St. Lars is a grill-restaurant in the borough Bislett in Oslo, Norway. It is owned by international TV-chef Andreas Viestad,Dagbladet - Å starte restaurant gjøres med hjertet, ikke med hodet Face2Face communications agency founder Per Meland and Stargate-producer Tor Erik Hermansen. The restaurant is known for using meat from horsesNRK - Hestekjøtt er bedre enn sitt rykte, mener ekspertene and bear, Pepperkorn - St. Lars and even pigs from Bygdø Royal Farm's petting zoo. Everything apart from their horse tartar has been cooked on a custom made grill.Nettavisen - TV-kokk Viestad frastjålet supergrill The cuisine is based on serving raw or grilled food with an emphasis on Norwegian produce and unusual cooking techniques. Dagens Næringsliv - SE NORGES HARDESTE GRILLERES HETESTE GRILLTIPS The owners have tried to bring some of the ambience from the New York-restaurant The Spotted Pig, owned by Hermansen's StarRoc partner Jay-Z, to their restaurant.
On several occasions St. Lars has collaborated with winemaker and musician Sigurd Wongraven from SatyriconVinofil - Matbegivenhet i Oslo neste uke Dagsavisen - Friskt pust fra Wongraven on special music and food weeks that has included dj-sets from artists like Knut Schreiner from Turbonegro.
For Christmas 2012 St. Lars bought all the pigs from the petting zoo at Bygdøy Royal Estate and had them as their main attraction on their annual Christmas menu.
Clientele and awards The restaurant is frequented by notables such as Queen Sonja of Norway and the former Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg. In 2012 the restaurant was voted "restaurant of the year" by Natt & Dag. Natt&Dag - Vinnerne av Natt&Dag-prisen: Oslo The restaurant has received favorable reviews from all major Norwegian newspapers. Dagbladet - Grillgodis på Bislett VG - St. Lars Natt&Dag - Årets Beste Oslo 2011 Dagens Næringsliv - St. Lars tåler steken Dagbladet - Jakten på den hellige grill Dagens Næringsliv - Grilleres hetestes grilltips Ditt Oslo - Kjærlighetsbarn på grillen Dagen Næringsliv - Grillpatruljen
Horse meat During the "horse meat scandal" or the 2013 meat adulteration scandal that shocked European consumers on the beginning of 2013, St. Lars' horse beef tartar became their best-selling starter dish.VG - Ekspertene enige: - Hest er best! Owner Andreas Viestad got a lot of media attention claiming that correctly prepared horse beef was the best meat to be had.
Grill stolen In the morning hours of June 6, 2012 the restaurant's custom made grill was stolen by four men in a van. Viestad who called the grill "the Rolls Royce of grills", told the press he thought it was an ordered theft. The grill was never recovered.
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