In southern Norway, five meters below sea level, the restaurant designed by Snøhetta and run by chef Bernt Sætre combines architecture, scientific research, and haute cuisine in a sensory experience that brings man into dialogue with the ocean.
Beneath the rippling surface of the sea, where the light fades into shades of amber and indigo, there is a place where man sits at table with the ocean. It is not a dream, but a slow descent, almost like holding your breath, leading five meters below the water's surface, amid silent currents and creatures gliding past an immense glass wall. Under, at the southern tip of Norway, is not just a restaurant: it is a total immersion in a suspended and submerged world, where architecture, science, and cuisine come together to tell the story of the sea and its wonders.
The project
Overlooking the coast of Lindesnes in Agder County, Under is the result of a combination of signature cuisine, experimental architecture, and scientific research. Designed by Snøhetta, the restaurant looks like a sloping monolith that sinks into the coastal rock until it rests on the seabed. The name, in Norwegian, is a double entendre: it means both “under” and “wonder.”
The restaurant
Access is via an oak-paneled foyer that leads to the dining room, with a gradual transition of colors from soft pink to aqua green to indigo. A chromatic journey that evokes the sensation of a true immersion. Inside, forty guests can dine in front of a single, monumental window, where the seabed becomes a living backdrop: dancing seaweed, schools of fish crossing the field of vision, lights filtering and changing with the time and weather.
The outer walls, designed to withstand the force of the ocean, will eventually become an artificial reef, hosting marine life and integrating with the ecosystem. Because Under is also a research center: cameras and sensors constantly monitor marine life and conditions, providing valuable data for the protection of the area.
The gastronomic offering
In the kitchen, chef Bernt Sætre interprets the sea and the coast with hyper-local, seasonal, and often forgotten ingredients. Wild seaweed, Nordic shellfish, and less noble parts of fish become the protagonists of dishes that are true tales of depth and light. In the hushed silence that envelops the dining room, Under's dishes emerge like visions, each one a fragment of the sea told by skilled hands.
Halibut with yellow berries and fennel is a slow and luminous tide: the white flesh of the fish is caressed by the honeyed acidity of the small Arctic berries, while the fennel amplifies its freshness, like a breeze blowing across the waves. Scallops with black oats and Arctic kiwi reveal an unexpected dialogue: the sweet and juicy bite of the shellfish meets the toasted and earthy note of the dark grains, interrupted by the green and pungent spark of the kiwi, like a sudden laugh in a deep conversation.
Monkfish with celeriac and white asparagus plays on the light and shade of the season: the firm, compact flesh meets the earthy sweetness of celeriac and the crisp freshness of asparagus, like a tide that reveals and covers the seabed.
With each course, the option to choose an alcoholic or non-alcoholic pairing, designed to amplify the marine nuances, prolongs and enriches the sensory journey. Because Under is not just a restaurant, but an experiential metamorphosis: a descent into the heart of the ocean, where each dish is a sensory immersion and every glance beyond the glass is an invitation to discover what the sea holds.
Taste becomes exploration, the table a portal that opens up to another place, and images and aromas are stored in the memory, destined to resurface for a long time, like slow waves in the Norwegian sea.
CONTACTS
Under
4521 Båly, Norvegia
post@under.no
