Before I moved to Pittsburgh, I was at a dead-end with my life in Asheville, NC. I had maxed out at my line-cook job of several years, where I really cut my teeth and learned most of what I knew. I had seen the town change quite a lot since my family moved there and was tired of looking at all the new development.

I ended up in Pittsburgh, which I had always liked when my bands had visited on tour. 

After settling in the city, I realized that continuing in the restaurant industry was going to be a tall order. I assessed a lot of options and worked at quite a few restaurants here, but nothing really scratched my itch. By happenstance, I started farming, not expecting to like the grueling physical labor. But, I was hooked. I attribute a lot of that to the exposure to quality produce. 

Again by happenstance, a couple of years later, my friend Sarah LaPonte and I started Fet-Fisk, a recurring, one-of-a-kind dinner party with a focus on fresh seafood, regional produce, and Scandinavian influences. (We'll be back, by the way.) Swedish for “greasy fish,” Fet-Fisk started as a way to get folks together and get through the dreary, steel-city winters. Then COVID hit. 

Over the course of the pandemic, I watched a lot of restaurants attempt to pivot their models. Some maneuvered gracefully.

Watching others was like seeing a cruiseliner suddenly stuck in a swimming pool. I’m deeply saddened by the blow after blow that restaurants have suffered over the last year. I do hope I can see a day where groups of friends can all stick their fingers in the same plate of food without a care, but I was anxious about waiting for that time to materialize. I was more than ready to use this time to build my business in preparation for those moments of splendor. 

Royal Market came about as a combination of the economic climate surrounding COVID-19, and happenstance (again). By August the pandemic had quite the grip on the restaurant industry and any move in that specific direction would certainly prove futile. Besides, we had been singed – if not burned – a few times when a few hopeful locations for a permanent Fet-Fisk location fell through our fingertips. By this point, I had a very real idea of the resources we would need for such an endeavor. 

Regardless, I continued to cruise commercial listings on Craigslist, and alas, my current space appeared: a fresh listing at a reasonable price with minimal buildout needed. A week later I was signing the lease with my friend Jack Miller of Saturn Bakery, another startup with whom I’d had preliminary conversations about cohabitating a kitchen space.

I waited until after I signed the lease at Royal Market to start workshopping my own model. I’d always wanted to work in a butcher shop and thought my cooking would do at least moderately well in a delicatessen or prepared foods setting. (Although my preference will always be cooking a dinner service in an open kitchen, providing the backdrop for diners to enjoy themselves.)

I can now please my Scandinavian ancestors by coddling smoking trouts day in and day out. I’m very pleased and astounded that I managed to get where I am as it stands, but if and when things feel right, I’m anticipating a return to pop-up dinner services while keeping the Royal Market as headquarters and a laboratory for a nomadic and ever-shifting operation.

Experience Nik’s Scandinavian offerings for yourself:

https://www.fetfisk.net/

STORY BY NIK FORSBERG, AS TOLD TO QUELCY KOEGEL/ PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATT DAYAK/STYLING BY QUELCY KOEGEL