Norway jerseys. Mexico jerseys. Flags draped over shoulders. Signs reading "Norguey."
There we were at last Saturday’s England vs. Norway World Cup match, and the energy was exactly what you would expect from a quarter-final watch party at Joxer Daly's in Culver City.
What we did not expect was the smell.
After just breaking my fast for the day, I walked in and something stopped me: It was sweet, warm, faintly spiced in a way I could not immediately place. It was wafting out of a corner stand, where a man and woman were hard at work behind waffle irons and a variety of jams.
The couple is composed of Elin Mork and Jerome Bennett, the co-owners of Vaffel&Venn: Nordic Waffles, which means “waffle & friend” in Norwegian. Elin is from Norway and Jerome was born and raised in Los Angeles.
Together they have built something that feels a lot less like a pop-up and more like the embodiment of the idea that food can close the distance between worlds. From Norway to L.A.