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.
Mork and her sister, Linda, moved to Los Angeles in 2018. For a while, Mork says, she didn’t really miss her home back in Europe.
"You are just happy to be somewhere new, experiencing everything L.A. has,” Mork tells L.A. TACO. “Then the longer you stay, the more you start to yearn for the food, for the people, for the feeling of home.”
It was around last Christmas when the idea for the pop-up started coming together. The sisters couldn't make it back to Norway to celebrate, and in that sad absence of home, a concept clicked for them.
"I missed waffles. I missed Norwegian food," Mork says. "Why don't we just make waffles here? That way we can eat it all the time, but we can also share the love for Norwegian waffles and part of Norwegian cuisine with Angelenos."
The recipe came from their mother, Eva, whose version of the family waffle leans heavily on cardamom, heavier than most. It’s a spice found on breakfast buns at coffee shops in Norway and as a flavor in coffee beverages as well.
“She says, ‘Don't tell anybody, but I add a lot of cardamom,’” Mork laughs, recounting a phone call with her mom. “I’m like, ‘Mom, kind of everybody does that.’”
But it's that extra hit of spice that makes the difference. The moment the batter hits the iron, the steam rises, and the cardamom fills the air—that's the smell that stopped me, the one I could neither name or ignore.
The recipe itself is simple but uses buttermilk instead of regular milk, which is what gives their Norwegian waffle its signature character: a slight sourness that separates it entirely from the thick, sweet Belgian waffle most know.
"The Belgian waffle is sweet. It's more of a dessert,” Mork puts it plainly, pausing just long enough to look up as she prepares a new batch. “The Norwegian waffle? You can eat it any day, any time as lunch, breakfast, or just as a snack. It is an everyday thing. Not a special occasion. Not a brunch flex. Just food that belongs in your life.”
The waffles are heart-shaped, which is not a branding choice. A traditional Norwegian waffle iron has always consisted of five small, connected hearts, and it has been that way for generations.
"Every Norwegian waffle is going to be heart-shaped," Mork says.
The menu at Vaffel&Venn is where the story becomes layered. The strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, vanilla, and mixed berry cardamom jams are all made in-house using a traditional Norwegian method that Linda takes part in: mixing just two ingredients and cooling everything down by freezing, to lock in that bright, berry-forward flavor.
There is also a seasonal tropical jam, a mango-and-pineapple this time, with a hint of lime, topped with toasted coconut. It is Bennett’s focus to create these new flavor pairings.
"The traditional Norwegian flavors aren't going anywhere," Bennett says. "But the adventure of it all is being able to be inventive, curious, and creative about the flavor combinations."
They are not overly sweet. Paired against the slight tang of the buttermilk in the waffle, all the flavors balance one another out well.
Bennett, who brings his L.A. sensibilities to the partnership, thinks up flavor pairings that bridge the gap between the Nordic tradition and the city he and Elin both call home now.
Then there is the brown cheese.
Called “brunost” in Norway and sold here under the name Ski Queen, it is a whey cheese made by slowly boiling whey, milk, and cream until the milk sugars caramelize. This process gives it that deep brown color and a flavor that lands somewhere between fudge and caramel, with a subtle nuttiness beneath.
I was not prepared for how much I would love it. Mork compares the brown cheese and strawberry jam pairing to peanut butter and jelly, and she is not wrong.
I watched Norwegian after Norwegian walk up to that table and order the brown cheese. I watched security staff come back for seconds. People in Mexico jerseys tried it for the first time and went quiet in that way people do when something genuinely surprises them.
Pairing salty cheese with sweet-leaning baked goods is common in places like Yucatán, where street vendors griddle waffle-like marquesitas and generously add full-flavored Dutch Edam cheese—creating clear parallels with Mexican treats.
Emilia and Kenya, two friends who show up in Mexico jerseys, came with a very specific agenda. Norway isn't their team but after Mexico's loss, they were adopting the Norwegians as their avengers.
"We're supporting Norway because of Mexico," Emilia says. "They lost, so they have to avenge us. Haaland is going to avenge us, so we're here to get justice served."
"We're so excited,” says Kenya. “I've never seen them before. They look really good."
"That's a good omen," Emilia says after asking if the waffles are legit and hearing the pop-up’s origin story. “Norwegian sisters, a family recipe, and husbands who helped build it. So we're going to win!"
Alas, they did not win, with Norway losing to England by one goal. But they got the waffles. And if you ask me, that is not a bad consolation prize.
Vaffel&Venn launched in March, and the World Cup arrived like a gift they hadn't planned for. Suddenly, Norwegians from across Los Angeles and all over the place were showing up to watch games, and there were waffles waiting for them.
"People who have been here for a long time, they see waffles and they're like, 'Oh my God, they have Norwegian waffles here,'" Mork says, glowing. "I feel like we brought a piece of home to L.A. for them, for us."
But the community they are building is not only Norwegian. Every Saturday, they are at the Inglewood Farmers Market, a very deliberate choice. They live in Inglewood, and they are getting to know the people.
"We have some regulars now," Mork says. "There's this one retired person, he comes every Saturday. He's like, 'I'm here for my breakfast.' And one Saturday we weren't there, and when we came back he said, 'I didn't have my breakfast that Saturday because you weren't there.'"
She pauses. "That's what makes it so worth it."
In another move that makes us love them, Mork and Bennett donate the tips they receive to The Lovejoy Foundation, a rescue organization dedicated to giving second chances to neglected dogs, supporting rescue, rehabilitation, rehoming, and critical spay-and-neuter programs.
Mork and Bennett are dog lovers themselves. After the game wrapped and the last batches of waffles were made, they were looking forward to going home to their pup, Minnow.
As Norway’s loss became apparent that day, the energy in the room shifted the way it always does after any hard loss, with the heavy quiet that follows a fight well fought. But something else happened too.
People lingered. They came back to the stand. They ordered one more waffle.
In a room full of people far from home, the waffles became exactly what Mork had always intended them to be: a comfort, a familiar thing to hold onto even when the scoreboard doesn't go your way.
Bennett said it best before the game even started: "Win or lose, Vaffel&Venn is here to stay."
And in that moment, with the smell of cardamom still in the air and heart-shaped waffles being passed across the table to Norwegians and Angelenos alike, that felt like the only result that really mattered.
This is everything we love about Los Angeles: ambition, sharing a piece of home, and an open hand extended to the community.
Vaffel&Venn ~ Saturdays at Inglewood Farmers Market ~ 1213 District Dr. Inglewood, CA 90301; Sundays 10 A.M to 2 P.M. at Wilshire and La Brea
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