Like dining at a friend’s house – in Norway Inside a charming, yellow little house in the city centre of Sandnes in Norway, owner Ingeborg Anzjøn offers guests a different dining experience. “Fira is a home restaurant. It means that I invite you into my own living room for a private meal,” Anzjøn explains. Everything on the menu is homemade and based around classic, Nordic cuisine with inspiration from the Mediterranean kitchen, served in a homely and relaxed atmosphere.
being able to offer my guests something personal and unique.” With a name deriving from the local dialect’s pronunciation of the number four, which is the street number, the private restaurant is now a popular spot in town.
By Ingrid Opstad | Photos: Anne Lise Norheim and Eirik Anzjøn
With a background in interior architecture, and having previously co-owned a restaurant, Ingeborg Anzjøn needed a change when times were tough in the Norwegian economy a few years ago. She has always been passionate about preparing meals and hosting dinner parties for friends and family, something she decided to create a business around. “For me, the personal touch is key. I like to stay in people’s homes when travel50 | Issue 127 | August 2019
ling, for instance, to get a real sense of the country. So I thought it would be great to bring that further into the restaurant industry. This way, tourists can really see what it’s like inside a typical Norwegian home, while enjoying both traditional and new flavours. I want them to feel like they are attending Sunday dinner at their friend’s house,” she explains. “In a sense, it was risky; the idea revolves around my home, my food and myself. But it has been a success so far, and I’m enjoying
Owner Ingeborg Anzjøn.