Norsk Dor

On 70 Pitt Street there’s a silver door. Next to it, a lock with a blue button. Press it and you’ll be invited into an eerily bleak, long hallway.

At the end there’s another door with a security box. Press the button to reveal a wall covered in vines; a bar set with amber cocktails; wooden tables draped with animal pelts; and plates of bone marrow, sea urchin and venison.

This is Norsk Dor, once an empty storage unit and now a clandestine Nordic-themed restaurant. Behind the fit-out, furnishings and menu are manager Stephen Byrne and chef Damien Domineco.

They’ve done well to fill the concrete bunker with enough wood, plants and warm lighting to make the industrial space feel a little like sitting in a hunter’s log cabin.

Domenico spent his early years working at a Swedish salmon farm. His menu uses the minimalist, Viking-style techniques he learnt there. The gravlax is made with sugar and salt only, for example.

Get a quick fix with set lunches during the week, or hang around for dinner. Choices include Nordic breads with lard and butter, or an oyster paired beautifully with sour cider sorbet. After, try a house-smoked fillet of eel with an orange gravy and seagrass; a salty log of bone marrow; or a large platter of venison done three ways.

There’s also an impressive selection of Scandinavian spirits; five signature, citrusy, cocktails; and an exclusive range of natural, unpasteurised beers from Breakaway Brewing Co.