Östermalm is a quiet, upscale district in the eastern part of Stockholm, hence the name Östermalm, meaning, roughly, eastern district. (It is also, apparently, the name of a Swedish rock band.) I wound up wandering around Östermalm in an effort to attend one of the food meccas of the city, Östermalms Saluhall. My abysmal navigational skills were indispensable in getting me lost. By the time I arrived at the general environs, the square outside of Saluhall was deserted. A chef on his way to work confirmed my suspicions that I had arrived too late. Saluhall was closed.
As a consolation, I wandered around the neighborhood taking photos of the serenely beautiful buildings while looking for a place to eat. I managed to locate Restaurang Elverket, a local restaurant recommended by a guide book or other that I had read. I really enjoyed my dinner here, which I ate outdoors in the warm evening sunlight with a glass of bubbly prosecco.
I ordered:
- prosecco
- baked salmon
- potato salad with capers, dill, carraway seeds, herring in cream, garnished with red onion matchsticks
- strawberries with vanilla ice cream
“This salmon is like butter,” I exclaimed to the amused server. “Is it rich? Heavy?” he asked. “Not at all,” I replied, “it’s wonderful.” The flesh of the fish melted on my tongue like butter. It had a buttery flavor as well, which contrasted nicely with the crisp salmon skin and crunchy coarse salt lightly sprinkled on top. The bottom of the salmon fillet was lightly crisp and browned, a result of being slow baked in a 100° C oven and then quickly fried in a sizzling hot skillet just before service. The result was the most flavorful and meltingly delicious salmon I have ever eaten. No surprise, said my server, Scandinavian salmon is the best on earth, second only to an obscure Japanese variety.
The potato salad was, of course, delicious—I’m not sure, but I suspect it was prepared with freshly harvested new potatoes. The tubers were fresh and creamy, but still a bit al dente. The creamy herring dressing was the perfect foil. The herring was likely whizzed in a food processor, as there were no discernable bits of fish, just a light, briny, creamy sauce. Capers provided salty green crunchiness and carraway seeds added an unexpected touch of spice.
The potatoes and salmon were decorated by a “salad” of frisée, purple endive leaves, and dill. The bitterness of the endive and frisée complemented both the richness of the salmon and the mildly sweet creaminess of the potato salad. To my vegetable-happy Californian palate, the salad was more of a garnish. To the meat-and-potato Swedes, it was salad enough.
For dessert I had strawberries and vanilla ice cream. The strawberries were pleasant, but I think they’d only just come into season, which the server confirmed. They would have been sweeter a few weeks hence. The vanilla ice cream was wonderfully smooth and creamy, with a heady vanilla flavor. Indeed, the ice cream was generously flecked by bits of vanilla bean, forming a pattern of tiny polka dots. It was a little sweet for my taste, but Swedish desserts tend to be fairly sweet. Still, it was excellent the ice cream, tasting strongly of actual vanilla beans and fresh cream (I would guess it was ekologisk—organic).
Altogether, it was a very pleasant late supper.
Restaurang Elverket
Linnégatan 69
Stockholm, Sweden
tel 08 661 25 62
