Madonna, Oslo – a Munch name, an international plate

Madonna occupies a quiet stretch of Operagata in Bjørvika, close enough to the MUNCH museum that its name is no accident: it borrows that of Edvard Munch's most recognisable painting, which moved into the new museum building in 2020. The restaurant opened in September 2023, the work of Sara Johansson and Svein Trandem, the pair previously behind Einer, the restaurant that carried a MICHELIN Green Star before it closed at the turn of 2024. At Madonna they turned instead to small plates for sharing, built on flavours from across the world rather than staying inside a Nordic frame, served in a room the owners describe as relaxed, honest and with a touch of cheek. It is listed in the MICHELIN Guide, selected for its Modern Cuisine and marked as a moderate spend, the kind of recognition that sends curious diners past the Opera House and into Operagata 17.

01The room and the setting

Black marble and white walls set the backdrop, interrupted by art that leans towards provocation rather than postcard Nordic calm. Guests are met at the door by the restaurant's own version of Madonna, a crimson-haloed piece painted in part with human blood by the artist Morten Viskum, brought in through the owners' interior designer Lars Hole.

Madonna sits in the heart of Bjørvika with a view over the waterfront. The room seats seven at the bar and forty at the tables, rising to eighty once the terrace opens for summer. The owners say the sunsets seen from the tables turn the whole room a shade of pink most evenings — reason enough, on a clear night, to ask for a seat by the glass.

02The owners and the chef

Sara Johansson, a Swedish-trained chef and sommelier who moved to Norway in 2008 and cut her teeth at the Michelin-starred Le Canard and at Ekstedt in Stockholm, co-owns Madonna with Svein Trandem. Together they opened Einer in 2018, a restaurant that won a MICHELIN Green Star before closing at the end of 2023; Madonna was their next move, away from a fixed Nordic idea and towards a kitchen without borders.

Insider tip

Selected in the MICHELIN Guide; book ahead or try the bar for walk-ins with the full menu.

The kitchen today is led by chef Balazs Berta, who plates dishes such as a lacquered tart with comté. The style he inherited borrows freely across borders — tacos beside chawanmushi — matched by an equally eclectic wine list. Madonna entered the MICHELIN Guide not long after it opened.

03The cooking

There is no fixed concept here, only a kitchen that picks up ideas as it goes and lets guests build their own meal from them. Diners can put together their own menu, from a few snacks at the bar to a full five-course spread. Every dish draws on a different corner of the world, built around Norwegian ingredients.

On the current dinner menu that means oysters with sake and kaffir lime, hamachi with rhubarb and cucumber, and a potato galette topped with Hitra crab, espelette pepper and radish, sitting alongside turbot with scorzonera and sauce vierge, chicken with Jerusalem artichoke and truffle, and a straight-up entrecôte with chimichurri and gnocchi.

04Wine and drinks

Johansson's own training as a sommelier keeps the list rooted in classic producers, though natural wine finds its way in too, and the selection is changed often rather than left to settle. It is the kind of list built by someone who has poured for Michelin-level tables before and has no interest in playing it safe.

05What to order

Start with the oysters in sake and kaffir lime, or the fried shrimp toast, then let the potato galette with Hitra crab lead into the turbot with scorzonera and sauce vierge. For a full table, the chicken with Jerusalem artichoke and truffle or the entrecôte with chimichurri and gnocchi both hold their own. Finish with the miso brownie, served with blackcurrant and coffee, or the day's cheese on brioche with gooseberries.

06When to go and booking

Madonna opens Monday to Thursday from 16.00 to 23.00 and Friday to Saturday from 12.00 to 23.00, with the kitchen closing at 20.00 on Mondays and 21.00 the rest of the week. On Fridays and Saturdays a separate lunch menu runs from midday to three in the afternoon. Larger parties of more than six can order a fixed four-course menu for the whole table at 850 NOK per person; walk-ins are taken at the bar, where the full menu is served.

07The neighbourhood

The owners had already settled on the name Madonna before Bjørvika got its own oversized Madonna sculpture, raised nearby by Tracey Emin. The restaurant sits a short walk from the Oslo Opera House and from MUNCH, in a stretch of waterfront that has become one of the city's more serious dining addresses. Johansson points to neighbours such as Maaemo doing well within their own segment, part of what she sees as an increasingly attractive run of restaurants along this part of the fjord.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.