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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Four times selected the Swedish Chef of the Year and the winner of Bocuse d'Or in 1997, Mathias Dahlgren ran the Stockholm restaurant Bon Lloc, which had one Michelin Star, from 1996 to 2005. In 2007 he opened the restaurant Mathias Dahlgren in the Stockholm Grand Hotel, which received a Michelin star in 2008. In 2009, it was upgraded to two Michelin stars, only the second Swedish restaurant ever to receive this recognition. In 2013 Matsalen was ranked as the 55th best restaurant in the world . The cuisine is based on using the best fresh produce available in Sweden and other parts of the world. The restaurant is located in the Beautiful Grand Hotel of Stockholm, which is a beautiful building overlooking the water. You are greeted by a very friendly hostess just outside the restaurant who accommodates you and takes care of your coats. The menu is presented on an iPad, giving a short description of each course. We went with the Natural Cuisine Menu. Great flavors and colors. You can tell that Mathias Dahlgren really chooses his produce with care. Fresh aromas, and beautiful plates made up a wonderful menu with several highlights. The menu starts off with a couple of small Amuse Bouches. Great for getting the taste buds warmed up. After these three courses we had some wonderful bread, immensely tasty and rich. Knowing that we had many courses ahead of us I had to limit myself to two slices but that required a lot of self-discipline. One of the highlights of the menu was called Swedish Coolness, and was a delicious blend of raw Nordic seafood, soy, ginger and horseradish. Then in succession, course after course was served with a short introduction from the professional staff. In terms of drinks, there are a number of local beers available or you can try Mathias' own brew. We also had a bottle of German Riesling which was well priced.
Not a cheap evening but well worth the money and highly recommended! Ever since the start of Restaurant Frantzen in the Old Town of Stockholm, the awards has kept coming. Two Michelin stars, ranked 12 on the Pellegrino's top restaurants in the world list, and best restaurant in Sweden 2010 and 2012. And it is easy to understand why. When you walk through the doors held up by the doorman who greats you with a warm Valkommen (Welcome in Swedish), and you enter the small and minimalistic restaurant, you sense that this food shrine isn't about the architectural design - it is all about the food. Chef Frantzen has created a restaurant where it is all about the ingredients, fresh as can be and how these ingredients blend together. The restaurant has its own vegetable garden, they use local produce, and the kitchen has the skills and knowledge to put everything together and create food magic. The restaurant has a very relaxed atmosphere which is part of the philosophy. Chef Frantzen says: "We think our generation is against stiffness and restrictions. Whispering, gestures, and bows in the fine salon are things of the past. It just doesn't feel modern. A guest should never have to be anxious to visit us." You can say the same thing about the food. The food feels modern without pretending to be pretentious. It is good honest food but cooked in a modern way. Traditional Swedish ingredients merge with french cuisine but with a modern twist. A great example is one of the signature dishes "Satio Tempestas" which ingredients can be varied infinitely and recipe depends on what is fresh and in season. Another great dish is the Diver-picked Scallop from Hitra in two servings. It is first fired in its shell with a cream made of duck eggs, grated truffle, browned butter, and a salt made with dried chantarelles and roe. Then raw-marinated and combined into the confit roe and served served with a bouillon of dried scallop, sea algae and chantarelles. Another great course is the canapes that starts off the menu. Simply amazing flavors. If you want to experience traditional Swedish cuisine that has been upgraded to the 21st century then Frantzen is the ultimate choice. Chef Frantzen has built a culinary palace that I will enjoy every time I visit Stockholm - it is that good!!!
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