Now Serving: Hygge

Cafes and restaurants across the state are taking a page from the Scandinavian playbook

words by michael colbert
photos by s. østergaard, s. phillips, g. rybus, gunnar's icelandic hot dogs

I met my friend Andy through a friend set—up. We had gotten together for drinks at Friends & Family, and I learned that Andy and his wife had just relocated to the state from Brooklyn. After meandering through discussion on writing, travel, and our city, we stumbled upon something surprising—they had moved to Portland in search of “the most Danish place” in the United States. 

It’s a comparison I can, fairly quickly, comprehend, and I’ve watched it become increasingly real over the last five years. A highly walkable city where outdoor activities are easily accessible and dinner at some of its highest end restaurants can become quite a splurge, Portland has a certain Scandinavian je ne sais quoi to it. Summers offer deliciously long nights and winters a chance to hibernate. Saunas are proliferating across the state, from Kennebunk to Denmark. An appreciation for Nordic life seems a smart choice for people who live in Vacationland when the tourists leave and winter stretches into March (or April). 

“Maine's economy and general energy are really focused on summer,” says Izabel Nielsen, co-owner of Portland’s Washington Baths, a modernist sauna in the city’s East Bayside neighborhood. “Mainers go so hard in the summer, either working, providing food for people, or socializing, and winter is this drought of energy.”

Nielsen and co-owner Asher Woodworth sought to create a place where people could come together, where “there was some sense of social connection, care, ritual, and nourishment in your own neighborhood, something that fed you throughout the winter months.” Born to a Danish father, Nielsen spent a year as a student in Denmark and found that culture had organically grown around the winter months. 

“I felt this big winter energy that was actually quite quiet, but everyone was very held,” says Nielsen. “There was always something to do––a place to gather, food being made. There’s this quality of being held in the darkness that was very inspiring and comforting.”

As people throughout Maine have embraced the teachings of Nordic cultures, Scandinavian flavors have found their way into kitchens across the state too. At Washington Baths, Nielsen runs a “one-woman kitchen” where she cooks dishes that fit within the sauna’s greater mission—nourishing foods that people can depend on. Their dal has become a staple of the menu and a key part of regulars’ bathing rituals. 

The sauna bread was inspired by dense, sweet, malted rye breads that Nielsen and Woodworth continually encountered while in Finland. Nielsen experimented with recipes upon her return and recreated it for their menu, serving it every day for the last five years. 

Bagged treats from Sødt

“It's super grounding,” she said. “That’s something that you get out of a rye, peasanty bread. It also has this sweetness that’s unexpected but is a grounding bite.”

Gunnar’s Icelandic Hot Dogs

Iceland has their own version of sauna bread, baked the geothermal way—that is, buried in a hole in black, volcanic sand for 24 hours. For another Icelandic bite in Maine, follow Gunnar’s Icelandic Hot Dog cart to local events and markets. Taking inspiration from Icelandic pylsa, Gunnar’s partnered with the Sausage Kitchen in Lisbon Falls to make their own custom brat in the spirit of Iceland’s signature lamb, pork, and beef blends. An everything-dog gets topped with the full slew of homemade condiments: apple ketchup, red onion, Icelandic remoulade, pylsusinnep (a specific type of sweet brown mustard), and cronions (crispy, deep-fried onions). 

In Brunswick, Ben Gatchell, owner of coffee shop Dog Bar Jim, also found something comforting to the Nordic palette and added the “bork bork pork” to his selection of sought after breakfast sandwiches. Wanting something warm and autumnal, he looked to the Vikings and serves Swedish meatloaf with spiced aioli, lingonberry jam, cheese, and banana peppers on local focaccia. 

While Scandinavian dishes and flavors may be warm and comforting, the rituals they embody also become part of the culinary experience. Saco’s café and microbrewery, Fika, takes its name from the Swedish tradition of the coffee break, pairing a pastry and beverage with a moment to slow down and treat yourself. In the Midcoast, the Alna Store is partnering with Newcastle’s Waterstruck Wellness to offer an “après-sauna” tasting menu this winter. Following a two-hour sauna and spa session, guests can enjoy four courses “designed to nourish and restore” and may include bone broth, lion’s mane, smoked Maine sea salt, and heirloom beans.  

At Portland’s Sødt—Danish for “sweet”—sisters Nikoline and Signe Østergaard seek to share another Danish custom with locals. 

“In Denmark, we have a tradition that on Fridays you go to a candy store, make your little bag, go home, and eat it in front of the TV, play a video game or a board game with your friends, your parents, or grandparents,” says Nikoline. 

“It comes from hygge, which has been very popular in the U.S. the last couple of years,” she adds. “It’s a tradition that’s in your soul as a Scandinavian.”

Though hygge (pronounced HOO-guh) doesn’t have a direct translation in English, it’s this feeling of comfort, coziness, and contentment. The sisters grew up between Denmark and the United States and opened the candy shop with their mother, Liz. Growing up between countries, they saw that friends in the States were curious about Scandinavian candies’ distinctive tastes and textures. Østergaard emphasized that these sweets are made with ingredients that compare favorably to American confections, as most of these European candies are made without GMOs or red dyes. 

The sisters watched Nordic candy stores open in New York and California and thought that Maine would be supportive of the concept as well. Recently, Swedish brand BUBS went viral on TikTok. Østergaard noted that this distinctive candy tastes like foam, with the “texture of a mattress.” Another hit comes from Danish brand, Toms. 

“People have never really had it anywhere else,” she says. “They come into the store and say, ‘I don't know. I don't like licorice.’ I make them try it, and they say, ‘Oh, my God, this is fantastic,’ and then come again and again.”

Though I forewent mattress candies on my first visit to the shop, a friend and I filled our own bags up before going to see Freakier Friday in Westbrook. My eyes were bigger than my stomach, and I created a tasting of colorful Toms. Summer was ending, the night fully dark by the time we emerged from the theater. I always default to peanut M&Ms at the movies, and this night, I found some special joy to it all: the movies with a best friend, squinting through the dark to make out the colors, enthralled by enthralled by how in each bite I found something hygge.     

Practice your Danish pronunciation with this fun video from Sødt.