Blog
I Knew Heritage Was Important, But I Don't Want To Eat It.
I read this in the food and wine section of SvD this morning on the topic of the chef of the year competition:"Temat i år var Det svenska arvet och en av de två tävlingsuppgifterna var att kreera en modern restaurangrätt på en given huvudråvara - svensk biffrad med ben från Gotland."Which in English is "The theme this year was The Swedish heritage, where one of the two competition...
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What's Up?
I don't know what anybody does in January. It's a useless month. So is February. Apart from possibly Valentine's day. Actually, no, Valentine's day is useless too. To my husband: if you can't get with it enough to take me out to dinner for no reason other than that you love me very much, then skip Valentine's day too. Anyway, it's not like I'm going to be available to go out: I work in a...
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Nadal And Becker
We used to joke about Chef Andé looking like Boris Becker. It has now been brought to my attention that the White Guide Öresund 2012 has credited us with employing another tennis pro, namely "Nadal". I do not know how an organization that compares itself to the meticulous Michelin Guide can make the somewhat ridiculous mistake of renaming Igi Vidal "Igy Nadal" throughout their review o...
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I Stole The Sentiment From Andrew Eldritch
My favorite band, The Sisters of Mercy, has a very interesting home page. They have very interesting songs too, for those of you who read Byron and enjoy Bauhaus beats. Well, they have a drum machine called "Doktor Avalanche". He has an "Agony Aunt" page on the web, and the first question is as follows:Dear Doktor, I am unattractiv, sexually immachure, lazy, stupid and meen. What career ...
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Those Anthropological Observations
What better place to be an anthropologist than in a restaurant? Nowhere else are there such rich pickings of how humanity handles itself. I'm quite sure that every myth about men, women and beasts originated in a restaurant. "What do women want?" Freud famously asked - well, I'm sure it's not a coffee with Mozart liqueur. For this year, maybe we should look at not the people we're servin...
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New Year's Eve
In this business, more than most perhaps, we make the last evening of the year an opulent grande finale, celebrating in more than one metaphorical way the past year, the present moment and the year to come. What better way to put 2011 to history than with a celebratory dinner at Bloom, with some of the best (and most excentric) food, wine and service in town? What better way to celebrate...
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Imaginative Differences
Sometimes I read really bad reviews of wine, such as "it's a good red, with a strong flavour of black currents and a distinct smell of toast" and I wonder what would happen if one transferred this highly unimaginative and unappreciative way of describing things over to the art world. Imagine sitting with your eyes closed and someone with a flat voice telling you about Munch's "The scream...
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Sabering - Try Not To Take Your Guests Out
There are really boring parts of sommelier-school. Such as polishing glasses and sifting through something called terroir, which is a fancy word for dirt. Then there are the fun parts, like sabering Champagne and carrying a tray-ful of glasses on your head. Actually, the last bit is a fib, it's not something I've been taught when training to be a wine-waiter. (What - you want to know the...
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The Bubbles
If you haven't booked a table with us for our fabulous New Years Eve dinner and you're wondering what to drink - well, I've put together a little something for you at Malmöbladet. Pages 34-35. Enjoy.
Mon, 26 Dec - Comment »From All Of Us To All Of You...
We wish you a very merry Christmas and hope to see you on New Years Eve!
Sat, 24 Dec - Comment »Enough With The Holier-than-thou Attitude.
(image from DailyMail.co.uk)There's been a lot of debate about the "sexualization" of food recently. As if it's a problem. Yes, I agree I've heard a lot of food being described as "sexy" lately, but I don't think I've heard of anyone trying to institute a new sexuality, that is, that one is sexually attracted to food. And I certainly haven't heard of anyone molesting food, i.e. abusing p...
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The HYPOCRISY Of Systembolaget.
Do you like wine? Good quality, fine wine? Well, then make sure to stay abreast of the completely nonsensical trashing of the "wine clubs" by both absolutists and Systembolaget.
Mon, 12 Dec - Comment »Cork Heads
Well, what do you know. Suddenly one is a wine critic. Or wine writer? I think I'm going to stick with w(h)iner for the time being.Anyway. I now understand how crappy reviewing happens. See, I'm on the inside now. I know that the clever PR-reps send bottles of their latest bottled bastardzation of a wine complete with a well-written table on the tasting notes as well as some references t...
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The Special Project Revealed!
If you were wondering what Titti and I think about Christmas, you'll find it in this month's Malmöbladet. Here! Pages 34-35. Enjoy.
Tue, 06 Dec - Comment »Speaking Of Champagne, The Combatant Bottles
I've been rolling the term "combatant bottles" around my mind for quite some time. I first came across the term at a tasting where several importers and brands were present. It implies a battle of the beverages where one ends up being the winner - as if all the wine professionals in the world universally agree on what is good taste. Which is not the case, at least not when the tastings a...
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The Art Of Matching Wine
I had a thought yesterday. In the middle of a very complicated discussion with a colleague who wanted to know how to best host a formal dinner party, the question of wine pairings came up. If it's not your job to pair wine with food, you may think this is a relatively easy task. Champagne to start, White Burgundy with fish, red Bordeaux with the filet of beef, something sweet, or even an...
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Garbage And Other Garbage
Some of you may not know who Carl Jan Granqvist is. I find it lacks importance, and so apparently does the industry rag restaurangvarlden.se, or so it would seem as there is no explanation to who he is or why he's commenting on Tennstopet's menu. He's just another bloke who doesn't want to eat crows because they're scavengers. Yukk! Well, in that case, let's cut out goat as well, just to...
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Work That Concept
You know what they say - "birds of a feather they flock together" - and I find it to be true when one of my favourite classmates turns out to be one of us. One of us as in living the restaurant life. So what do two birds do on a Friday night? We go to a good restaurant. Really partying up the nest, so to speak.I've written before about my addiction to Kin Long (you know, the Chinese rest...
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Congratulations!
Credit must go where credit is due, and if it's to such good friends we're happy to celebrate.Want a new book? Want the best Christmas present? Sure you do.
Wed, 30 Nov - Comment »