A little more than a year after announcing its intention to move from operating as a pop-up to opening a full service restaurant, Fet Fisk has set an opening date.
The wildly popular concept will open in Bloomfield on March 28.
Executive chef/co-owner Nik Forsberg, a 2023 James Beard Award semifinalist in Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic, and crew spent the past few weeks dialing in service with a quiet, extended soft opening.
On the menu were small plates such as pickled mackerel, with smoked beets and cabbage, and classic steak tartare with horseradish and potato chips. Vegetable dishes including Waldorf salad and grilled cabbage Caesar led into carb-forward items including sourdough spaetzle with Grana Padano and herbs and a Fet Fisk classic known as Jansson's Temptation, an anchovy and potato gratin.
Larger format dishes like steelhead trout filet with smoked almond sauce and grilled whole branzino with celery rounded out the soft open menu.
Look for a mix of established Fet Fisk dishes tested throughout its five years as a pop-up and new inspirations from Forsberg and his crew. Expect the initial Fet Fisk menu to look similar to the soft open, and continue forward with a Scandinavian and seafood focus blended with a few meatier offerings and a heavy tilt toward seasonal, local agriculture.
Forseberg ran a small farm throughout Fet Fisk’s pop-up era, and although he’s scaling production for the foreseeable future, there will be preserves from last season on the opening menu. He’s developed a deep relationship with COLDCO Farm, and will use the Alison Park operation as his primary produce supplier.
Fet Fisk previously operated with a fast-casual (yet charmingly elegant) service model. Now, it’ll be full service in the 90-seat space. Heather Perkins, one of Pittsburgh’s foremost front-of-house forces, is the general manager. She previously worked as opening general manager for DiAnoia’s Eatery and as general manager of Spoon, and after traveling for a few years, is back in the Pittsburgh restaurant community.
Also returning to Pittsburgh and Fet Fisk is co-founder Sarah LaPonte, who partnered with Forsberg on the conceptualization and aesthetic focus of the endeavor. The duo launched Fet Fisk in 2019.
Lex Haynesworth, formerly of Goodlander Cocktail Brewery, is Fet Fisk’s bar manager. There’s a tight list of house and classic cocktails, ranging from $8–$12. The wine list has a number of European sparkling wines, including a few by the glass, that reflect the convivial nature of Fet Fisk. The rest of the offerings are a deep exploration of mindfully produced New- and Old-World wines.
The bar is going to be a central focus, and will operate on a first-come-first-served basis. The 45-seat bar and lounge area will stay open until midnight (with a full menu available until 10 p.m.) every night the restaurant is open.
For now, Fet Fisk will operate Thursdays through Mondays. Reservations are highly recommended for the dining area, which will offer the full menu from 5–10 p.m.
Reservations for the first two months of service go live at noon on March 25.
Fet Fisk: 4786 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield; fetfisk.net
Hal B. Klein: hklein@post-gazette.com
First Published: March 15, 2024, 4:15 p.m.
Updated: March 15, 2024, 11:25 p.m.
