Downtown Norwegian Café Closes its Doors
By:
Photojournalist:
DULUTH - If you like hot butter lefses, you need to rush to downtown Duluth before a popular Norwegian café closes its doors.
Sandy Thompson, owner of Takk for Maten Cafe, reminisces as she flips through messages that customers have left in the café’s guestbook over the years.
"Understated compliment. Came all the way from Arizona to enjoy the best Swedish pancakes in the entire United States. Don't believe it, try them, you'll agree. Great breakfast and friendly people," Thompson said.
She announced Saturday that she’ll be closing the café’s doors for good and both customers and employees agree, the café was about more than just the Norwegian food it served.
"They came in for the great food, but also the great atmosphere," Bente Soderlind, a Takk for Maten Café employee, said.
"At the beginning, it made me feel more like home, just the names of the coffees and the names of the café, Takk for Maten, it's really awesome," Nina Thorsen said.
Takk for Maten is Norwegian for, “Thanks for the food,” and a phrase that is a big part of the Norwegian culture.
"I just thought the phrase was so perfect because what I was trying to do was to not only say Thanks for the food today, you know, thanks for lunch, it was good. But, thanks for the food, our grandmas, those traditions," Thompson
