You boys didn’t just fall off the fish wagon. How did you get into the pizza business?

Ole: Vell, I had some lefse in da fridge, a can of sardines, a pound of mozzarella and some tomato and I thought, ‘What am I gonna do wit dis stuff?’

Actually we started with a snack shop and we started selling pizza on a whim. We sold six slices, so we made and sold six more. When we went back to college that fall, I tested recipes on my brother and Don Eliasen, who were my roommates. There was one deep dish that fed us for a week.

Sven: Yah. Very filling.

Do folks really drive up the North Shore just to have a pizza?

Ole: Yah. Surprisingly, they do. They come from all over the place—the Iron Range, northern Wisconsin, Duluth and tons from Thunder Bay. Actually, they come from all over the world, even the remote corners of Siberia.

Why does the legendary Lutefisk Pizza cost so much?

Ole: It’s kinda like dealing with hazardous waste. Ve need a two week advance notice. Then ve go to Norway to pick out da most succulent piece of lutefisk ve can find. This is a pizza you take at your own risk.

And it costs how much?

Ole: Vun million dollars.

Sven: Yah.

And people will pay that much for a pizza?

Ole: You betcha! Vell, lots of people have thought about, but no one has ordered one.

Whatever happened to Inga and Lena?

Ole: Oh they’re around. They help out once in awhile. But ya know, they’re gettin kinda uppity so ve gotta keep ‘em in da background.

Tell us something we don’t know about Sven.

Ole: His middle name is Luigi.

Tell us something we don’t know about Ole.

Sven: Bet you didn’t know his middle name is Guido.

Is there some hidden history here?

Ole: Possibly. Actually we’re sitting in the old Frank Cherry Bakery (the new Sven and Ole’s dining area on Broadway). Frank was from Italy and he started making the first pizzas in Grand Marais after World War II. Me and Sven got a solid Norvegian and Svede heritage.

Is the trivia night at the Pickled Herring Club some kind of cult?

Sven: More of a religion. They take it pretty serious and we’ve got a pretty good following. This fall marks six years of Trivia Night. We now do it year-round because so many of our summer visitors enjoy it. It’s at 8 p.m. on Thursdays during the summer and starts at 7 p.m. after Labor Day.

What’s your favorite pizza?

Sven: Pepperoni and green olives. Dat’s vat ve grew up wit every Saturday night.

Ole: Yah, dat’s right. But I like da North Shore Pesto pizza.

What does the future hold for Sven and Ole’s?

Ole: If I told ya, I’d have to throw ya in a big barrel of lutefisk. About all I can say is ve have some plans and are starting to work on some things. But when we got some news, you’ll be da first to know it.

Sven: Yah.