Lorry

Restaurant Lorry is a historic restaurant and pub at Parkveien 12, on the corner of Hegdehaugsveien in the Homansbyen neighbourhood of Oslo, Norway. The building was constructed in the 1870s to designs by architect Bernhard Steckmest and originally housed a grocery and wine merchant. It became a restaurant in 1901 under the name West Café, before adopting the name Lorry in 1935. Between 1967 and 1984, it was officially known as Parkkafeen. The restaurant has been operated by the same family since 1962 and has long been a gathering place for Oslo’s artists, writers, journalists and politicians. Its interior retains traditional wooden floors, dark panelling and upholstered dining booths, while the walls and ceilings are crowded with paintings, sculptures, antiques, taxidermy and other curiosities. Many of the artworks were acquired from artists who frequented the restaurant, some of whom exchanged their work for food and drinks.

Restaurant Lorry appears in Sentimental Value (2025), directed by Joachim Trier. The restaurant’s distinctive wooden booths are used for a tense meeting between filmmaker Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgård) and his estranged daughter Nora (Renate Reinsve), during which he attempts to persuade her to star in his next film.

In Sentimental Value (2025), Gustav Borg meets Nora at Lorry shortly after returning to Oslo following the death of his former wife. The two sit opposite each other in one of the restaurant’s traditional booths, surrounded by dark wooden panelling, red leather seating and an assortment of framed paintings and decorative objects. Gustav begins the conversation by talking about his recent work before taking a screenplay from a plastic bag and placing it on the table. He explains that he has written the leading role specifically for Nora, a successful theatre actress, and insists that nobody else could play the character. Nora is sceptical, particularly when she questions whether her father has ever watched her perform. Gustav claims to have attended several of her performances, including a production of Medea, although he admits leaving during the interval.

The conversation becomes increasingly uncomfortable when Gustav reveals that he intends to shoot the film in their former family home. Nora refuses to participate, making clear that she has no desire to work with the father who abandoned her during childhood. Gustav continues urging her to read the screenplay, seemingly unable to understand why she rejects his offer. When he claims to be worried about her, Nora confronts him about his drinking and his long absence from her life. The argument ends with Nora angrily leaving the restaurant, while Gustav remains seated in the booth with his rejected screenplay.

The scene was filmed inside the actual restaurant, with its original booths and densely decorated interior clearly visible. A small plaque bearing the name Sten Egil Dahl can also be seen by the booth. Dahl is a fictional writer from Trier’s earlier film Reprise (2006), where he is admired by the aspiring authors Erik and Phillip. The detail creates a connection between the two films without making it part of the conversation between Gustav and Nora. Renate Reinsve later recalled being particularly nervous before filming the scene opposite Skarsgård, as it was among their first substantial scenes together. She felt that her nervousness helped the performance because Nora herself was uncomfortable about confronting her father.

---