Summary
If there is an unofficial mayor or founder of Grüner Village, his name is Jan Vardøen. This hyper-active 42-year-old has probably done more than anyone else to make this district a popular place to live and visit. Wherever you stroll along the main streets in Grünerløkka, you pass stylish restaurants, bars or shops that Vardøen has personally started, designed and built. "Yes, I have been given the blame for revitalizing this place, but lots of other people have also done stuff," Vardøen says modestly over a cup of coffee in Villa Paradiso, a pizza restaurant that he opened late last year. A few doors down is the former movie theatre Parkteatret, which Vardøen transformed into a bar and a venue for live music. Bar Boca, Los Lobos, Hotel Havana, and Californian/Mexican restaurant Mucho Mas are other establishments in the same neighborhood marked with the distinctive Vardøen fingerprint. Aside from his prominent role in the restaurant business, Vardøen builds wooden boats, a skill which has come in handy when doing the woodwork in his various establishments. "I build these restaurants myself. Otherwise, I couldn't afford to do this," says Vardøen. Despite the fact that he designs and builds the furniture and interiors in all of his establishments, Jan Vardøen. has trouble in uttering the "D" word: "Design is a word used by people who can't build things themselves," says the feisty Norwegian.
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Made in Scandinavia
READY FOR ROMANCE?
The successful TV series "Sex and the City" isn't a total fantasy. Many adults in their late twenties and early thirties are staying single today because they can't find their soul mate. Or perhaps they simply prefer the single lifestyle. In Scandinavia, where formal marriage is less self-evident tha...See the full content of this document
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