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Sweden’s food culture centres on local produce, but many classic dishes have international roots. This is because Swedes have always had a mentality of exploring and trying new flavours and dishes and incorporating them with local ingredients, making for new gastronomic experiences. Today, Swedes pride themselves on eating as naturally as possible in a bid to look after their health – and that of the planet. Food production ethics and animal welfare are high on the agenda. Hence, there’s an increasing demand for locally made, organic produce and many supermarkets have also started stocking products from nearby farms with the farm-to-table movement becomg very popular. And given the generosity of the country’s natural pantry of berries, mushrooms and edible plants, you could even call this local dining approach “forest-to-table”.
Given this It will come as no surprise that this year, Stockholm will take its place as Europe's gastronomic capital. The year gives Sweden's capital a unique chance to put the city on the map as an attractive gastronomic destination. Over the next twelve months the city is hosting events to showcase their innovative and sustainable food scene and the focus on gastronomic pleasure.
Below are just a selection to whet your appetitie!
Smaklig måltid! ('Bon Appetit' in Swedish.)
The Ice Cream Championship is a competition organized by Stockholmsmässan in collaboration with confectioner Tony Olsson. Participants in the competition are ice cream bars, patisseries and restaurants that sell ice cream as take-away. The competition appoints Sweden's best ice cream master. The jury consists of experienced ice cream masters and pastry chefs.
Wild nature offers a wide range of flavours, plants that we often overlook or even condescendingly call "weeds". Come along on a walk where you are intoduced to some of the season's most common, tastiest and most useful plants, which will make your taste buds wonder and your creativity dance. The hike ends with a wild coffee.
Lisen Sundgren is a herbalist and Nature and forest therapy guide and through her long career has inspired thousands of people to go out into nature to both use cultivated herbs and gather wild plants for food and get better health through contact with nature.
For 30 years, Smaka på Stockholm has been held in Kungsträdgården during the weekend around Sweden's National Day. A real folk festival that has now developed into Smaka Good Food Week! The goal is to be one of the world's best and most relevant food festivals. Always striving towards the future, inspiring and creating change by presenting the best chefs, excellent ingredients, innovative entrepreneurs and good food innovations
Nordic Craft Cider Festival at Hornuddens Trädgård. Together with exhibitors from the Nordic countries and local food players this is a unique and wonderful festival celebration by Mälaren’s shore. You can reach the festival by boat or bus from Strängnäs and Stockholm.
Bring your friends and family to a unique experience with the focus on new and exciting flavours. Wine and food tastings, inspiration from famous chefs, tasty street food, beer, spirits and lots of shopping opportunities.
Stockholm’s gastronomical heritage goes way back. The city is sprinkled with restaurants that have been here for centuries. Discover some of the most iconic ones – from Michelin-starred dining rooms to cosy pubs and loads of traditional Swedish food. No wonder it was named the European Capital of Gastronomy 2023.
Here are just a few of the restaurants located in central Stockholm serving great Swedish food with an irresistible side of history.
Tennstopet has served as a meeting point for culture workers ever since its opening in 1867. Even though the restaurant has changed its name and address several times over the centuries, it lives and breathes tradition. The interior is akin an English pub, with dartboards, red plush furniture, tartan on walls and floor and many regulars. The menu is strictly classic, following a seasonal food calendar making sure you won’t miss any traditional Swedish culinary highlights like the fermented herring premiere, the crayfish party – and craw. Eating craw is an old phenomenon from the harsh Swedish winters when the bird was seen as a good source of protein. In fact, parts of both the interiors and the menu at Tennstopet have been the same for the last 60 years.
Operakällaren has gone through a transformation few restaurants can match. Dating back to 1787, it started as a cellar tavern with juniper on its earthy floor, located underneath King Gustaf III’s opera house. In 1792, the king was shot during a masquerade ball at the opera and 100 years later the building was so dilapidated that it was demolished. Operakällaren reopened just a stone’s throw away, now as an international restaurant with tablecloths. But by the 1950s, Operakällaren was declining once again and the before-mentioned Tore Wretman was asked to take over. He closed and renovated the restaurant for six years. Operakällaren opened again in 1961, with the mission to overshine everything that had ever existed in the Scandinavian restaurant business. Looking back at it today, one could say he succeeded.
Den Gyldene Freden is one of the oldest restaurants in the world and has been at the same address since 1722. The restaurant attracted legendary Swedes right from the start – botanist Carl Linnaeus and musician Carl Michael Bellman were regulars during the 1700s. But at the beginning of the 1900s, Den Gyldene Freden lost its rights to serve liquor and was heading for bankruptcy. It was saved by artist Anders Zorn, who bought the whole building and willed it to The Swedish Academy, which is known to the world as choosing the Nobel Prize laureates in literature. Still today, the members of The Swedish Academy gather here for dinner every Thursday. Traditional Swedish comfort food, like pea soup and meatballs, made of quality ingredients is on the menu which changes weekly.
Stockholm city breaks are stacked with museum trips, Swedish cuisine, and boat tours around the islands that border this easy-on-the-eye city.
Sweden’s capital is built over 14 islands, easily navigated by more than 50 bridges, as well as ferries and sightseeing boats. Stockholm’s located right on the Baltic Sea and has over 30,000 islands off its coast. Famous tourist attractions here include the 17th-century warship at the Vasa Museum, Gamla Stan – the Medieval old town – and the ABBA Museum.
Our destination experts have a passion for this stunning and vibrant capital. Contact us on 020 8568 4499 to discuss booking your Stockholm city break.
15th March 2023
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