Butter: April 2012

Stockholm Part 3: Let's Eat!

Meticulous traveller that I am, I had painstakingly trawled through every Stockholm city guide, restaurant review site and design blog for inspiration on what to eat in the city and where to eat it. Sometimes eating is the highlight for me on these trips. I know it sounds awful (and extremely little Britain of me), but I could happily go abroad and just hole myself up in nice hotel, emerging only to eat.

Fortunately for me (and you), I have a little more oompf than that, which led me to my ultimate favourite travel activity: supermarket browsing! Shut up, it's not sad! What better way to experience local life and sample local delicacies than to visit the very place that LOCALS go to for their groceries. Okay, so I'm not sure if most Stockholmers shop for chicken at Nordiska Kompaniet (Sweden's answer to Selfridge's), but I like to think they do....

As good as Norwegian Air was to us, I was pretty convinced that they would not stretch their one piece of hand luggage rule to accommodate my suitcase, bag'o'Byredo and a wheel of crisp bread. But look at how pretty the packaging is!

Don't even get me started on the fruit cordial...I had to be dragged away. When is this 100ml rule going to put to bed? I don't even drink cordial, but that is very much besides the point...

Lunch was at Östermalms saluhall, a food hall, make that EMPORIUM, dating to 1888. Visitors beware: get there early. We arrived at about 3:15pm, thinking we had the rest of the day to wile away, but the hall actually closes at 4pm on a Saturday. These Swedes don't mess about. "Me Time" is certified here; good
luck hanging a fang on a open sandwich past 5pm.
So we did an 'express tour'...

snap, snap, snap...

We just about had time to get an open sandwich each- I opted for the beef- and finished with a decadent
slice of chocolate cake. I'm sorry, but we'd walked so much that day, that I felt I earned the calories.

I couldn't resist this cute Florentine-style cupcake. I can't remember exactly how much it was, but I do remember balking at the price. Stockholm is so damn expensive! Ah well...it was delicious and beat a Belgian bun at Greggs hands down..

I'd love to tell you what it was called, but unfortunately every time I Google 'Swedish cake', I'm presented with this. I can say that nobody attempted to take a slice out of me when I was in town.

I had to mentally prepare for dinner at Restaurang AG...

Located in a reasonably 'gritty' area of Stockholm (and by gritty, I mean Swedish gritty. As in "Oh no, there's an empty wrapper on the ground that someone has carelessly discarded" gritty. As opposed to London gritty. As in "Crap, I think that guy has a shank, WALK UP"gritty). We were told that the door was unmarked, but we spotted the restaurant straight away through the taxi window- a little disappointing; I was up for a hunt. Once inside, we were confronted with a dubious looking lift:

This is how Law & Order starts...CHUNG CHUNG.
The dining room was more welcoming...

The food was even better. Now, AG is not for vegetarians or pescetarians. Stay at home guys. This place is heavy on the cow. I.e, absolute heaven for me. The menus were a little dodge...

But they were a treat inside...

I ordered a FEAST.

The steak was AMAZEBALLS!

Totally didn't need it, but I went for the blood orange sorbet to finish.

Followed by cocktails at the bar at Nobis Hotel. Bliss! Goodbye Stockholm, my wallet won't miss you x

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Stockholm Part 2

First came the pilgrimage to the mecca that is Byredo...

I'm sure you know the story. Byredo was founded by superman aka Swede Ben Gorham, a half Indian, half Canadian, former basketball player trained in fine arts. Gorham started the brand in 2006, focusing first on a series of unisex scents containing minimal ingredients, but using the best raw materials and wholly manufactured in Sweden. The brand has since expanded to candles, bath and body products and, on my visit, limited edition room sprays (we snapped up the last two bottles. Mwhahahahahaha!)

Looking good Ben

There have been quite a few rumbles and grumbles about the price of Mr Gorham's products (a 100ml bottle of Pulp eau de parfum will set one back £130 at Liberty, the only stockists of Byredo in London), though I can testify that every drop is sincerely worth the cost. Honestly, it's like nothing you've ever smelt before, and once you've had a whiff and your nose grows accustomed to the intensely independent notes, every other bottle of perfume churned out by the usual fashion houses will smell positively pedestrian in comparison.

The staff at the store here were so cute and stocked us up with plenty of samples. I walked away with the aforementioned room spray, a room candle in the scent 'Carrousel' and, my most prized purchase, a handmade leather purse spray holder, embossed with the name Byredo in gold, with a small bottle of fragrance (in this case, Bal d'Afrique) included.

This was followed by a walk through Gamla Stan (old town)...

One of the best things about the city of Stockholm is how easy it is to cover by foot. Despite staying in the central district of Norrmalm we were able to walk it south to Gamla Stan, one of many islets in the city by foot, taking in the bright coloured facades of the area's historic townhouses which lined the narrow streets and cobblestoned squares, the (freezing cold) harbour and, further on, the boutiques of downtown Sodermalm. Bearing in mind the crippling prices in the Swedish capital, from the cost of transport to eating out, this was the perfect way to wile a bitterly cold afternoon without having to dig too deep into our pockets (not that there was much dinero left after the trip to Byredo).

Byredo

Mäster Samuelsgatan 42

111 57 Stockholm

+46 8 525 026 10

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Stockholm Part 1

March saw a long-awaited trip to Sweden, Stockholm, a city I had been yearning to visit, having already been to Copenhagen, Oslo and Helsinki in the past year.

Being a huge fan of Scandi design, I envisaged the city break as being a kind of design pilgrimage, and I was not disappointed. This was not least made possible by the Nobis Hotel, our temporary home for the weekend. Located in the centre of the city in a building dating to the late 1800s, the hotel underwent a careful redesign by local studio Claesson Koivisto Rune in 2010.

There was even an Acne flagship store at ground level!

But the most impressive area was the Gold Bar lounge (below), which has a 28 metre-high ceiling!

I loved the palette of greys, neutrals and heavy accents of Carrara marble. Best of all, I spotted the Made By Originals book produced by Design Hotels, which I contributed to in 2010!

Despite its clean, modern interiors the Nobis has an exceptionally colourful history. The building was once a bank which, in 1973, was subject to a six-day long siege by a robber. It was during this event that the term 'Stockholm Syndrome' emerged, referring to the empathetic relationship a hostage can often adopt in relation to his/her hostage taker.

Rooms were even more minimal than the public spaces. I didn't mind this so much though, as arched windows with ornate stucco work and high ceilings balanced the simple aesthetic of the interiors which included plush rugs, sumptuous grey throws and long, flowing curtains, among which typically Scandinavian furniture was scattered.

I love touches like this! So hospitable. And welcomed after a long morning travelling.

We were lucky enough to have a balcony overlooking Norrmalmstorg, a large square in the centre of the city.

Best of all though, were the bathrooms which were generously filled with toiletries by one of my favourite (Swedish) brands, Byredo. Did I stock up? Yes I did! This stuff is £30 a bottle in Liberty! The (removable) elaborately carved sink cover had me scratching my head though...