Anika Madsen & Nico Danielsen, Iris
Anika Madsen, head chef, and Nico Danielsen, general manager, at Iris in Rosendal, the spectacular restaurant shaped as a salmon’s eye in the Hardanger fjord in Norway, how do you collaborate with your producers?
– We’re located far away from most other places and it’s hard to organize their deliveries to us. This means we have to create our ways – we cannot collaborate or get advice. But the longer we are here for the more people get to know us. During berry season we will get a text message on Instagram from someone saying: “Hi! I have lots of berries, would you like some?” And a fisherman stopped by yesterday and asked if we wanted to buy some of the fresh catch – we could see them picking up the cages just outside of the restaurant. A hunter who works 10 kilometers from us reached out in a similar way. Friends/families neighbors helping out. We are also very lucky we have an assistant head chef, also chief of logistics – he speaks to all the suppliers and organize so that all our different producers delivers to our suppliers so that they can bring the stuff for us. Plus, there is a lot of friends and family helping out!
Isn’t it hard to operate that way?
– We have to be very open to changes throughout the delivery chain, we have to respect that if a produce is out of stock, we need to replace it. This is why we value honesty, and to be updated all the time.
