Move over hygge; koselig culture is ready to wrap us in its comforting embrace.
What is koselig, pronounced koosh-lee? It's Norway's equivalent to Denmark's hygge, pronounced hue-gah, which implies a coziness found in design, food and lifestyle. A soft sweater, a steaming mug of stew, a comfy spot on the couch surrounded by people and things that make you feel snuggly are all hygge. Although the concept is deeply ingrained in Danish culture, the hygge trend hopped across the pond in 2016 and joined the list of Scrabble-approved words soon after.
Now its Norwegian cousin — koselig — is trending, with a greater emphasis on food and togetherness. Find both at Spokane-based Koselig Kitchen, which chef Renée Bolstad transformed from a mobile to brick-and-mortar operation in October.
Located inside the Wonder Building between Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters and Uno Más Taco Shop, Koselig Kitchen offers an unusual assortment of sweet and savory treats with a twist. Some items are available for onsite consumption, like soft-serve custard ($4-$7) in flavors like ube, a purple yam from the Philippines that gives Koselig's custard a vibrant purple color and unique floral flavor. Other items, like the miso caramel brownie ($9), are available for preorder or in prepackaged form.
When Bolstad offered pies ($30) for Thanksgiving preorder, for example, it wasn't just apple, but apple with cardamom, and a bourbon pecan with miso, which lends a unique saltiness that parallels the popularity of traditional salted caramel. Bolstad calls her 6-ounce bags of caramel corn ($7.50) Jacker Cracks and features flavors — Japanese togarashi or Indian madras curry — from her past life as a high-end pastry chef in both New York and Seattle. Her packages of ultra-thin crackers ($7.50) are inspired by Norwegian crispbread called knekkebrød, with bold flavors like dill pickle and spicy cheese.
Bolstad experienced early success with Koselig Kitchen's "nostalgic eats and frozen treats," and after a year of doing farmers markets, she began shopping for a more permanent setup.
"I think people respond to these things because food brings them back to somewhere" in their memories, says Bolstad, who grew up daydreaming about opening a chocolate-covered cherry business with her father.
Her father's mother, Dolores, also inspired early food memories. When Bolstad launched Koselig Kitchen in spring of 2021 with a line of frozen treats, she initially thought about calling the business Dolo's Ice Box, after her grandmother.
Visits to grandma's were special. Not only did Bolstad's grandmother have a ready supply of treats, mostly homemade, she'd take the grandkids to area farmers markets near her home in Western Washington, Bolstad recalls. She also remembers trips to Sluys Poulsbo Bakery, which specialized in Norwegian foods like potato crepes called lefse and fried pastries called rosettes.
Bolstad didn't pursue the culinary arts as a career, however, but rather graphic design, and initially ended up in Seattle's telecommunications industry. She still daydreamed of a food business, however, like her vision for a hot dog and cheesesteak place. As the early 2000s housing bubble grew, Bolstad found herself in one not-so-great job after another, until fate, the eventual 2008 market collapse, intervened.
Rather than look for another job, she took the leap toward becoming a pastry chef and applied to New York City's International Culinary Center, formerly The French Culinary Institute. She felt right at home in the kitchen.
"My instructor asked me how long I'd been cooking," Bolstad says. When she replied she'd never cooked professionally, her instructor was floored.
"I feel like pastry melded with my two [strengths] of creativity and problem-solving," she says.
Bolstad's first culinary job was at Spice Market "doing 1,500 [individual desserts] a night for the tasting menu," she says.
Eventually Bolstad moved back to Seattle, only to return to the Big Apple in 2012, landing at A Voce, an Italian fine dining spot with two locations and one Michelin star. The 70- to 80-hour workweeks took their toll, however, with a work environment similar to Hulu's hit television series The Bear. The grind got Bolstad thinking about returning to Seattle.
"I had to stop watching that. I got a little PTSD moment there," she says of watching The Bear.
While still in New York, she met Rachel Yang, a 14-time James Beard Foundation award nominee and eight-time semifinalist who founded Seattle-based Relay Restaurant Group with husband and fellow chef Seif Chirchi. Yang asked Bolstad if she'd be interested in working with her. Of course, Bolstad was. And it went very well, allowing her to take a more playful approach to desserts.
"I started looking at foods I had as a kid and thought, 'How can I make this different?'" recalls Bolstad, who created whimsical dessert menus organized around such themes as Star Wars and co-workers' nostalgic favorites.
"That reminds me of my childhood" was the best compliment she could get, she says.
Bolstad's final Seattle job was with celebrated chef Thierry Rautureau at his Loulay Kitchen and Bar. In spring 2021, Loulay was headed toward closure, and Bolstad had relocated to Spokane to finally start her own food business.
By June 2022, she'd created a Kickstarter fundraiser to facilitate her transition to the Wonder Building. Lacking a full-size kitchen of her own, Bolstad works out of Inland Northwest Catering's space to produce items for her stall, as well as for the downtown Spokane bar Emma Rue's. She also makes food for occasional classes she teaches, and to test out possibilities for more Koselig Kitchen one-of-a-kinds that might someday end up in local grocery stores.
"I want to have more than one thing," she says. "And I want to give back to the community." ♦
Koselig Kitchen • 835 N. Post St. • Open Wed-Sun from 11 am- 8pm • koseligkitchen.com
