Me (left) with Olaf.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson & CM Cordeiro 2018
It was an evening stroll that led to the serendipitous meeting with Olaf. It had been some years since we last met, and I was delighted to see him standing there with arms outstretched in a welcoming Hello! I returned the warm greeting. It being a chilly night, we noted that it would be tempting to make a cup of hot chocolate and get warm in a blanket with a good book. We agreed however that it was perhaps not something he should do.
I was in fact headed for dinner for the evening and our stroll ended along Sjøgata where it was said they had good pasta. Stepping into Pastafabrikken lends the feeling of stepping into an extended living room space. Relaxed, spacious and warm lit, the modular sofa and table setting makes that you could swap your living room area for their dining area for an evening out with friends or in the event that you would like to entertain a larger crowd outside of your own home.
The name of the restaurant Pastafabrikken when translated into English to mean The Pasta Factory, while not sounding too warm and appealing, I found out doesn’t quite do this place justice when it comes to serving Italian food in the Arctic Circle. The restaurant offers a comprehensive menu, catering to taste preferences of individuals in different age groups (their Barnemeny for example). We had their spaghetti alla diavola and a glass of red wine. The pasta sauce had a surprising complexity of flavours. Spiced with black pepper and crushed red pepper, the chicken diavola is a fillingly hearty meal for complementing that cold winter’s evening in Tromsø.
The evening stroll ended at Pastafabrikken at Sjøgata in Tromsø.
Spaghetti alla Diavola with a generous grating of Parmigiano Reggiano.
