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]
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 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.
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]
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.