Eyvind Hellstrøm (born 2 December 1948) is Norway’s most famous chef. He surprised many when he left Bagatelle, Oslo, where he had worked since 1982, at the end of last year, citing an ongoing dispute with owner Christen Sveaas as the reason. Bagatelle was widely regarded as the country’s best restaurant (it was the only one in Norway to boast two Michelin stars) and had to close as a result of Hellstrøm’s departure. In fact the whole staff handed in their notice in December 2009 after hearing Hellstrøm was leaving.

Hellstrøm has penned a number of books and appeared in various television programmes throughout his long career. The latest one was a Norwegian version of Kitchen Nightmares entitled Hellstrøm Rydder Opp (literally ‘Hellstrøm Tidies Up’) where he took over the role played by Gordon Ramsay in the English series – one of the restaurants featured was Majorstuen in Fredrikstad’s Old Town.

Hellstrøm, who comes from Moss originally, has always had a soft spot for Østfold, and mentioned the possibility of opening a restaurant in Gamlebyen when interviewed on the local NRK radio in 2009, so watch this space. Now this would be a very exciting development indeed!