Dejéuner deluxe
The tables at the restaurants located in the vicinity of Nytorget are quickly filling up for what might very well be the very best meal of the week – weekend lunch. It is the time when most of us have a couple of extra hours to spare for an elaborate and extended sit-down meal, surrounded by family and friends.
At Bistroteket, things are ominously quiet. The corner bistro is completely empty, except for a couple of tourists downing a southern European breakfast consisting of a plain coffee. My first thought is that Bistroteket, with its French café-style chairs and marble tables, might just be too “pretty” for these hipster-infested hoods.
We browse the menu while sipping on a freshly squeezed kiwi juice (58 kronor) and a mimosa (135 kronor), America’s favoured brunch cocktail consisting of one part champagne and two parts chilled orange juice. The list of dishes, put together by chefs Anders Berglund and Makis Batsoulis, span from aforementioned American beverages to French classics such as steak tartare and comté omelette.
The menu’s Swedish streak – a råraka pizza (135 kronor) – catches our interest immediately. The *råraka*, the Swedish equivillant of hash browns, is extraordinarily thin and crisp, and is perfectly complemented by bleak roe, browned butter and the stunningly unexpected flavour of smoked sour cream.
The steak tartar (155 kronor) is yet another breath-taking example of a classic that, in the hands of the capable chefs at Bistroteket, is slightly tweaked to reach new heights. The minced ox, which comes with fries, is covered in a layer of paper-thin slices of pickled button mushrooms, capers and dollops of mushroom emulsion. The dish is distinguished, delicate and creative in a very understated way.
As the desserts – a slice of cinnamon-dusted brioche French toast soaked in maple syrup and topped with oaked vanilla ice cream (75 kronor) and fresh berries, cream and wood sorrel (75 kronor) – are brought to the table, we notice that the filling-up of the restaurant has gone by completely unnoticed. As we leave, several parties of guests are itching to get a hold of table. At Bistroteket, lunch-goers seemingly arrive fashionably late.
Bistroteket
Bondegatan 54
08-641 12 00
