Eating is the new shopping

Teatern, the brand spanking new food court at shopping mall Ringen, is a sight to behold. Designed by retail specialists BAS, the space is laid out like an amphitheatre, with seating tiers forming an arch around that which takes centre stage – the food stands.

Those who’ve been to Ringen over the last few years will know that the large shopping mall used to be somewhat of an eyesore to the Skanstull neighbourhood. The large building complex, filled with your average run-of-the-mill chain stores, had long passed its sell-by date. And with eating being the new shopping (studies show that malls are predicted to allocate 20 per cent of space to food and beverage retailers in ten years time), it was only a matter of time before we’d se an overhaul of Ringen’s entire food offering.

They’ve done a good job of it. Gathering ten of the city’s most talked-about chefs who give their very own take on fast food is ingenious, and is sure to appeal to most customers. There’s Maximillian Lundin’s The Plant, Sweden’s very first organic and vegan fast food chain, and Adam Dahlberg and Albin Wessman’s Raamen stand. Marco Baudone is present with Mama, a rotisserie, and Stefano Catenacci, who seems not to have been able to make up his mind on what to put on the menu, has named his hotchpotch food stand Caos.

Chaotic is just what Teatern is, as we stroll in for a bite in between sessions of retail therapy. Once we manage to get a table, we start making the rounds. Teatern’s most celebrated food stand is Korvkiosk (which translates as hot-dog stand), and is run by none other than Magnus Nilsson, head chef at Magasinet Fäviken in the Swedish region of Jämtland, which is the proud possessor of two Michelin stars. Taking on a Swedish food staple, Nilsson offers his reinterpretation of the classic hot dog. ‘Kioskvältaren’ (65 kronor) is a thick and juicy sausage stuck in a tasty bun, topped with thinly-sliced pickled cucumber, roasted shallots and homemade mustard and ketchup. For a more substantial snack, the menu also features a guest appearance – a grilled *Saucisse Provençale* (125 kronor), served with greens, dijonaise and warm potato chips from Bjäre. With it, we get a milkshake (45 kronor) flavoured with sour milk, which is refreshingly low on sugar.

Next up is Nook Market. Chef Claes Grännsjö is well known for his Asian street food-inspired dishes, and we opt for two pork buns (100 kronor), a dish which also features on Grännsjö’s full service restaurant Nook. The pork belly, smothered in hoisin sauce and topped with pickles and scallion before it is tucked into the fluffy steamed bun, is magnificent.

Over at Snack Bar, run by Linus Ahlstedt and Mikael Gröndal, we order a *Baguette Américaine* (115 kronor), a baguette sandwich tightly stuffed with grilled steak haché, caramelized onions, cheddar cheese, sauce samouraï and French fries. It is a dish we have previously raved about, but which now seems to lose a bit of its edge due to the many other strong contenders among the food stalls.

At Teatern, it is possible to round off the meal with desserts created by a gold medallist in the Culinary Olympics, and naturally, this is something we can’t resist. Pastry chef Daniel Roos, who runs K-Märkt, won the title in 2012, and went on to create the dessert for the Nobel Banquet in 2014. We decide on an entire platter of elaborately-decorated, colourful goodies, spooning our way through chocolate mousses, apple and salted caramel trifles and raspberry cheesecakes (ranging between 28 and 65 kronor).

Teatern

Ringen, Skanstull

ringencentrum.se/teatern