Bloom in the park was lead by the first Swedish chef to receive a Michelin star - Titti Qvarnström. Chef Qvarnström has now left the restaurant and Head Chef Kathrin Baake is now, together with Sous Chef Marcus Ryberg, leading the kitchen. Igi Vidal is still a great front man, but the question remains, have they been able to maintain the quality of the food? We tried the 5 course tasting menu on a Thursday evening. The restaurant was almost full and it is beautifully located in old Restaurant Olga's in the Pildamm's Park. When you enter the restaurant you walk through a gold-colored entranceway leading into the restaurant. The dining room is toned-down Scandinavian with with walls and wooden tables. The dinner starts with a wonderful glass of champagne and you can then chose if you want wine pairing to go with the meal. We opted for some water instead. The tasting menu started off with some great amuse bouches. The first one was a colorful little blood crisp with currants served on autumn leaves. Perfect for the season and a nice start. It was followed by my favorite starter, pumpkin and duckheart. Rich, warm and just perfect after a cold short walk from the parking lot. Our nest starter was quail eggs and duck breast. This was my least favorite starter but beautifully served on quail egg shells. To mix up the textures, the fourth starter was an incredibly rich dashi broth with herbs. Chef Baake wants to bring some Asian flavors to her dishes and you can definitely taste that heritage in this dish. Very satisfying. The last starter was a great scallops ceviche with elderflower jelly. Elderflower works really well with scallops and I also liked this dish a lot. An unique aspect of dining at Bloom in the park is that you will not be given a menu. The waiters will not even introduce the course to you. The idea is that you should try the food first, taste the flavors without any preconceived notion and discuss with your guests what you think you just had. I enjoyed this concept a lot. If you want to know the menu, the waiter will give you a card with code and you can look up the menu on Bloom in the parks website afterwards. I think it might be challenging for some people to eat like that, but I really enjoyed it. And it will help getting people to try things that they would never eat or order of the menu. The first main course we had was a lightly cooked langoustine with a curry sauce and fresh mango. Perfect balance between the spicy curry, the sweet mango (but not too sweet) and the fresh langoustine. A beautiful and a well-balanced dish. The next course was a delicate turbot filled cooked to perfection with a variety of mushrooms and daikon. The mushrooms was fermented with different flavors and the dish worked well. We were then served an intermission course that was really, really good. Dumplings with bull testicles served in soy. Perfectly seasoned and the rocky mountain oysters had a great texture. Creative and delicious. The last main course was a real showstopper. It was a phenomenal dish. Fresh plums and pumpkin was balanced with foie gras and perfectly seared duck. The duck was rubbed with some powerful spices that gave the whole dish a nice edge. All in all, wonderful flavors and a satisfying richness. The wonderful duck was followed by a nice little transition dish. Mimolette cheese and sunchoke. Great combo, but the star in this dish was the peppery cream. Next, we were served a fun palette cleanser. Lime and ginger and then some nitrogen action. I always like the reaction when people experience nitrogen. The trickery wasn't necessary, but I enjoyed it. A good menu needs a great ending and I am happy to say that we got that too. Pacotized coffee icecream with sesame and chocolate. The flavors worked well together and the dish looked great. Last but not least, some wonderful petite fours.
We finished our meal with a great discussion with the front man and owner Igi Vidal. He has great personality and passion for his craft. He runs a tight ship, the service is relaxed but very professional. The kitchen was also able to accommodate my wife's vegan dietary restrictions and she was extremely happy with her menu as well. I highly recommend Bloom in the park. It is a great choice when visiting the City of Parks.
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