Crowdfunded restaurant to launch in Harrogate

Norwegian-inspired restaurant Norse is set to open officially tomorrow (8 April),

The Harrogate restaurant is opening on Swan Road, following a £50,000 refurbishment, funded via a Kickstarter campaign.

The 40-cover restaurant will feature Nordic-inspired cuisine, after graduating from the popup-style restaurant it shared with sister cafe Baltzersen’s.

It surpassed its Kicktsarter goals within the first 100 hours.

Norse picked up two AA rosettes, and listings in the Good Food Guide and Michelin Guide plus runner-up in the Observer Food Monthly Awards twice since its inception.

Paul Rawlinson, director of both Baltzersen’s and Norse, says: “I think we go to the point where co-existing with the cafe team was becoming more and more challenging whilst the equipment, working conditions and dining room were also limiting what we could provide for guests”

“Obviously it was a lot of hard work to set Norse up, get its name out there and concrete a regular customer base – but Norse was successful almost immediately, with a positive review from Jay Rayner after only six months.

“In terms of technical innovation, I primarily work front of house so I am excited about the wine preservation system we are installing. It will allow us to offer more wines by the glass whilst being confident that the condition of those wines will remain at their peak.”

Simon Jewitt, head chef and director of Norse says: “There are so many new and exciting things that the move brings but the fact we will have our own kitchen and work space rather than sharing one and having to move things around everyday is invaluable to us . We are going into the new venue with the same resourceful way of thinking that we’ve had to adopt over the years but we are going to apply it to putting more refinement into the food for the customer.”