When Dag Tjersland first opened the doors to restaurant Baltazar down town in the 1990s, few could have predicted the impact it would have on Oslo’s restaurant scene. Chef Tjersland ran the legendary Baltazar for 25 years. Now he has arrived on Grünerløkka with flames, great ingredients, wine, and a simple yet elegant Sicilian kitchen by the Akerselva River. We are talking about Palazzo Comunale (The town hall).
25 Years at Kirkeristen
For a quarter of a century, the restaurant in the busy center of Oslo was a gathering place for people seeking warmth, personality, wine, atmosphere, and food prepared with respect for the ingredients. Now Tjersland is back, this time on Grünerløkka.
– We’ve had a great start, and the people of Løkka will soon find us, he tells Visit Løkka.
In Brenneriveien, between Vulkan Food Hall and Blå, a new chapter is taking shape.
– Palazzo Comunale was not created as a concept chasing trends, he says, adding that it is built on the experience, people, and flavours that made Tjersland one of Oslo’s most distinctive restaurateurs.
Simple and Elegant
Here you will find a kitchen that is simple and elegant. Flames from the grill. Fish, squid, vegetables, and carefully selected ingredients treated with precision. Wines from Sicily and Piedmont. Long tables. Loud laughter. A place where the atmosphere is just as important as what is served on the plate.
– Palazzo doesn’t try to be perfect. But it does try to be completely genuine,” he says. Behind the project is a team that is now building something exciting on Grünerløkka—a restaurant with identity, substance, and personality. A place that can be a neighbourhood restaurant on a Tuesday evening and full of life late at night, when the sounds of Akerselva drift through the area.
Not About Nostalgia
This is not about nostalgia. But perhaps about something even more important – the feeling that people who have spent their entire lives in the restaurant business still believe in genuine hospitality, the long meal, and places that make guests want to return.
Baltazar has found its way back. This time on Grünerløkka.
With its beautiful and distinctive premises, its close connection to the Akerselva River, and a wonderful outdoor seating area, everything is in place for many memorable evenings in Brenneriveien.
