Is Pink Fish restaurant Norway’s healthy, sustainable answer to McDonald’s?

Dining and serving space at Pink Fish, Norway
(Image credit: press)

Could salmon give the McNugget a run for its money? Norwegian chef and winner of the prestigious Bocuse d’Or Geir Skeie thinks so.

With co-founder Ronny Gjøse, he’s set up Pink Fish, a ‘fast-casual’ restaurant that offers top-quality Norwegian salmon certified farms, served in burgers, wraps, salads, hotpots and raw.

From fjord to fork – the tagline for Pink Fish

The brand’s logo, courtesy of Portland Design

(Image credit: courtesy of Portland Design)

The fledgling (or should that be fry?) brand debuted in Oslo and opens in Bergen in July; three more Oslo sites will be followed by more in Norway, and its first overseas outlet is earmarked for Singapore in spring 2019, with plans for China. ‘The large international expansion we are working towards will happen via franchise partners or joint ventures,’ says Gjøse.

The chain’s name, logo and interiors were created by London agency Portland Design, who also came up with the slogan ‘from fjord to fork’.

Table design at Pink Fish, Norway

The fish theme is present throughout the space, from the food to the furniture

(Image credit: press)

Diners in a rush can take a seat at benches, while those there to socialise sit at high-seated shared tables. In one corner, Portland has set up a cosy ‘hygge’ zone, for those with time on their hands. Timber abounds, and there are fishy hints in the aesthetics, like the engraved fish scale pattern on much of the furniture, and the angled wooden blocks on the walls, which are inspired by the structure of salmon skin.

As well as high streets, shopping centres and train stations, Pink Fish is keen to appear in airports. Portland has designed tables to accommodate the 80 per cent of airline passengers who travel alone. ‘It can sometimes seem a problem to ask to share tables,’ says Portland’s Lewis Allen, so the table tops have a 5cm-grove down their centre, to reassure a solitary diner that it’s OK to sit down.

Serving space at Pink Fish, Norway

The chain’s name, logo and interiors were designed by London-based agency Portland Design

(Image credit: press)

Dining space at Pink Fish, Norway

Top-quality Norwegian salmon is sourced from certified farms, served in burgers, wraps, salads, hotpots and raw

(Image credit: press)

Dining space at Pink Fish, Norway

The ‘Hygge’ zone 

(Image credit: press)

Dining space at Pink Fish, Norway

Timber is used throughout the dining space, featuring engraved fish scale patterns on much of the furniture

(Image credit: press)

Dining space at Pink Fish, Norway

Pink Fish is keen to expand into airports, Portland having designed tables to accommodate the 80 per cent of airline passengers who travel alone

(Image credit: press)

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Pink Fish website

Clare Dowdy is a London-based freelance design and architecture journalist who has written for titles including Wallpaper*, BBC, Monocle and the Financial Times. She’s the author of ‘Made In London: From Workshops to Factories’ and co-author of ‘Made in Ibiza: A Journey into the Creative Heart of the White Island’.