“No, you must lock eyes when you toast,” explains chef Ulrica Bengtsson, formerly of Aquavit (now at Smörgås Chef Restaurant Group) and my dinner companion for the evening. “It comes from an old Viking ritual. We tap glasses twice, to symbolize pouring a bit of each drink into the other, and watch each other as we take sips – you must swallow. If you don’t, I know you’ve poisoned me.” I stare her down and then sip my vodka, innocent of homicidal intentions.

          Clearly, I have a lot to learn as a comparative innocent among the Scandinavians and assorted culturati at this press dinner launch at the International Culinary Center for North, this week’s Nordic Food Festival.

Instead of burnt rye, this non-traditional take on gravlax is topped with crunchy seaweed.

          Ten chefs, an impressive mix of Scandijavian imports and our own hometown Vikings, have put together tonight’s theater of the new Nordic cooking.

          Given what I’ve read of the craze, I’m wary, expecting hay, pine needles, soil, maybe even bear on a bed of smoking twigs. Instead, as each dish replaces the last, I’m seeing a repetitious theme – a rat-a-tat of burnt, crunchy crumble on nearly every dish.

          Not to say it isn’t wonderful, even soothingly familiar. Chef Frode Selvaag of The Sterling Academy’s lightly smoked Norwegian salmon, topped with burnt rye and sugar, hushes our talkative table. Morten Sohlberg, owner and executive chef of Smörgås Chef Restaurant Group in Manhattan, has found something provocative to say about the redundancy. “The burnt taste – it echoes the smoke of the salmon. It’s a repetition,” he thoughtfully observes.

Refslund's unkempt "Fermented Fall" Salad is perfect for the modern Viking.

          I do find some of the brash wildness I was anticipating in an unkempt salad – Mads Refslund’s (Acme) “Fermented Fall” – filled with unripe lingonberries, figs, and sprigs of succulents, served up in a rustic wooden bowl.

          I leave buzzed on rye, smoked fish, and Icelandic vodka. If you move now, you can still pick up tickets for this weekend’s events. Click here for your last chance to catch up on the Nordic Vikings.

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