Europe’s first underwater restaurant to debut in Norway

The global design firm Snohetta has revealed designs for the first underwater restaurant in Europe.

Part marine research center, the restaurant on the southern coast of Norway, near the village of Båly, will be called Under, a word that can also be translated as “wonder” in Norwegian. It’s scheduled to open in 2018.

No diving gear is required. The restaurant is actually only half sunk into the sea. With thick concrete walls, the monolith-like structure rests on the seabed, about five meters below the water’s surface, like a sunken periscope.

Guests enter from dry land and descend through three levels, including a champagne bar on the second floor that marks the transition from shore to sea. The restaurant seats 80 to 100 guests, with the main dining room at seabed level.

Unsurprisingly, the menu by Danish chef Nicolai Ellitsgaard Pedersen is seafood focused, with cod, lobster, mussels and a special locally sourced kelp that has the flavor of truffles.

Under is built to become an artificial mussel reef, with a surface that encourages mollusk growth. More mollusks will mean more marine life to put on a show.

Lighting on the seabed and from the restaurant will allow guests to see more of the action from the 11-by-4-meter acrylic window.

Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected] 

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