You’d be hard-pressed to find a gourmet in Beirut who hasn’t heard of Oslo. Nayla Audi first opened the cake and ice-cream shop in 1997, in the Mar Mikhael neighborhood, infusing traditional flavors from rose to frères tea into decadent desserts. “It’s very famous,” says Nayla’s eldest daughter, Yasmine Audi. “Most people in town know it.”
Yasmine, 32, and Julie, 29, opened a Milan outpost of the beloved pâtisserie in April, which they named Oslo—Made in Heaven as a nod to their best-selling “angel cake,” a fluffy, cloud-like confection that originated in the American South. The design-forward space, near the upscale Quadrilatero della Moda neighborhood, features cream-and-gold-tiled floors and sleek wooden stools, echoing the ethereal, almost dreamlike aesthetic of the cake.
The Milan opening marks the beginning of what the sisters hope will be a Europe-wide expansion, and they’re off to a strong start: The New York Times, Italian Vogue, and Wallpaper have all recommended Oslo—Made in Heaven in the last six months.
With food-art installations gaining popularity (think Laila Gohar, who sculpts swans out of meringue or antiquarian-esque busts out of butter), the art world is taking notice of the Audi sisters’ playful creations. During Milan’s Salone del Mobile, in April 2023, they collaborated with Nilufar, one of the city’s most prestigious design galleries, showcasing rosewater jellies alongside translucent resin benches.
Earlier this month, Oslo—Made in Heaven presented a special cake at the London gallery Albion Jeune to be paired with sculptures by renowned artist James Capper. The sisters believe in the importance of artistic collaboration—they’re currently hosting a four-day exhibition of cakes by other pastry chefs at their store, featuring work by Giuseppe De Mattia, David Horvitz, Il Pasticcere Trotzkista, and Sara Ravelli.
Despite the sisters’ family history and clear knack for the business, neither grew up dreaming of opening a dessert shop. Yasmine was always interested in the arts; she moved from Beirut to New York in 2010 to attend Parsons School of Design. After graduating, she had short stints as a gallery assistant at Luhring Augustine and running digital marketing for Waris Ahluwalia’s tea company, House of Waris.
Julie, meanwhile, studied international relations, enrolling in Tufts University, outside of Boston, in 2012. The sisters overlapped in New York in 2016, when Julie interned at Human Rights First, before joining Independent Diplomat as a program assistant, where she drafted intake testimonies from asylum seekers.
It wasn’t until the coronavirus that the sisters started considering going into the family business. When the pandemic hit, in 2020, Nayla, Yasmine, and Julie quarantined together in Los Angeles, where Nayla had opened Milk, a bakery in the Fairfax district, back in 2007. “We realized then,” Yasmine says, “that we spent most of our time in the kitchen. It felt natural to join our mom and carry on what she started.”
After much deliberation, they decided to open an outpost in Milan, where bakeries tend to focus on savory offerings, leaving a gap in the market for foreign pâtisseries. Today, while the sisters handle the day-to-day operations (Julie oversees accounting, and Yasmine focuses on design), Nayla helps from behind the scenes. “Our mother is the creative director,” Yasmine says. “She’s always in the wings.”
Italians now flock to sample their Lebanese-flavor-infused American-style ice cream, made with eggs, which sets it apart from gelato, traditionally made with only cream and milk.
“It’s funny how the Italians seem to love all things Lebanese,” Yasmin says. “And that’s part of the reason I’ve come to love selling cakes too—they’re delicate and beautiful, and there’s power in that.
Elena Clavarino is a Senior Editor at AIR MAIL
