In the middle of a fjord: The floating iris restaurant

DW (English)

By dining in the middle of the water, maybe you'll put more thought into sustainable fishing. That's the idea behind Salmon Eye. This floating sphere boasts a restaurant and exhibition.

Transcript

00:00 What is this strange metal sphere glistening brightly in a Norwegian fjord?

00:12 And why does it attract architecture fans as well as foodies?

00:23 The Salmon Eye is an art piece, an architectural marvel, and a dining experience all in one.

00:29 It's the brainchild of Sandre Eide, the CEO of his family's salmon farming company, Eide

00:34 Fjordbruk.

00:35 But what exactly is the idea behind such a construction?

00:40 The purpose of Salmon Eye is to motivate people, to inspire people to do more sustainable seafood.

00:48 We call it a mark for sustainable sea development.

00:53 How did it end up here in the middle of Norway's Hardingefjord?

00:56 So it's actually floating in the middle of the fjord and it's anchored to the bottom

01:01 of the fjord and it's up to almost 1000 meters deep.

01:06 The fish-eye shaped building was brought to life by the Danish firm Kvoning Design.

01:10 At 1000 square meters, it is engineered to withstand waves of up to 5 meters high.

01:18 It is covered in more than 9000 steel plates mimicking fish scales.

01:22 And of course, it resembles a salmon eye, also meant to represent the idea of seeing

01:26 things from a different point of view.

01:29 Its round design is also reflected inside.

01:35 So it's very important for us that we bring the inside out.

01:44 So if you have such a curve and such a special building, it was very important for us to

01:49 also bring all the elements inside.

01:52 So it's almost no straight line in the entire building.

01:55 An exhibition space is located 3 meters underwater.

02:01 The focus here is about how the global food industry can become more sustainable and the

02:05 role which aquaculture can play in this.

02:11 These issues are reflected in the menu at the Iris Restaurant, which opened in June

02:14 of 2023.

02:19 The mastermind behind the Iris Restaurant lives on the nearby island of Snølsveitø.

02:25 Meet Annika Madsen.

02:27 No, she's not a boat captain, but the head chef of Iris.

02:33 She fell in love with the concept of sustainable dining while working in her home country of

02:37 Denmark.

02:40 Just like for anybody else, the only way for Annika to reach the restaurant is by boat.

02:47 It would definitely be easier just to open in the nearby town, but I think it's the

02:52 beauty of this project and a part of the reason why I couldn't say no to it.

02:57 So it's really important that we bring out the story about us bringing the guests to

03:02 the ingredients rather than the other way around.

03:05 And for that, obviously we serve a lot of seafood.

03:10 The Iris Restaurant's mission revolves around sourcing food locally.

03:16 This way, Annika can craft a sustainable 18-course menu derived directly from the sea and surrounding

03:22 land.

03:25 One of the dishes that embodies this idea is called 500 meters.

03:30 Every ingredient, like blue mussels, wild juniper, crab bouillon and seaweed is sourced

03:35 within a 500-meter radius from here.

03:44 Annika wants people to appreciate the ingredients and resources that are available all around

03:48 them just as much as she does.

03:53 The mission with Iris is to showcase unique ingredients and maybe some less popular ingredients

04:01 that have not been in the spotlight so much.

04:04 Maybe some of those things can lead to a greener future.

04:08 A culinary experience in extraordinary surroundings, Iris offers food for thought and has just

04:14 been honored with a German Design Award for excellent architecture.

04:17 (upbeat music)

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