Rising up in Spain, Alberto Lozano all the time discovered a way of calm within the kitchen. He was a hyperactive child, so his mother put him to work mixing cake batter or making meatballs. “The mess and the craziness of the kitchen calmed me down,” he recollects, talking to Observer in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, a small city far above the Arctic Circle. Svalbard embraces a Scandi appeal and aesthetic because of being a part of the Kingdom of Norway, however life right here will be difficult through the chilly winters and lengthy polar nights. The remoted vacation spot is without doubt one of the world’s northernmost cities and residential to only about 2,400 residents, in addition to the occasional polar bear.
It’s a far cry from Lozano’s dwelling nation, however his upbringing continues to be what drives him. “No matter my mother was doing was my first experience within the kitchen,” he says. “And it turned me into the chef that I’m right this moment.”
Today, Lozano totally embraces that kitchen craziness on the helm of Huset, a high-quality eating restaurant inbuilt Longyearbyen’s former city corridor. It was acquired by Hurtigruten Svalbard just a few years in the past, and the corporate employed Lozano, then working in France, to return in and refine the restaurant, which caters to locals and guests alike. Lozano incorporates some Spanish affect into the revolutionary 16-course menu, however primarily attracts his inspiration from the Arctic itself. The dishes embrace reindeer in varied types, together with a chorizo, and even seal, served in small, cleverly-presented bites. Lots of the substances come from Svalbard itself, a distant place only a few individuals have visited because of the distance and value of journey, to not point out the adventurous spirit wanted to outlive the lengthy winter.
“If you come right here, you’re going to higher perceive the Arctic,” Lozano explains. “We’re going to indicate you what we do right here. We’re going to elucidate the strategies and the concepts and the place they’re coming from.”
Though Huset is positioned at 78 levels north, it has welcomed some notable visitors, together with Tom Cruise and the crew of the upcoming Mission: Not possible – Lifeless Reckoning Half Two. The actor initially got here by Huset to see the previous movie projector housed in one of many upstairs rooms, however finally booked in for dinner. “We’ve got a non-public eating room and a wine cellar with a desk, however he ate within the eating room with everybody else and was very humble,” Lozano says. “However we’ve got a variety of necessary individuals who come right here, both politicians or documentarians. The World Seed Financial institution is right here, so there are a variety of necessary individuals coming to Svalbard.”
Lozano speaks with Observer about constructing a menu from scratch within the Arctic, utilizing native substances and his hopes for Huset’s future.
Observer: How did you find yourself in Svalbard?
Alberto Lozano: I’ve been answering this query lots, however I all the time give it some thought as a result of there’s all the time one thing to mirror on once more. Clearly, my life map drew me right here. [Before this] I used to be within the Alps for 10 years. I actually benefit from the winter and the roughness of chilly and snow. In order that half additionally drove me right here as a result of I understood that the chilly is what I like. The opposite half was the undertaking. The undertaking could be very formidable. After the provide, all the pieces made sense in my head, and [my wife and I] determined to provide it a go. We’ve been right here greater than two years. And I prefer it increasingly more.
What do you want about it?
Loads of issues. On the actions facet, Svalbard gives a variety of issues in the event you can see them. You really want to push to seek out them. Winter could be very excessive. However I’ve an excellent good friend doing expeditions, so we take a snowmobile and sleep exterior and are available again three days later feeling extra alive than ever. Summer season gives a variety of foraging. We gather mushrooms. This week we picked mountain sorrel, which is a plant that grows right here on the island, and we’ve got a license to choose it. You’ll be able to take a ship to see the whales. There are such a lot of hikes round which might be so stunning. All the things occurs so quick. As a hyperactive particular person, it’s my excellent place.
Clearly, to cook dinner right here has been a problem, and I say that in a great way as a result of I had misplaced the arrogance that I had the earlier yr. Wherever I went, I had roughly the identical kitchen and the identical produce. If one thing obtained damaged it might get fastened. Right here, all the pieces is difficult. I say I misplaced confidence in a great way as a result of I began to be like a child once more once I began within the kitchen. I obtained new proteins and obtained deeper into preservation strategies. It’s a must to return to the cowboy days when one thing is damaged and you recognize nobody will come to repair it. All of this stuff collectively are why I liked Svalbard.
So in Svalbard, you want a particular license in an effort to forage for substances?
Yeah, we’ve got to ask yearly. The place could be very strict, and I agree that we have to handle it. So all the pieces we need to gather, we have to test if we have to ask for a license. For mushrooms, it’s okay, as an example, however for mountain sorrel we’d like the license. We have to say what number of kilos we’re going to take. We have to take it in a sure approach. Identical for seaweed. All the things could be very properly managed. We’re not allowed to take flowers at any level. I’ve a license to get two meters sq. of moss, however I would like to provide precise coordinates of the place I’m going to take it and to mark it. However I do like that as a result of it comes as a part of the storytelling. We will be ambassadors of how we attempt to handle the place.
What was right here while you arrived?
The corporate behind us [Hurtigruten Svalbard] took over [Huset] two and a half years in the past. That’s once I began. So, there was a kitchen. There was a menu run by an previous chef from the previous firm who stayed with us. He stayed for a short while with that menu till I got here. However once I got here, I turned all the pieces the other way up. They had been doing round 5 – 6 dishes [for the tasting menu]. Now we’re as much as 16, and my signature is on each dish. However I’ve tried to respect the constructing and respect Svalbard.
Do you’ve gotten a giant concentrate on sustainability?
I used to be a part of a meals convention not way back, and everybody was smiling like, “What’s sustainability? My grandmother has been doing that her complete life.” And now it’s fashionable. I feel my kitchen has been pushed in that approach since I began. To make use of the entire plant or animal is a should in Spain and it has all the time been. I choose to assume we do the correct factor with the meals. But in addition right here, the rubbish has to journey [to Norway], in order that will get me pondering much more about what I can use. As an illustration, we serve meals in bones. I make inventory with the bones and now we’re additionally serving a dish on prime of them. I don’t have to purchase a plate for it. With all of the paper within the kitchen, we create a paste that we are able to add to the soil of the vegetation we develop right here. An excellent good friend of mine, Ola Klepp, a Michelin-starred chef from Norway, urged it.
How a lot analysis did you need to do on Nordic delicacies when creating the menu?
I had two or three months simply to expertise the island and to know issues once I arrived. It was good to have this handbrake once I arrived and to get to know the place. I did a variety of finding out. I didn’t know a lot concerning the proteins from right here, though there are similarities. Ptarmigan is a chicken I’d been cooking in Spain, so I might play with that. However in fact, seal and Svalbard reindeer had been new. Identical with wolffish. There have been a variety of issues I had by no means touched. Identical with the preservation strategies. I had used some, however right here, they’re a should. I needed to open some books.
The place do you get the meat and fish?
We don’t get 100% of our proteins from Svalbard, however our restrict is the Arctic. We’ve got our personal fishermen for cod and wolffish. One other good good friend is fishing shrimp. We’ve got a number of hunters we labored with as a result of we’d like lots for the entire yr, and all the pieces is available in the identical epic month, round October and November. We obtain 40 reindeer. We obtain 400 or 500 hundred ptarmigan. We obtain 1,000 kilos of cod. All the things occurs in a reasonably quick span of time.
And you then protect it?
Yeah. I get all of it just about all of sudden. We do get some cod over the yr. And there may be some good sea urchin in Norway.
What about seal?
I do know it may be a bit controversial. We’ve got a variety of seal right here, so there isn’t a restrict for looking seal for meals right here. The unhealthy notion of it comes from the ‘90s once they had been hunted only for the pores and skin. However we don’t do this. We’ve got very selective hunters, and they’re very cautious and solely go to get one seal with out disturbing the others. They create me the meat, and the pores and skin and blubber is used for the huskies as meals. Right here, all the pieces is protected and all the pieces is sensible. It’s humorous to say, however I consider seal because the pig of the Arctic. It’s an animal with a variety of fats. We use two or three over the yr. Even when we weren’t right here, they’d hunt seal for themselves and for the canine, so I feel the cycle could be very well-defined and I’m proud to be cooking this Arctic protein.
When you want olive oil or a sure spice, how do you get these?
I attempt to use much less. There are some things we do use, like paprika. There’s a chorizo that we make, and the Spanish paprika is essential, and I deliver it in my suitcase once I go to Spain. I attempt to deliver dry merchandise. However I don’t want protein from some other place. I’d by no means use butter in a Spanish kitchen, however right here I do as a result of I can’t deliver all of the olive oil I want to use. I’m utilizing seed oil. I’m utilizing Røros butter, which is a really well-known butter in Norway. I don’t say that all the pieces we do is zero kilometer, as a result of there are issues that don’t develop right here. I can’t purchase lemons from Norway, for instance. However I’m very pleased with what we use. We don’t take the simplest approach out, which is to order. We are saying, “What can we do with what we’ve got?”
Do individuals come to the restaurant all yr?
Sure, though, in fact, there are seasons. From January to June, it’s the excessive season. It’s expeditions within the winter. In summer time, we’ve got a slower June as a result of it is extremely slushy with some snow, however July, August and September are excellent, with a variety of choices on the island. And October and November are looking season, nevertheless it’s a decrease season in November and December. And that’s okay as a result of we’ve got lots to do, like preservation.
Would it not be doable for Huset to get a Michelin star, being in Svalbard?
Oh my God, I hope sure. We’re working for that, clearly. I work for myself and for my cooks’ happiness and my visitors’ happiness, as a result of if the opposite cooks are comfortable, you’ll really feel it. However sure, it’s a want. We’re working onerous. And let’s see what occurs. I feel and hope that Svalbard is a part of Norway [for Michelin], and we are able to have them come attempt it out. It could be probably the most northern Michelin star on the earth. However we’re nonetheless humble. We’ve got our ft on the ground.
Are there another eating places in Scandinavia you’ve been impressed by?
Restaurant K2 from Stavanger [in Norway]. I met the chef, Ola Klepp, at a meals convention in Tenerife about meals and local weather change. It was a really attention-grabbing meals convention. My profile shouldn’t be the profile of a typical head chef in Norway, and in these high-quality eating locations, it is going to all the time be slightly more difficult for me. However once I met him, I spotted I used to be not alone. He’s a brilliant good man, and we share the identical philosophy. We had just a few pretty days collectively, and we couldn’t cease speaking about what we do. He’s youthful than me, however he’s like my little hero in Norway.
The place else do you suggest consuming in Svalbard?
I like Funken. It’s a really good menu. There’s a really good champagne assortment, and the views are improbable. It’s place for me to hang around once I’m not working. And I all the time say that you shouldn’t come simply to Huset. It is best to come to Svalbard. Don’t get on a flight simply to eat right here. Benefit from the island. Be an envoy of the doable change we are able to all take part in. Come right here to know how stunning it’s and how briskly the ice is melting. Don’t come on a aircraft simply to eat with us—come to see all the pieces. That’s my want.
