oaxen krog, stockholm.
april 2022
our best, and first! meal in stockholm was at michelin 2-star oaxen krog. unfortunately, as i am typing this up, i am also learning that they permantly closed later that same year.
oaxens oak fashioned, gin & tonic.
marinated pike perch, blue mussels, & silver onion.
fermented sugar kelp, flour sprouts and frozen raspberry.
pork fat terrine, elderflower capers & swedish pecorino.
moose heart, reindeer blood & pineapple weed.
it was an exquisite and delicious meal, featuring lots of local and seasonal ingredients with a focus on sustainability. this meant a lot of seafood (love!) and fermented and pickled things (double love!), all beautifully presented and surprising (but balanced) in flavors and textures.
crisp of ramson with lumpfish roe, natural soured cream & cured topside.
sweet shrimp, lovage & fig leaf emulsion.
king crab, caramelized cream & dulse.
loin of bear, kohlrabi & green juniper.
like our experience at noma, what really blew me away was the service. they met us where we were, which was not a good place to due several travel debacles causing us to barely make it to our reservation at all, and in quite a disheveled state. despite that, every member of the staff was warm and caring and made us feel so welcomed.
house bread (including the pilsnerkavring or dark rye beer bread that we were given a recipe for) and house-churned butters.
turbot from norway with horseradish, tagetes & sauce of fermented and smoked shellfish.
langoustine from fjallbacka with pickled plums, smoked almons & fermented egg whites.
scallop with beetroot & geranium from our farm, kalix vendace roe & whey.
klimp with shellfish garum, oyster, fennel & walnut.
celeriac with cep mushrooms, polypod fern & sauce of fermented celery.
it turns out that the chef, magnus ek, is also an avid woodworker, and much of the plating, carts for dishes finished tableside, and other contraptions were handmade and absolutely stunning.
making a sauce from aged clams.
making clam shavings.
clam shavings.
saucing.
tartar of retired dairy cow with jerusalem artichoke, hogweed, black pear & sauce of 200-year-old mahogany clams.
fowl pre-plating.
quack with grilled leaves, mushrooms and cream of fermented parsnip & woodruff.
cheese!
while i don’t usually include photos of the pairings, i will note that they had a non-alcoholic pairing that was really lovely and interesting from beginning to end.
portuguese madeira; NA cocktail of burned oak, bird cherry & almond milk.
waffle with pear sorbet, blueberries, rosehip & spruce syrup.
pear baked in wood shavings.
breaking open the pear.
un-encrusted pear.
oak wood preserved milk & pear baked in oak shavings.
americano.
pick-your-own house-made chocolates! but also the stunning hand-made cart for them.
it’s such a bummer that such a wonderful restaurant shuttered its doors, but i’m so glad we got to experience it.
