At Café Grensen in the heart of Oslo, everything revolves around dough, fermentation, and quality ingredients. For general manager Waldemar Jahnsen, pizza, bread, and fermentation are more than just food – they are the foundation of the café’s atmosphere and guest experience. With Moretti’s Neapolis pizza oven as the beating heart of the kitchen, Café Grensen has become a meeting place where coffee culture, bar culture, and food blend seamlessly into one holistic experience. A Concept Without a Concept When asked about the concept behind Café Grensen, Jahnsen smiles. “Café Grensen is in many ways a continental café. It’s timeless, and I would actually say we don’t really have a concept. We’re almost concept-free.” For Jahnsen, the goal isn’t to define a rigid theme but to recreate the feeling of European café culture. “I lived for several years in Portugal and worked with Spanish cuisine, but more than anything I love the culture of simply going to a café. The idea is that Café Grensen should be a meeting place – a spot people return to because it feels warm, informal, and inclusive.” Coffee, Beer, Wine – and Dough as the Golden Thread To be a true meeting place, you need the basics: good coffee, good beer, good wine – and, if you’re lucky, some good cocktails. But when it comes to food, the golden thread is dough. “We care about fermentation – whether it’s sourdough-based sandwiches or Neapolitan pizza cold-fermented for a minimum of four days. Dough is our red line, from cinnamon rolls and Berliner pastries to sourdough bread and pizza. Served with butter, cheeses, cured meats, and small plates, it ties everything together.” Pizza as a Social Anchor Why is pizza so central to the menu? Jahnsen points to its universal appeal. “Pizza is something everyone likes – whether you’re five or ninety-six. It’s inclusive, and it’s made for sharing. You can order small plates like pata negra ham or mortadella sandwiches, and then share a pizza on top of that. It becomes a fun and social experience.” The bestseller is the Diavola, inspired by Naples – a spicy classic with Calabrese salami. “We also sell a lot of pata negra, the world’s best ham, at a fair price. We want guests to feel just as welcome ordering a black coffee or a beer as they are sitting down for a full meal. Pizza makes sure nobody feels excluded.” The Neapolis Advantage To deliver pizza at the highest level, heat is everything. “We say: in crust we trust. To make the dough pop, you need the heat,” Jahnsen explains. That’s why they chose the Moretti Neapolis pizza oven. “Moretti was the first to create an electric oven capable of reaching extremely high temperatures. Neapolis gives us stable results, every single time. Gas or wood is fun, but it’s harder to maintain consistency. Neapolis gives us full control.” Design also mattered: “The oven has a nostalgic look, which fits us perfectly. We are a nostalgic café, but also very much in the present. It needs to be efficient and reliable, but also evoke a sense of homeliness.” A Historic Location with a Low Threshold The name Café Grensen is rooted in the history of the area. “We discovered the old Grensen Kafeen, one of the oldest cafés in the neighborhood, and decided to carry the name forward. A café should lower people’s shoulders – it’s the lowest threshold to enter anywhere. For us, it’s far more important to be a café and a meeting place than a restaurant.” And that’s exactly the feeling guests encounter: soft background music never too loud, a courtyard that Jahnsen calls “one of Oslo’s coziest,” and an atmosphere where it feels natural to drop by for either a coffee or a full pizza meal. Cozy First – Then Food and Drinks For Jahnsen, the order of priorities is crystal clear: “Number one: it has to be cozy. Number two: the people who work here. Number three: the restrooms. And only number four: the food and drinks – in that order.” He continues: “There are places in Oslo with bad food and drinks, but they’re still full because the atmosphere and the people are great. Atmosphere is what matters most. But when you add top-quality ingredients, professional equipment, and an oven like Neapolis, the experience becomes complete.” Collaboration with Berg & Dahl Café Grensen’s journey has also been shaped by collaboration. “Working with Berg & Dahl has been a very positive experience. Professional, attentive, and surprisingly smooth compared to other projects I’ve been part of. The cooperation between the construction process, the interior architect, and us as users worked extremely well. Andrei from Berg & Dahl was patient, listened carefully, and helped model the solutions. We felt truly supported throughout.” The entire process took two and a half years, and Jahnsen is proud of the results. “We had time to get things right, and we ended up with solutions that work in practice. For us, the most important thing is that the kitchen and bar are open and personal – there’s no hiding here. Everything is visible, and that’s what creates the atmosphere.” The Trinity of Café Grensen When asked to summarize what matters most, Jahnsen returns to his “holy trinity”: dough, tomato, and heat. “With San Marzano tomatoes, cold-fermented dough, and the heat from the Neapolis oven, we have everything we need. That’s the foundation of great pizza. The same applies to Café Grensen as a whole: food, drinks, and coziness. If one element falls away, the other two still stand.” And that, perhaps, is what makes Café Grensen more than just a café. It’s a place where warmth – both from the oven and in the atmosphere – is the most essential ingredient.
