Esben Holmboe Bang is head chef, co-owner and creative force behind Maaemo. He was born and raised in Copenhagen, but has spent most of his culinary career in Oslo. The Norwegian terroir is a relatively unknown treasure of the international culinary world, but it is something that Esben is passionate about exploring. Esben’s cuisine is focused on creating an experience around the clean, bright flavours of Norway, using entirely organic, biodynamic, or wild produce.
«We opened Maaemo to have something that we felt was the right way to let Norwegian nature shine through on the plate», explains Esben.
It’s a bold style of cooking that has won the young chef a legion of fans and a listing as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Chefs in the World. In 2012, just 15 months after opening, Maaemo was awarded two Michelin stars in its first ever mention in the prestigious guide, becoming the first, and only, restaurant in the Nordics to do so. In 2016 Maaemo was awarded a third Michelin star, making Esben one of the youngest chefs to hold Michelin’s highest accolade and the first ever in Norway to do so. Maaemo was also listed as one of the top 100 restaurants in the world at the 2015 World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards.
Esben’s playful tasting menu of over 20 courses takes Norwegian food and strips it back to its bare essentials before recomposing it in an entirely new narrative. A meal at Maaemo will transport guests on a breathtaking culinary tour of Norway that sees them travel from the temperate climes of the southerly Hvaler islands to the cold pristine waters of Norway’s West Coast and on to the expansive inland wilderness of Røros, as the tastes of Norway are brought to life on the plate.