The Winery Hotel, a 184-room property located right along the motorway between Arlanda airport and the city centre, introduced the nation to its very first wine-oriented hotel when it opened back in January of this year. With a seemingly insatiable appetite for wine in Sweden at the moment, the timing was spot on. The hotel, which also features a so-called urban winery, a vinotek, a deli and a restaurant, is an attempt to satisfy a portion of the nation’s viticultural craving.
The hotel lobby, which grants access to the Winery Kitchen restaurant through a large staircase, is every bit as striking as we had hoped from an ambitious project like this. Design agency Southeast is behind the hotel’s industrial chic look, referencing Tuscany’s old-world wineries and its tactile materials, as well as Brooklyn’s industrial warehouses with its polished concrete floors and rough brick walls. The lobby doubles as a wine bar, a tasting room and an educational area (tours of the property introduce visitors to the owner’s Tuscan vineyard, and grapes are brought in for the vinification of 8,000 bottles in-situ).
Found on the second floor, the dining room is informally decorated, with an open kitchen and a large counter displaying a small selection of the wines from the 36-page wine menu. Wine is, as presumed, very much the core of the establishment, and our server speaks at great length about what wines would go well with what dishes. Which, considering the seemingly infinite number of wines available, is greatly appreciated.
At first glance, the menu seems a bit confusing, with wines to the left and dishes (referred to as ingredients) to the right. But once you know the lie of the land, you get the hang of it.
For starters, we opt for the Fröya salmon (180 kronor) and the Börstorpsslott heifer tartar (180 kronor). The former, served with an Eden Valley Riesling (135 kronor) is a delicately-sliced piece of raw salmon layered with cucumber, dill, pickled onions and topped with lobster vinaigrette. Cautious in flavour, we love the fact that there’s a clear taste of fresh salmon through in every bit.
The tartar is a flavour sensation and beautifully plated, with cubes of veal and yellow beet intertwined with dollops of ramson cream and pickled rings of onion. A well-structured burgundy from Domaine Faiveley (120 kronor) is an excellent match.
Grilled green and white asparagus (220 kronor) are always a good idea, but lack panache in the execution – it could easily have come out of the kitchen of any gastronomically-inclined home chef. The guineafowl on mash (270 kronor) is just slightly more interesting, but the promised summer truffle is nowhere to be tasted.
The desserts, which have a common denominator in the fact that they are deconstructed, are, aside from the wines, the evening’s true highlight. The Peach Melba (115 kronor) is fun, flavourful and rather sizable. A large quenelle-shaped scoop of peach sorbet lies on a caramelized circle of sponge cake, with chunks of peach, freeze-dried raspberries and dabs of raspberry jam surrounding it.
The cherry, chocolate, almond and honey combo is one to behold, with many shades of brown deployed onto a grey-brown plate. Possibly not the best colour coordination we’ve seen, but a true flavour feast for all chocolate lovers.
Winery Kitchen
The Winery Hotel
Rosenborgsgatan 20, Solna
08 14 60 30
thewineryhotel.se
Words: Micha van Dinther