Tuesday, February 25, 2025, 12:31AM |  49°
MENU
Advertisement
A spread of dishes including grilled Atlantic mackerel, fresh cheese dumplings, steak tartare and French breakfast radishes with anchovy dip at a Fet Fisk pop-up at Soju in Garfield in October.
5
MORE

Fet Fisk to open restaurant in the former Lombardozzi’s space in Bloomfield

Hal B. Klein/Post-Gazette

Fet Fisk to open restaurant in the former Lombardozzi’s space in Bloomfield

The popular pop-up series Fet Fisk has signed a lease to open a full-service restaurant in the former Lombardozzi’s space in Bloomfield.

“Looking for the right place for a restaurant like this is almost like thrifting or antiquing. If we went into a blank space, we’d have spent a lot of money but not hit the mark of what we were going for. When you try to build that aesthetic from fresh, it always feels a little hollow,” says Nik Forsberg. “This space was the missing puzzle piece to what we wanted to do with Fet Fisk.”

Forsberg introduced Fet Fisk with former business partner Sarah LaPonte (who has since left Pittsburgh for other endeavors) in early 2019. The dinner series began with nomadic pop-ups in spaces such as the empty storefront that would later become Pigeon Bagels, Penn Hebron Garden Club in Penn Hills and Black Radish Kitchen in Point Breeze North prior to serving longer residencies in the now-closed Pear and the Pickle in Troy Hill and in 2022 at Soju in Garfield.

Advertisement
Loin roast of pork dressed with apple glaze and horseradish creme at a Fet Fisk farm dinner at Fallen Aspen Farm in Volent in June.Loin roast of pork dressed with apple glaze and horseradish creme at a Fet Fisk farm dinner at Fallen Aspen Farm in Volent in June.(Hal B. Klein/Post-Gazette)

Along the way, Forsberg expanded Fet Fisk’s business to include a small farm, a prepared foods market and commissary kitchen in Shaler and a stand at the Bloomfield Saturday Market. He also added more formal multi-course wine dinners with Nine O’Clock Wines to his roster.

Kate Lasky and Tomasz Skowronski, co-chefs and co-owners of Apteka in Bloomfield. This is their second consecutive James Beard Award nomination.
Hal B. Klein
Meet Pittsburgh’s 2023 James Beard Award semifinalists

It has proven to be a recipe for success. Three years in, reservations for Fet Fisk dinners, which typically happen biweekly, still tend to fully book in advance.

The former Lombardozzi’s space, which opened in 1973 and has maintained its throwback atmosphere, looks to be a perfect fit for the Nordic cuisine-meets-Pennsylvania foodways dinner series concept.

“If you’ve ever seen the space, it’s immediately clear how it works perfectly with Nik’s aesthetic and his food. He works with nostalgia but isn’t nostalgic,” says Greg Austin.

Advertisement

Austin is the chef for 412 Food Rescue’s Good Food Project, and he has also worked with Forsberg in the Fet Fisk kitchen. One night in 2021, the two were shucking mussels for a dinner when Austin suggested they build an outlet for perspective-driven chefs that circumvents the typical investor-dependent restaurant business model.

“Sixty years ago, owning a restaurant was a vehicle for upward economic mobility. We want to question why that’s not the case anymore and prove that we can keep that space open for others,” Austin says.

Brawn, head cheese with Fallen Aspen Farm pork and caraway leaves, at a Fet Fisk pop-up at Soju in Garfield. Brawn, head cheese with Fallen Aspen Farm pork and caraway leaves, at a Fet Fisk pop-up at Soju in Garfield. (Hal B. Klein/Post-Gazette)

Their conversation extended to Kate Romane, owner of Black Radish Kitchen. Austin had worked with Romane when she ran E2 in Highland Park, and Forsberg had developed a friend-mentor relationship starting with a 2019 Fet Fisk in Romane’s space.

Romane notes that when she opened E2 in 2010, building a successful chef-owned restaurant on a shoestring budget in Pittsburgh was still possible, but that the bar for entry is significantly higher in 2022.

The commercial kitchen at Fulton Commons provides food producers space to make food for sale to the general public.
Hal B. Klein
Your next craving: Fulton Commons launches programs to help food entrepreneurs

“There’s so much development coming in. Which is great. But there are fewer opportunities for people like Nik who don’t have a lot of cash behind them or turn over control to an investor or an investment group,” Romane says.

“It’s still a business and you have to be considerate of the bottom line, but to change the culture of the hospitality industry starts from the inside out. Hopefully we can work out a way to set an example of that.”

KateKate Romane, Nik Forsberg and Greg Austin (Hal B. Klein/Post-Gazette)

The trio sees recent trends tilting in a direction that favors fast-casual dining and expense-account restaurants but pushes out bolder concepts that fueled the inventive fire in Pittsburgh cuisine in the 2010s as restraining the potential for a post-pandemic resurgence in regional dining.

“That’s exactly why we wanted to add that creative push back into things and do something closer to a classic service style,” says Austin. “There's a feedback loop where banks will typically only work with established investors. And so you end up losing a lot of opportunity for creativity along the way in the pool of who gets to own a restaurant. So to retain chef-ownership as a goal, to have our voices heard in the decision-making process, we want to push forward with this model of doing things.”

The Fet Fisk restaurant will be the first test of those goals. According to David Glickman, president of Keystone Real Estate Advisors, which represents the ownership group purchasing the Lombardozzi’s building, Forsberg’s distinct perspective fueled the enthusiasm for offering a lease.

“Landing Nik and his group was a big step for us. We had interest from other prospective tenants but we decided this group is by far the best. One of the main things is that he’s going to be running a unique, chef-driven, scratch kitchen. Those operations tend to have a draw from a larger geographic region, and that makes sense for a location such as this one. That’s pretty ideal,” he says.

No opening date is set, and the lease is contingent on the final sale of the space to a group represented by Glickman, who says it’s just a matter of signing some paperwork.

“It’s not a done deal but by all accounts there are no hurdles left,” he says.

Spring ramp dip with creme fraiche, salmon caviar and potato chips at a Fet Fisk pop-up at Soju in Garfield.   Spring ramp dip with creme fraiche, salmon caviar and potato chips at a Fet Fisk pop-up at Soju in Garfield. (Hal B. Klein/Post-Gazette)

Forsberg says he has well-developed ideas of what he envisions for the Fet Fisk restaurant. He typically serves a menu of 11 items at his pop-ups, with dishes ranging from seasonal bites such as king trumpet mushroom panzanella with tomatoes, corn and shiso, seafood such as grilled whole ruby trout with Jerusalem artichokes, smoked butter and lemon and meaty platters like Swedish pork and potato sausage with peppers, onions, tomato confit and polenta.

“I’ve had a lot of time to workshop and find dishes I’m happy with,” he says, noting that he has served around 250 dishes over the course of Fet Fisk’s life as a pop-up. “So we’re going to be able to hit the ground running and not get too caught up in developing things,” he says.

He says he has a draft menu of approximately 50 items, but anticipates cutting it down to somewhere between 20 to 30 dishes for the restaurant, which will be open for dinner service with extended bar hours. Expect staples such as oysters, fish, steaks and handmade pasta dishes, as well as a rotation of seasonal dishes informed by what’s growing on the Fet Fisk farm.

“The last year I’ve found I’ve really found my voice with the food and know exactly what I want it to be,” he says.

Hal B. Klein: hklein@post-gazette.com, Twitter @halbklein and IG @halbklein.

First Published: January 9, 2023, 10:00 a.m.
Updated: January 9, 2023, 10:48 a.m.

RELATED
The interior of the Sewickley location of Mediterra Café in 2019.
by Hal B. Klein
Mediterra Cafe to open in Lawrenceville in former B52 space
Among Pittsburgh's restaurant closures in 2022 was Reed & Co., one of several vegan establishments to shutter.
Hal B. Klein/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Remembering Pittsburgh's restaurant closings of 2022
Mapo tofu alongside the Cantonese Barbecue Rice Trio at Parlor Dim Sum in Lawrenceville.
Hal B. Klein
The 10 best new restaurants of 2022
Back To The Foodture owners Angel and Eddie "Barnz" Magwood in front of the photo wall at their new Uptown location.
by Hal B. Klein/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Restaurant news: Back To The Foodture heads Uptown and Shorty's splashes at The Waterfront
SHOW COMMENTS (14)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, shown delivering his budget address in early February, said on Monday that a federal freeze of money intended for Pennsylvania is over.
1
news
Gov. Shapiro says federal freeze and blockages of $2.1 billion for Pa. are now over
The Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg, where state Acting Secretary of Education Carrie Rowe on Monday answered budget questions from lawmakers.
2
news
Pa. acting education secretary 'exceptionally concerned' after report on cyber charter school funding
Law enforcement respond to the scene of a shooting at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York, Pa. on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025.
3
news
Gunman in UPMC mass shooting battled lifelong mental health issues, says ex-girlfriend
Law enforcement respond to the scene of a shooting at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025.
4
business
Pennsylvania hospitals beef up security in wake of York hospital shootings
Agents took Rachel Marie Powell, 40, of Sandy Lake, into custody in New Castle on Feb. 4, 2021.
5
news
Pardoned for Jan. 6, 'Pink Hat Lady' came home to a new reality in Western Pa.
A spread of dishes including grilled Atlantic mackerel, fresh cheese dumplings, steak tartare and French breakfast radishes with anchovy dip at a Fet Fisk pop-up at Soju in Garfield in October.  (Hal B. Klein/Post-Gazette)
Brawn, head cheese with Fallen Aspen Farm pork and caraway leaves, at a Fet Fisk pop-up at Soju in Garfield.  (Hal B. Klein/Post-Gazette)
Loin roast of pork dressed with apple glaze and horseradish creme at a Fet Fisk farm dinner at Fallen Aspen Farm in Volent in June.  (Hal B. Klein/Post-Gazette)
Spring ramp dip with creme fraiche, salmon caviar and potato chips at a Fet Fisk pop-up at Soju in Garfield.  (Hal B. Klein/Post-Gazette)
Kate Romane, Nik Forsberg and Greg Austin at Black Radish Kitchen on January 8, 2023  (Hal B. Klein/Post-Gazette)
Hal B. Klein/Post-Gazette
Advertisement
LATEST life
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story