Kombo, the Trondheim restaurant run by award-winning bartender Jørgen Dons and chef Håvard Klempe, has made cocktail pairings its signature. The venue sits on the seventh floor of its building and combines a restaurant, a sky bar and a wine list that Star Wine List named Norway’s best new wine list last year.
The pair started out in 2020 as Klempe & Dons, a pop-up that served about 10 dishes and 10 drinks at each event and sold out quickly. Kombo takes that niche idea and makes it easier to approach. “The concept is about accessible luxury,” Dons said. Guests reach the restaurant by lift from the backyard, and the windows look out over the city centre, the island of Munkholmen and Nidaros Cathedral. Kombo has also been named best restaurant in its category at the Bartenders’ Choice Awards, and the team now hopes to win similar recognition for the bar.
Dons admits the team was unsure how Trondheim diners would react once it reached beyond its regular crowd, but cocktail pairings have sold well. Each pairing is designed around flavour first, and the team then decides whether the drink should match or contrast the dish. Sometimes the food is changed to suit the glass: if a drink comes with a spoonful of caviar, the dish may need less salt. Non-alcoholic pairings are meant to give the same flavour experience, which Dons calls a challenge he enjoys because alcohol usually carries flavour and other techniques are needed for structure and texture.
The menu is rebuilt four times a year, with smaller seasonal changes in between. The current fish main is a high-end take on the fish ball. Klempe learned to make a proper fish mousse from a group of grandmothers, and the kitchen fills it with liquid ‘nduja and serves it on chanterelles with a butter sauce. At the bar, Dons’s favourite drink is the team’s version of the Miami Vice. Created with Malibu, it is a clarified piña colada made with Chardonnay instead of water, re-carbonated and topped with a strawberry daiquiri sorbet, and it is called the Champagne Colada.
Dons says Trondheim does not follow the seasons closely, with guests ordering frozen drinks in winter and Irish coffee in summer, so a frozen Irish coffee might suit the city. Trøndelag is known for karsk, coffee mixed with moonshine, and an earlier Dons drink called Fancy Karsk was close to an espresso martini. He believes the city eats very well for its size and has several bars that meet international standards.
