You can imagine how excited I was when I learnt that a Nordic inspired pop-up was launching at Liverpool’s fab Baltic Market just in time for Christmas.
I’ve written about my love for the Baltic Market before, and what a great place it is to eat, meet and socialise, whether you’re a local, or visitor, to this great, creative and exciting city I call home.
So last week when SKAUS opened for business (how amazing and appropriate is that name!) I got in touch with founders Dan and Josh for a quick chat.
Here’s what they had to tell me:
How did SKAUS begin and what was your inspiration?
We became really good mates at work and had both dreamt for a long time of one day running our own restaurant. I’m front of house and sales, and Josh’s experience lies as a chef, so together our skills complement each other perfectly.
Before SKAUS was born we played around with a lot of ideas, but it was after watching Magnus Nilsson’s episode on Chef’s Table in which he documented his restaurant Faviken that we both fell in love with Scandinavian food. We also realised pretty early on that with its Nordic seafaring heritage Liverpool was the perfect place to do this.
SKAUS was born from about 18 months of research, study and discussions.
What for you are the main differences and similarities between English and Nordic food?
The main similarities are our seasons. The produce we get here at specific points of the year is incredibly similar to that of the Nordic countries, so making a hyper-seasonal menu that fits in with the New Nordic food ethos is really achievable.
Although Scandi food does have its big hearty dishes, a lot of the food is incredibly clean and fresh and thrives off subtlety. I think it’s the subtlety that offers a different slant to the traditional British dishes we’re used to.
Why do you think Nordic food is so popular right now?
We’re currently riding a bit of a Scandi wave, especially in the food sector, but also regards fashion and design. The Nordic cities, in particularly Copenhagen, are becoming a bit of a European food hub which is totally warranted because some of the best restaurants in the world currently operate there.
Foodies are always looking for new and innovative flavours and dishes and I think Scandinavian food is still quite underrepresented in the UK.
Visually and flavour wise the Scandinavians are really pushing the bar up higher than it’s been before, and it’s natural for people to identify with that and want to sample it for themselves.
What can people expect from SKAUS?
People can expect seasonal dishes sourced as locally as possible with flavours and tastes inspired by the Nordic countries.
While at Baltic Market we’re offering a street food menu, but we also offer formal restaurant experiences and catering hire for family and corporate events too
What are the SKAUS plans for 2018?
Within the next 12-18 months the ultimate aim is to have our own permanent venue, which will be supported by our 3 month stint at Baltic Market. So watch this space, we’ll hopefully have some big news to share with you over the next year or so!
After talking so much about food my husband and I were extremely hungry so we just had to get involved. From their latest menu (which will change every month) we went for the obligatory Scouse, the Hasselback potatoes and a side of SKAUS pickles.
Every mouthful was sensational, with the softness of the traditional Scouse balanced by, as Dan said, the subtle but unmistakable Nordic flavours of mustard and dill.
As the snow fell outside everything came together perfectly to create a truly Nordic twist to this Liverpool experience.
If you would like to know more about SKAUS, (and let’s be honest why wouldn’t you?), then click here.
Thank you so much to Dan and Josh for chatting with me.
All images by Nicola Capper.
Love the flavours of Nordic food. Great to see it becoming more popular in the UK.
I have to admit I am not familiar with nordic food but I am a big foodie and would love to try some.