Kari Innerå (born April 14, 1982 in Harstad) is a Norwegian gourmet chef who has won the Nordic Culinary Championships and the Culinary Olympics.^[1] Innerå is known for her restaurant Cru vin & kjøkken^[2] which she established in 2008 together with investor, former Olympic cross country ski champion Thomas Alsgaard.^[3] When she was headhunted to establish the gourmet restaurant Fru K at The Thief in Oslo, Innerå was simultaneously introduced to a wider audience nationally and internationally.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]}

Career

20 years old Innerå moved to London to apprentice under chef Marco Pierre White at the venerable gourmet restaurant Mirabelle (London restaurant) in London.^[10] She later worked at the Culinary Institute in Stavanger and Bagatelle restaurant in Oslo,^[11] and won gold in the Culinary Olympics in Erfurt with the Norwegian Culinary Team in 2008 and started her own "Cru vin & kjøkken" restaurant the same year.

Restaurant

Along with Thomas Alsgaard, wine connoisseur Merete Bø and noted chef Terje Ness^[12] she opened the gourmet restaurant "Cru vin & kjøkken" in October 2008. The inspiration was taken from Willy's Wine Bar in Paris, and the wine cellar is one of Oslo's most extensive with over 1000 wines available.^[3] The award-winning^{[13][14] [15]} restaurant focuses on local food, and grow their own fruit and vegetables in an allotment close to the city centre.^[14]

Wine theft

In the morning of May 2, 2011, thieves broke into Cru vine & kjøkken and stole 100 bottles of expensive wine and champagne worth US$40,000–50,000, including a Romanée-Conti, La Tâche Grand Cru 1972 and top wines from Château d'Yquem, Liger-Belair, Jacques Selosse and Dom Pérignon. Because some of the wines were absolutely irreplaceable, owner and chef Kari Innerå announced a bounty of US$10,000 for those who could contribute to the clarification of the robbery.^[16] The robbery was never solved.

Awards and merits

• Culinary Olympics in Erfurt
  • On the national team in 2008, when Norway won gold.^[17]
  • On the national team, as the sole girl, in 2004 when Norway won bronze.^[18]
• National Culinary Team
  • On the team from 2005 to 2008 ^[18]
• Nordic Culinary Championship
  • Gold in 2007^[17]
• National Culinary Championship
  • Silver in 2007, when she worked at the Bagatelle
  • Bronze in 2005, when she worked at the Culinary Institute
  • 6th place in 2004, when she worked at the Culinary Institute
• The Hulda Award (Norwegian female chef of the year)
  • Gold in 2007 as a cook/chef de partie at Bagatelle restaurant
  • Silver in 2004
  • Silver in 2003
• Norwegian Youth Culinary Team, Culinary Olympics in Erfurt
  • Bronze in 2004
• Trophée Passion in Paris - international cooking competition with participants from 15 nations and a jury headed by top chef Pierre Gagnaire
  • Gold in 2006

References