Salt Harvest and the National Nordic Museum Present Vårkanten: A Limited-Edition Nordic Dining Experience at Populus Seattle

A Multi-Course, Prix-Fixe Culinary Celebration of the Museum’s New Nordic: Cuisine, Aesthetics, and Place Exhibit | March 2 – 8, 2026

SEATTLE (February 18, 2026) — Salt Harvest, the hearth-driven restaurant at Populus Seattle, and the National Nordic Museum are proud to announce Vårkanten, a limited-edition dining collaboration celebrating the final week of the Museum’s exhibition New Nordic: Cuisine, Aesthetics, and Place. Running March 2 – 8, this exclusive, prix-fixe culinary experience—led by Salt Harvest’s Swedish-born Chef Conny Andersson—will be available to just 15 guests per evening, inviting both hotel visitors and the Seattle community to explore inventive dishes inspired by Nordic coastlines, forests, and open-fire traditions. Throughout the week, hotel guests will also have complimentary access to the National Nordic Museum exhibition.

“Partnering with the National Nordic Museum gives us a unique opportunity to honor our commitment to crafting experiences that celebrate art, culture, and heritage,” said Rod Laspin, Managing Director and General Manager. “Vårkanten embodies that, inviting our guests to experience Nordic traditions through a thoughtfully curated culinary offering that we’re thrilled to bring to life for both our guests and the wider community.”

Hosted at Populus Seattle, a carbon positive hotel that celebrates and reveres the natural world, Vårkanten offers a rare opportunity to experience the National Nordic Museum’s exhibition through an expanded sensory lens. Uniquely positioned in within RailSpur, a cultural hub in Pioneer Square where historic buildings are reimagined as spaces for creativity, hospitality, and community, the hotel offers a natural environment to honor Nordic cultural philosophy through a Pacific Northwest culinary interpretation. The hotel’s culinary program highlights Pacific Northwest growers, fishers, and producers, emphasizing seasonal sourcing and close relationships with the land. In this setting, collaboration becomes a conversation between cultures, where Seattle’s working waterfront and agricultural landscape meeting Chef Conny Andersson’s Nordic perspective.

““As a Swedish-born chef, it’s incredibly meaningful to bring the spirit of New Nordic cuisine to life here in Seattle,” said Chef Conny Andersson. “Designing this menu that honors Nordic traditions while embracing Salt Harvest’s Pacific Northwest style and dedication to locally sourced ingredients has been an inspiring journey and I’m thrilled to share the resulting experience with both our guests and the broader Seattle community.

Named for the Nordic concept meaning “the edge of spring,” Vårkanten celebrates the seasonal shift from winter toward renewal. The multi-course menu, curated by Chef Conny Andersson, emphasizes ingredient integrity and the interplay of coast, forest, and hearth. Highlights include charred and cured Chinook gravlax with coffee-honey mustard and shaved fennel, nodding to Nordic preservation practices while honoring Pacific Northwest waters; pan-roasted black cod with watercress, horseradish, brown butter, beets, and capers, balancing salinity, brightness, and depth; and desserts such as citron fromage with hazelnut brittle and sea salt, followed by chokladboll, a traditional Scandinavian sweet bite of chocolate, coffee, and oat—offering a final gesture of Nordic comfort and simplicity.

At the National Nordic Museum, New Nordic: Cuisine, Aesthetics and Place examines the rise of a culinary movement that reshaped global dining by redefining food as something larger than the plate. Emerging from the Nordic region in the early 2000s, the movement became widely associated with a manifesto-driven philosophy centered on purity, seasonality, simplicity, sustainability, and a deep commitment to regional ingredients. Over time, its influence expanded beyond cuisine, shaping contemporary perspectives on craft, material culture, design, and the relationship between people and place.

Vårkanten is available to book via OpenTable and will run from March 2 – 8, 2026. Dining reservations are required, and price per person is $125. To learn more, visit https://populusseattle.com/event/nordicmuseumweek/ and follow along at@PopulusHotel_Seattle and @SaltHarvest_Seattle.

ABOUT POPULUS HOTELS

Populus Hotels is a collection of carbon positive hotels centered around a deep and authentic reverence for the natural world. Each hotel is designed to reflect and celebrate the region’s locale and natural beauty, while serving as a new benchmark for environmentally forward hospitality. All Populus Hotels sequester more carbon than they emit throughout their lifecycle, use 100% renewable electricity, plant a tree for every night’s stay through the One Night, One Tree Program, and highlight responsible sourcing practices, allowing guests to effortlessly experience responsible hospitality. Populus Hotels is owned and created by Urban Villages, a leading developer and environmental steward, and brought to life in collaboration with Aparium Hotel Group, a visionary operator of independent, luxury lifestyle hotels. Populus Hotels is comprised of the award-winning Populus Denver and Populus Seattle.  For more information, visit www.urban-villages.com and www.aparium.com.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL NORDIC MUSEUM

The National Nordic Museum in Seattle is dedicated to sharing Nordic culture, values, and history through exhibitions, programs, and educational initiatives. Through world-class exhibitions and community engagement, the Museum celebrates the cultural legacy of the entire Nordic region while exploring their contemporary relevance.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION: NEW NORDIC: CUISINE, AESTHETICS AND PLACE
New Nordic: Cuisine, Aesthetics and Place explores the influential culinary movement that reshaped global dining through its commitment to seasonality, sustainability, and regional identity. The exhibition examines how cuisine expanded beyond the plate to influence art, design, architecture, and contemporary cultural expression—revealing food as a powerful lens into place and aesthetics.