01 June 2026
Share
Almost three decades ago, chef Heidi Bjerkan founded Credo Restaurant in ‘Credoveita’, Trondheim – a narrow street named for an 18th-century Danish butcher and former resident – with Calle Fegth and Tor Schjoelberg. The influential restaurant, which became renowned for its ingredient-driven, hyper-local approach, has worn various faces in the 28 years since its establishment. Following a chapter in a former industrial hall in Lilleby, in 2025 Credo entered its latest iteration at Oslo's stately National Library, where the restaurant sits alongside Credo’s bakery, canteen, food bar and summer terrace.
Bjerkan’s own culinary journey has taken her from the Oslo Culinary and Steward School through some of Norway and Europe's most respected kitchens, including the Grand Hotel, the Queen Elizabeth II, Kastanjen, Palace Grill, Bølgen & Moi and Claridge’s in London. Since opening Credo, the chef has also found the time to launch diverse food hall Vippa in Oslo and serve as executive chef to Norway’s Royal Household, directing both private and official meals. Here, Bjerkan, shares how Credo continues to be shaped by its original philosophy of respect for raw ingredients, the soil from which they originate and the people who pass on this generational knowledge.
Can you share a little about your overall philosophy?
My philosophy is quite simple: great food starts with healthy soil, skilled producers and respect for the ingredients. It is also about preserving and sharing knowledge – learning from the people who came before us, carrying traditions forward and helping more people understand where their food comes from and the choices behind it. It's important to stay curious!You had named cow pictures on the wall and farmers made guest appearances in your Trondheim restaurant. Do you do anything like that here?
We have adopted 12 Telemark cattle from Braskerudsætra, the farm that supplies us with butter and dairy products. They have already become part of the stories we share with our guests.For me, it’s important to create connections between the food, the people and the animals behind it. We’re still settling into our new home in Oslo, but I’m sure more of those stories and relationships will find their way into the dining room over time.
Where do you source your produce and how do you select your suppliers?
In Trondheim, I worked closely with a small group of producers. I spent a lot of time on their farms, getting to know both the people and the work behind the ingredients. Those relationships became just as important as the products themselves.Today, I’m looking for the same kind of connection, while making sure the collaboration works well for everyone involved. The people behind the food matter a lot to me. When I choose producers and suppliers, I look for quality, care and a genuine respect for the land and animals. In Norway, I often find that shared values and good craftsmanship matter more than where in the country a product comes from.
Since moving to Oslo, we’re still getting to know the people and producers around us and finding the right long-term partners. For example, we work with Braskerudsætra for butter and pultost (a traditional Norwegian sour cheese), and we are building close relationships with local fishermen and other producers who share our values and commitment to quality.
What do you make on site?
At the bakery in the National Library, we have our own mill. We buy heritage grains and mill them fresh every time we bake. Milling the grain ourselves allows us to preserve more of its flavour, aroma and nutritional value.Making bread starts with understanding the grain. By controlling the process from grain to bread, we can work with the flour at its freshest and make bread that better reflects both the grain and the people who grew it.
Whenever possible, we make things ourselves on site – from bread and baked goods to ferments, stocks, preserves and other elements that become part of our experience.
Tell us about your menus. What’s your favourite dish right now and why?
I have created the kind of restaurant I would want to dine in myself. At the same time, I want to tell the stories of ingredients that I find exceptional – ingredients I am fascinated by and proud of, and often the people behind them.I value variety and believe it is important that we inspire people to eat better and make more thoughtful choices that help care for the land. This is a place where you set aside the entire evening – a meal that asks for your time and attention as a guest.
Because I’ve created a menu that reflects the kind of food I enjoy eating myself, it’s difficult to choose just one favourite dish. The answer changes from day to day.
What excites me most is not a single dish, but the way the menu comes together as a whole. Each dish highlights an ingredient, a producer or a season, and together they tell a larger story. That’s what I look forward to when I sit down to eat – and what I hope our guests experience too.
How do you utilise your ingredients to the full and what do you do with your waste?
One of the things I love most about great ingredients is that, if you understand them well enough, you can use almost every part. What might be considered waste in one kitchen can become flavour, texture or part of another dish.We try to use our ingredients as fully as possible, whether that means turning trimmings into stocks, ferments, preserves or staff meals. Our goal is always to get the most value, flavour and nourishment out of every ingredient before anything leaves the kitchen.
Of course, some waste is unavoidable, but we work hard to keep it to a minimum and see each ingredient as a whole rather than just the parts traditionally considered valuable.
What can you tell us about the room?
The room itself has a wonderful sense of calm and an incredible natural light. I’ve brought all the furniture, tableware, linen placemats and many of the details from our restaurant in Trondheim, so guests who visited us there will recognise a familiar atmosphere here in Oslo. Among them are furniture pieces from Fjordfiesta and ceramics by Sissel Wathne – both long-standing parts of the Credo experience.We also took part in growing flax on the farm of Jon Fredrik Skauge. That flax has now been transformed into beautiful linen placemats, and during the meal our guests get to hear the story behind them – from seed to table.
Furthermore, the glaze of the plate the langoustine arrives on incorporates shells and other remnants of the dish that are not used elsewhere in the kitchen. It’s a small detail, but it reflects the way we think about ingredients: as something valuable in their entirety, not just in part.
I believe in surrounding ourselves with objects that are made to last. Rather than replacing everything when we moved, we chose to reuse and continue working with pieces that already carried history and meaning.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
I’m concerned that valuable knowledge and craftsmanship will be lost if we don’t actively work to preserve them. Many of the skills that shape our food culture have been built over generations, and once they disappear, they are difficult to recover.That’s why I believe it’s important not only to support the people who carry this knowledge today, but also to share their stories and help others understand the value of their work.
Related Reads:
Hero Image: Celebrated chef Heidi Bjerkan in her restaurant Credo in Oslo. © Credo Restaurant
