Norra Station
In a newly built room on a courtyard in the middle of town, there is intense activity. Coffee is roasted, social development and environmental issues are discussed. Someone eats a gourmet sausage from Halåsen and another tests the breakfast buffet, which is packed with local produced products. In the room next door, different kind of arts is shown from art contractors.
– This is a place for innovation and sustainability. A melting pot where people meet for a variety of reasons. We want to create a place in the middle of Östersund, in the middle of Jämtland, in the middle of the world where exciting things happen. Curiosity and openness are important. Not to shut things down without sharing with each other, says Manne Mosten, one of the initiators.
And of course there is a lot going on at North Station. In addition to accommodating both a café, a gallery, a co-working space and a café roaster, there are many other places that can be accommodated on Hamngatan 11. During the late winter and spring, coffee courses, food walks and tastings of various kinds are offered. As soon as the weather permits, the outdoor dining area opens with the associated soft-glass bar and a training club is on the wish list later this spring. Relationships are important at Norra Station and are also one of the reasons why the place was started from the beginning. Manne tells how the old courtyards of the city looked in the past. It was life and movement and knowledge was important. As a customer, it was not uncommon for people to be able to watch as the coffee was both roasted and ground.
– Nowadays there are so many stages in the production and customers have no idea where the food they eat comes from. We want to shorten that lead. We buy raw materials from people with whom we have a relationship. Which we like and trust. They come here and talk about their products and then both we and the customers get a relationship with the origin of the raw materials. We call it relationship food, he says.
Variation is also important. For example, everything should not taste the same every day. It depends on the harvest and the day form. The coffee supply will be different from one day to another depending on who has baked. The unique should shine through and the idea is to become an alternative to the large conceptual chains. – Many people find it cozy here. They like the atmosphere and the old environments that are preserved. Then I think you like that there are a bunch of people from the area who have figured out what kind of environment we want to be in and then created based on it, Manne says.
