People who would rarely enter the same room will often sit at the same table.
Food creates a particular kind of space. It allows stories to be told without beginning with disagreement. It creates proximity before demanding consensus.
One Table North starts from that simple idea and turns it into a structured format combining:
Food
Meals designed around place, identity, migration, scarcity, adaptation and memory.
Storytelling
Short narratives connecting dishes with individual experiences and different cultural worlds.
Encounter
Tables and experiences deliberately designed to bring together people who may otherwise remain socially separated.
Solidarity
Clearly separated collaborations with established social or humanitarian organisations whenever appropriate and formally agreed.
THE FOUNDER
Andrés Palladino
One Table North grows directly out of the professional and intellectual trajectory of its founder.
Andrés Palladino has worked in professional kitchens for approximately 25 years, including experience organising and leading kitchens in different countries.
He currently works as a cook in Tromsø.
Alongside gastronomy, he has pursued studies in philosophy and anthropology and developed work as a writer and independent researcher.
During 2026, one of his novels received a literary award in Gran Canaria, two of his short stories were recognised in international literary competitions in Spain, and a collection containing those stories is being published in Buenos Aires.
His philosophical work focuses on corrigibility: the capacity of individuals, organisations and institutions to identify problems, revise their interpretations and change course.
Academic manuscripts related to this work are currently undergoing peer review, including at Biology & Philosophy and Social Epistemology.
One Table North brings these different trajectories together:
the cook, the storyteller and the researcher of how human systems learn and adapt.
A PROJECT LARGER THAN ONE PERSON
One Table North is founder-led, but it is not intended to become a one-person initiative.
A small group of colleagues and potential collaborators in Tromsø is beginning to form around the project, including people with professional hospitality and kitchen experience who are interested in participating in different capacities.
Their roles will be defined as the first pilot develops and formal agreements are established.
THE FIRST PILOT
Tromsø — Autumn 2026
The proposed first proof of concept is a carefully designed experience for approximately 50–70 participants.
The initial ambition is to explore the possibility of developing the pilot in connection with Arctic Pride 2026, subject to a formal agreement with Arctic Pride and any other relevant partners.
Arctic Pride is not currently a confirmed partner in the project.
The event would combine:
FOOD + STORYTELLING + ENCOUNTER + SOLIDARITY
But the objective is not simply to organise a successful dinner.
The first event will test the One Table North model.
We will document:
participant experience;
operational results;
financial performance;
partnerships;
qualitative social impact;
what worked;
what failed;
what should change.
The purpose is to emerge from the first edition with a better and more workable second version.
A COMPANY DESIGNED TO LEARN
One Table North applies a simple principle:
Do not scale what you have not yet learned how to correct.
Each project will be treated as an opportunity to test assumptions, measure results and improve the format before the next edition.
This is where the founder’s work on corrigibility becomes part of the operating model rather than merely an intellectual background.
The long-term objective is to create a format that is:
professional
measurable
economically sustainable
socially useful
repeatable in different communities and cities
THE BUSINESS MODEL
One Table North is being created as a professional social enterprise.
Its future revenue may combine:
commissioned gastronomic and cultural experiences;
corporate partnerships;
sponsorship;
workshops and educational activities;
ticketed events;
institutional projects;
eligible grants;
consulting and event production;
collaborations with civil-society and humanitarian organisations.
Commercial sustainability and social purpose are not treated as opposites.
The company must be capable of paying professionals fairly for their work while producing measurable social value.
Any money explicitly raised for a charitable organisation will remain financially and administratively separate from One Table North’s operating revenue.
No charitable or humanitarian organisation should be considered a partner unless a formal agreement has been established.
FOUNDING ONE TABLE NORTH
One Table North is currently in its pre-incorporation stage.
The immediate founding target is:
NOK 80,000
The first funding will be used for:
NOK 30,000 — Initial share capital
To establish One Table North AS.
NOK 30,000 — Business development and mobility
Meetings, transport, partner development, venue research, supplier meetings and operational preparation.
NOK 10,000 — Company establishment
Registration, accounting setup, banking, insurance and initial administration.
NOK 10,000 — Pilot development
Research, presentation materials, communications and pre-production.
This NOK 80,000 represents the minimum operational amount required to establish the initial structure and begin the work. It is not the complete production budget for a public event.
WE ARE CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR
FOUNDING PARTNERS
Companies and organisations interested in supporting the creation of a new Tromsø-based social enterprise.
EARLY-STAGE FINANCIERS
Investors, lenders and grant-making organisations interested in helping One Table North move from concept to operating company.
IN-KIND PARTNERS
Partners able to contribute mobility, venues, food, accommodation, production services, communications or professional expertise.
KNOWLEDGE AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Professionals and organisations with experience in social inclusion, migration, cultural participation, LGBTQ+ communities, childhood, hunger, displacement and community development.
Any collaboration involving vulnerable people or humanitarian purposes will be developed only through appropriate professional partnerships, clear responsibilities and separate financial arrangements.
The first objective is not simply to finance one event.
It is to create the structure capable of producing many of them.
FROM TROMSØ OUTWARD
One Table North begins in Tromsø, but the problem it addresses is universal.
Every city contains people who live physically close to one another while remaining socially distant.
Food is one of humanity’s oldest mec
