Last Friday, I swung by the soon-to-open KANTINE for a friends-and-family sneak peek of this Scandinavian-inspired charmer from Nichole Accettola and husband Joachim Majholm. The name is the Danish word for canteen, inspired by Accettola’s decade living in Copenhagen, and will be open for breakfast, brunch, and lunch six days a week.
Many locals have become fans of Accettola’s sprouted rye bread, or perhaps tried her savory or sweet breakfast porridges at her pop-ups and her Cali-Scandinavian smørrebrød (open-faced sandwiches) at her Ferry Plaza Farmers Market stand.
Now, you’ll be able to enjoy all these items, plus breakfast treats and pastries like chocolate-rye buns, spelt scones with lemon and dried blueberries, and cardamom knots. And then there are the choose-your-own-brunch boards (5 or 7 items), which will include items like cured trout with elderflower, warm potato salad with lovage, poached egg cup with asparagus and herbs, fennel-smoked bacon, and three-lentil hummus, plus overnight muesli with oats, chai, hemp, orange zest, honey, bee pollen, and huckleberries. Seriously.
Smørrebrød toppings include trout rillettes; “summer salad” with hay-smoked cheese, radish, tomato, cucumber, and chives; and fried pickled herring with charred lemon, cultured butter, and dill, among others. Their wholesale offering of baked goods will be expanding now that they have a large space of their own. Helping her in the kitchen is her sous chef Evan Bertolli, who previously worked at Bar Tartine.
They’ll be offering Heart coffee from Portland (which was founded by a Finnish man and offers the kind of Scandinavian-inspired roast they want), plus an elderberry yogurt drink, hot cocoa, rhubarb lemonade, and beer and wine.
If the space’s design feels authentically Scandinavian in its simplicity and warmth, it’s because a Danish firm (ATM Design) designed it—they worked on it from overseas! The light, airy space features communal tables, beautiful white oak wood panels, and groovy lights (from the Swedish HEM) that look like they’re enclosed in fabric bags with a drawstring and cast a soft glow. The huge pane windows will also let in some lovely light, as well as the windows above with Deco shapes and angles. Some sound panels and a canopy of plants and artwork are all coming too.
Opening hours are Tue-Fri 7:30am-4pm, Sat-Sun 9am-4pm. If inspections go according to plan, they will open this Wednesday June 13th—follow along on Instagram for updates. 1906 Market St. at Octavia.
The exterior of the soon-to-open Kantine. All photos: © tablehopper.com.
