art Deco home of the Norwegian-America cruise line.

The building was designed in 1919 by architects Andreas Bjercke

and Georg Eliassen, and the new hotel nods to its heritage, with

Norwegian Hadeland Glassworks, which designed glassware for

cruise ships in the 1950s, supplying the bar (from £170 per night;

amerikalinjen.com). For a more traditional stopover, The Grand

Oslo, whose Nobel suite plays host to the winner of the eponymous

prize each year, is the last word in luxury, with a powder pink lobby

and Murano glass chandelier (from £163 per night; grand.no).

BREAKFAST & LUNCH Fuglen (known

locally as ‘The Bird’, thanks to its logo) has been expertly making

coffee using beans from local roasteries since 1963. Its wooden

interior sports a bevy of mid-century Norwegian accessories and

furniture, which are also for sale (fuglen.no). For baked goods,

it has to be Handwerk. The bakery uses only organic, natural

ingredients (even its own yeast) to create delicious breads including

Puffen, Kamelåså, Durum and sweet sourdough (handwerk.no).

If you’re stopping for lunch, the plant-based bowls at Nordic

Foodprint offer a near-zero carbon footprint, thanks to organic

ingredients sourced from small local farms (nordicfoodprint.com).

WINE & DINE From vegetables gathered at Losæter’s

urban allotments to seafood caught fresh from Norway’s venerable

waters, it’s easy to eat like the locals. In fact, if you dine at slick

eatery Maaemo – ancient Norse for ‘Mother Earth’– you’ll find

Losæter’s rose petals on the artful plates of the city’s only three

Michelin-starred restaurants. On the set menu, delicacies such as

scallops with fermented celeriac or well-smoked reindeer broth

are given a contemporary edge (maaemo.no). For fine dining with

a twist, Rest uses food waste to concoct imaginative dishes such as

cod with crisped bread, Jerusalem artichokes and fried leek roots

(restaurantrest.com). And, for an evening tipple, sit among exposed

THE GETAWAY

OSLO

Those in the know are heading to this eco-minded

Scandi destination, named 2019’s European Green

Capital. And, with an index-topping quality of life,

a trip to Norway’s first city is sure to raise a smile

Hotel A merikalinjen

Oslo’s streets bathed in sunshine

Kollekted By

Oslo Opera House

Fuglen coffee shop

ESCAPE