The main ingredient in the recipe for great television is conflict, and that is particularly true of the reality TV genre. According to Robert Thirkell, one of the United Kingdom’s most well-known television producers, the first rule in the creating of a “winner” show is to get different genres banging into each other. By now, we know the format all to well: get a few colourful individuals with polarizing views of the world, put them in a high-pressure environment and you’ve got yourself a hit show on your hands. Few environments are quite as electric as restaurant kitchens, which, during the peak of dinner service, can be likened to a pressure cooker where the heat is slowly but steadily increased. This fact is something that chef and restaurant entrepreneur Gordon Ramsay has explored to utter boredom in his shows *Hell’s Kitchen*, *The F Word* and *Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares*. Mental breakdowns, fistfights and chefs cursing each other out are just a few samples of what to expect.
One of Sweden’s very own reality television stars is carpenter Anders Öfvergård, who has made entire families cry (but also helped them take charge of their living situations) in the interior decoration reality show *Arga snickaren*. For Kanal 5’s autumn schedule, Öfvergård is digging his teeth into a new genre – the restaurant kitchen. Although the restaurant itself isn’t a new arena for him (he has run four restaurants in the past), the notion of bringing in ten work-challenged adolescents to teach them the business of cooking and running a restaurant from scratch is truly novel. The result, depicted through the show *Arga restaurangen*, is Angry Diner, a reinterpretation of the classic diner, located in restaurant Sjögräs’s former locale a stone’s throw from Mariatorget.
Upon arrival, the drama of reality television seems remote. A single waitress is lunch-prepping the graphic dining room, which is accented with red pieces of furniture. The black and white colour scheme feels very “nouveau Nordic” and a closer inspection of some of the cutlery and porcelain verifies my suspicions – some of the props are from the extremely monochrome collections from interior design chain Granit, which Öfvergård also happens to be the founder of.
Lunch, which is served from 11.00, consists of a daily special that is scribbled on a chalkboard. The rest of the menu can be found on paper placemats designed in a trendy nouveau Americana-style. The angry cheeseburger (105 kronor) is served with a side – in this case a fries – and with an extra smoky bourbon mayo (15 kronor). The 150 gram burger is just as luscious as one would wish for, but will need some more work to be able to compete with other burger joints in Stockholm. The fries, which look hand-cut and start out crispy, soon turn a tad bit soggy. The lunch’s real highlight is the pastrami sandwich (125 kronor), where a piece of baguette is topped with thick slices of smoked beef, pepper jack cheese, pickled red onions, roasted garlic mayonnaise, salad and coriander. The bland flavour of the coleslaw side is something that I could have done without.
Every diner experience should end with the quintessential gigantic slice of pie or a sundae smothered in chocolate and/or caramel sauce. As the latter is only available for dinner, I opt for a blueberry cheesecake (85 kronor) and a salty caramel chocolate truffle (30 kronor). The cheesecake is sturdy and slightly dense, and could have done with a little less solidity, while the ample dollop of chocolate is rich, decadent and with just the right amount of salt. I make a mental note to get two of these for dessert next time around.
One of the great pleasures at Angry Diner is to watch what goes on around you. Dishes fly out of the open kitchen at a fast pace, and a group of seemingly local (based on both dialect and appearance) men stand around and chat at a sound level that feels very un-Scandinavian. Öfverberg himself makes a quick guest appearance to check things out at the restaurant, and heartily shakes the hand of all the men in the group, who clearly seem acquainted with one another. This is no doubt Öfverberg’s territory and breeding ground, and I can’t help but wonder what will be next in his ever-expanding emporium, which, increasingly, seems to be taking on self-sufficient properties. Anyone wanna watch an episode of *Furious Farm*?
Timmermansgatan 22
08 84 12 00
www.angrydiner.se
————————————–
