Take a tour of Koks — the Faroe Islands’ first Michelin-starred restaurant

When we think of a first-rate dining destination, a storm-battered rock edging the Arctic Circle is not the first place that springs to mind.

Photo: Claes Bech-Poulsen/Koks)

But Koks, which stands at the top of a hill leading down to the small coastal village of Kirkjubøur on the southern tip of the Faroe Islands, is one of the most remote Michelin-starred venues in the world.

Since opening in 2011, the Scando fine-dining venue has risen through the ranks as a leader of the Nordic foodie movement. With a young and ambitious team of chefs and wine experts, the owners’ ambition is to get locals out of the house and enjoying true Faroese fare.

This year, Koks bowled-over the notoriously secretive judges of the Michelin Guide, giving the archipelago its first-ever star.

Take a tour of one of the most remote Michelin-starred venues in the world.

(Photo: Beinta á Torskilsheyggi/Koks)

Since opening its doors in 2011, restaurant KOKS has won the hearts of food lovers in the Faroe Islands and beyond.

The restaurant has held a prime place in the Scadinavian culinary world for years, and went on to win The Nordic Prize in for best restaurant in 2014, beating the likes of Esperanto in Stockholm and Copenhagen’s Michelin Marchal to the top spot.

This year, Koks has once again made it to the finals of the Nordic Prize’s 2018 awards.

Poul Andrias Ziska is the head chef at Koks (Photo: Claes Bech-Poulsen)

Led by 26-year-old head chef Poul Andrias Ziska, Kok’s food is an homage to every corner of the windswept archipelago.

Speaking earlier this year, Ziska told reporters that his aim is to create a comprehensive dining experience “strongly influenced by our deep-rooted Faroese traditions and the remarkable local produce found at our doorstep.

“This is our strength, and often our job is simply to let the extraordinary produce speak for itself.”

(Photo: Beinta á Torskilsheyggi/Koks)

The 17-course Nordic tasting menu at Koks has put the Faroe islands on the culinary map, celebrating delicacies that have been enjoyed on the island for centuries.

The woking day starts earlier than most for Koks’ chefs, who wake before sunrise to forage for food on the outskirts of the tiny hamlet of Kirkjubøur, where Koks stands proud on the coastline.

The restaurant has gathered a skilled team of foragers, farmers and divers who provide Ziska and his team with the likes of wild sorrel, sea urchin, algae and angelica on a daily basis.

Koks relies heavily on local producers to reimagine all aspects of Faroese food, both coarse and fine, ancient and modern, whilst ensuring that the gathering and consumption is sustainable.

As such, the menu changes with the seasons. Skerpikjøt — wind-dried mutton — is just one national favourite. Koks has its own shed dedicated to producing the rare delicacy, which is left to hang  unsalted near the sea until it is wrapped in a fine blue mould.

(Photo: Claes Bech-Poulsen/Koks)

Fermented food, which the locals call ræst, is eaten across the Faroe islands, and takes various forms in the double-figure tasting menu. Dishes like semidried and fermented mutton on a bed of reindeer lichen with mushroom cream and elderberries stand side-by-side with sea urchin and pickled parsley stems.

But sustainability comes with its own unique set of problems on the storm-battered Nordic outpost. Few vegetables are grown in the winter months, so Ziska relies not only on traditional methods of preservation, but also maximising the full potential of his ingredients by using off-cuts and less conventional vegetaion.

While mouldy lamb and crispy cod bladders aren’t your usual modern European fare, Ziska’s menu has sparked foodie renaissance on the archipelago. The announcement that Koks had won a Michelin star immediately resulted in hundreds of bookings and an extensive waiting list for tables in the summer months.

(Photo: Claes Bech-Poulsen/Koks)

Kok’s young head sommelier Karin Visth moved to the Faroe Islands in 2013, bringing a vast knowledge of cool climate wines and Scandinavian culinary experience that could stand up to the unique local fare.

Visth, originally from Switzerland started her career as a cook with famous Chrüter Oski at restaurant Moospinte in Wiggiswil, Bern, she told blogger Anja Mazuhn. She was attending Denmark’s prestigious Vinakademiet when a wine critic friend told her about Koks and its search for a sommelier.

Speaking to the Financial Times back in April, the ambitious Swiss native said that the Michelin star could never truly belong to the restaurant alone.

She was keen to emphasise the tireless efforts of the island’s producers, fishers, farmers and growers who provide Koks with its one-of-a-kind cuisine.

“Each of them owns a little corner of the star.”

On her first day on the Faroe Islands, Visth was thrown in at the deep end. Rather than the fresh langoustines she was expecting, the chefs served her fermented cod, together with the local delicacy garnatálg — a fermented fat made with lamb guts.

“Let me put it this way,” she said, “I was taken utterly by surprise.”

Visth rose to the challenge to curate a list that could stand up to difficult-to-pair Faroese food Some 416 varieties make up a well-stocked wine cellar.

The wine list includes bottles from the more traditional European regions — Chablis, Sancerre and Alsace to name a few, and not to mention reds from Rhone and Tuscany — but also incorporates a generous menu of more than 30 German and Austrian Rieslings.

Alongside this, Visth has also included an organic Danish rosé, made with two sturdy varietals Regent and Monarch that could grow and withstand low temperatures and dry climatic conditions.