The sommelier warns me not to taste the buckshot. She continues, “The kitchen is double-checking, but you never know,” mentioning that the beautifully plated medallions in front of me were taken from a ptarmigan that a local hunter had shot.
I stoop down to have a better look. With flecks of pickled thyme and pumpkin jam on either side, the ptarmigan gravy smells like Sunday dinner on steroids, a throwback dish brought to life in a novel and unusual way.
Outside, beneath the midnight sun, icy gusts from the Arctic whip through the Longyearbyen valley, creating a white carpet of broken ice.
Huset, the “restaurant at the end of the world,” offers a unique dining experience because of its juxtapositions: a comfortable dining room with an unearthly view and fine meals with the possibility of armament. It is surrounded by the town of Longyearbyen, which is only 800 miles (1,288 km) from the North Pole and is home to over 1,000 people. This is in addition to the fact that getting there is very challenging.
