Ekstedt

It’s been several years since I last visited Sweden and I’d forgotten how expensive it can seem to the traveller. Travelling to Stockholm meant that I was left to my own devices on one evening while my colleague went home to his family. Looking around restaurant options, Ekstedt seemed to represent a good balance between interesting sounding menu and reasonable pricing.

Niklas Ekstedt grew up in Are in northern Sweden. He had spells at Charlie Trotter in Chicago, El Bulli and French Laundry before he opened his first restaurant Niklas in Helsingborg. He relocated to Stockholm in 2008 to open Restaurant 1900 and followed this by opening the eponymous Ekstedt in 2011. Gustav Otterberg is the head chef at Ekstedt. His previous experience included time as  head chef at Leijontornet where he was awarded 1 Michelin star.

If you want to get in touch with your inner caveman (without the hunting and gathering) then Ekstedt is ideal because the focus at Ekstedt is cooking everything on an open wood-burning hearth. There are chimney smokers at one side of the grate so the food is smoked from the same fire. The fire pit is fed birch logs for cooking and the smokers employ juniper. This means that the whole restaurant has a wonderful smoky aura as you step in the front door. The atmosphere is incredibly cosy and the restaurant interior exudes warmth with its extensive use of wood throughout. Use of scented candles meant that even a visit to the toilets continues the smoky approach. The restaurant is fairly casual, with an interesting soundtrack encompassing Muse, Rolling Stones, White Lies, David Bowie and ELO’s 10538 Overture on the night I was there. 

The menu options are between a 3-course and 5-course menu with many dishes in common. I opted for the three-course menu. Pre-dinner tasters were variations on mini-pizza. The sourdough pizza with mozzarella and truffles was the star of the two with its joyous blend of robust flavours and further benefitting from a sprinkling of fresh herbs, with parsley a high note. The mini calzone with pepperoni and tomato was delicious although it was a bit more oily than the mozzarella pizza.

The bread basket included sourdough crispbread  and sourdough bread accompanied by homemade butter. Both breads were extremely tasty but soared with the addition of the butter that was exceptional. The bread basket was regularly circulated so there was plenty of opportunities to grab more.

The starter of smoked King crab with baked leek, lemon and garlic sounded irresistible. The dish came to the table partly assembled and it was topped with additional brown meat at the table. The whole dish was a lovely mix of flavours. The white crab leg meat was dominated by the smoky flavour at first but then the natural sweetness of the meat came through to temper the smoke. The leeks were incredibly tender just melting away in the mouth and further delicious leek input came from the purée. The addition of parsley helped electrify the brown crab and leek combination. This was a hugely enjoyable dish with the brown crab meat the star.

There was only ever going to be one main choice when reindeer was one of the options. This was listed as reindeer baked in ember with paste of caramelised cabbage, truffle, smoked ox marrow and smoked Brussels sprout. This was another lovely dish. The rare, juicy venison was a superb centrepiece and it combined wonderfully with the other smoky ingredients. The ox marrow provided an intense smoky hit and the Brussels sprouts were simply wonderful. The caramelised cabbage puree was superb, benefitting from a slight hit of vinegar. The juices of the cabbage were also combined with butter for a gentler accompanying sauce. No element was out of place in this dish and they all made for a wonderful whole.

As usual for dessert I went for the lighter option of lemon ice cream, smoked almonds, salty caramel and pickled lemon. The smoked almonds and salty caramel came in the form of an almond cookie, cooked on the fire, with a smoked almond and caramel filling. The filling was in the form of a paste but the whole cookie was a great accompaniment to the various hits of lemon from the ice cream, curd and lemon thyme.  The ice cream was gently flavoured and the dish relied on the curd for an aggressive lemon kick. The almond slivers added a crunchy contrast to the rest of the dish. This was a great end to a consistently strong meal.

Overall verdict
I hadn’t been sure what to expect from Ekstedt but this was a really good evening meal. The wood scent and warmth throughout the restaurant was a perfect counter to the cold January Stockholm evening and the feelgood nature of the restaurant built from there.

Would I revisit Ekstedt?
In a heartbeat. The combination of good food and friendly service makes Ekstedt a definite recommendation for others.

Overall Rating - 4.5/5