Kjartan was born and raised in Stavanger, Norway, and still lives and works there today as the founder and owner of two restaurants: Tango and Fish & Cow brasserie. He is a high-profile chef locally, having appeared as a judge on TV series MasterChef Norway and Camp Kulinaris and has penned four cook books. He places his focus on produce and provenance, good ingredients and cooking from scratch. He uses seasonal produce, making the most of the wilds of Norway and he is keen to bring Nordic fine dining to the world-stage. He is creating a bespoke six-course taster menu exclusively for The Epicurean.

“What is most important for me is to build a strong Nordic cuisine that comes across in every dish I create. Working with P&O Cruises, I want guests to be able to smell, taste and see that each dish of my six-course taster menu for The Epicurean is truly Norwegian. I use local, seasonal ingredients in all of my dishes along with traditional Norwegian cooking methods. Our cuisine is built on the produce of our land and the methods used to preserve through the long winters. Traditionally we eat a lot of dried fish but with a long coastline and fish so readily available, today’s Nordic chefs are looking at new ways of cooking fresh fish. Using fish that swim in our cold mountain water, lambs that graze on our salt marshes, beetroots picked from a small local island and cooking these ingredients with traditional Norwegian methods – guests will be able to taste Norway through every bite.”