Andreas Viestad

Born in Oslo, Norway, Andreas has traveled extensively around the world and lived in many different countries, including Zimbabwe, Zanzibar, and Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. He also spends a great deal of time in his house outside Cape Town in South Africa, where he and his family escape the cold, Scandinavian winters for a few weeks every year.

Andreas is one of Norway’s most famous TV-chefs and a respected food writer. He brings something different to the table – a unique combination of culinary and cultural expertise. He stands apart from many of the other chefs that you see on TV in the sense that cooking with Andreas is not only about the how-to of cooking. It is also a rich learning experience regarding the traditions, culture, and lifestyle of both the old and modern-day Norway. He gives you the fascinating story behind every ingredient and dish.

An Established Food Writer As a culinary expert, Andreas has written about food as a journalist for leading Norwegian newspapers and radio stations. In 2003, he published his first English language cookbook titled “Kitchen of Light: New Scandinavian Cooking”.

In 2007, the prestigious World Gourmand Awards honored Viestad for “Best Foreign Cookbook in the World” for his work, Where Flavor Was Born: Recipes and Culinary Travels Along the Indian Ocean Spice Route. Andreas has long been Norway’s premier food writer. He has also been a columnist for the Washington Post. The column, entitled “The Gastronomer”, focused on food and science from a home cook’s perspective.

A New Approach to Cooking Andreas combines the elegant simplicity of Provencal and Tuscan cooking with the raw materials of his native Scandinavia. The result is a completely new approach to cooking – a range of delicious modern dishes with a history dating back to the Vikings.

Fun, Simple and Flavorful Andreas have a natural talent for seamlessly incorporating a modern twist into traditional cooking, and for enriching new recipes with time-tested traditional ingredients. His bottom line philosophy is that cooking should always be fun, simple and flavorful.

Restaurateur and Founder of a Culinary Center In January 2011, Andreas opened the doors to his new restaurant in Oslo, St. Lars. The menu is heavy on meats and the kitchen aim to highlight the quality of “lesser” cuts that are not so much used, but filled with flavor. The restaurant is named after St. Lawrence (St. Lars in Norwegian), the patron saint of rotisserie chefs, who was a deacon in Rome in the 3rd century. He achieved martyr status after being placed on a griddle over burning embers, and his famous last words were: “I am done, turn me over and have a bite”. Fittingly enough, Saint Lars is also the official patron of comedians.

2011 was a busy year for Andreas. In September, he opened Geitmyra Culinary Center for Children with the help of great many supporters and volunteers. Geitmyra is an old farm in the middle of Oslo, which now has been transformed into a place where kids can learn about healthy eating, and spend time gardening in order to understand how vegetables, fruits and different herbs develop and grow from seeds into something we eat. In other words, the center tries to give children of all ages a chance to find out where our food comes from.