Restaurant Experiences That Altered our Brain Chemistry [Part 2]: Ekstedt, Stockholm

Second in the series of restaurant experiences that re-wired our brains and revolutionised dining for us, Niklas Ekstedt's eponymous restaurant in Östermalm

It was when we were taken beyond the pass to peer into the kitchen at Ekstedt that the wall of ferocious heat hit us. That’s what left the first mark and the spark that lit the fire which burned into memory.

In stark contrast to the elegant, temperature-controlled surrounds of the classy dining room where the staff danced effortlessly to a choreographed routine, this was a workhorse of a kitchen. Pokey, simple, square, with cooking implements from olden times and the dancing flames of open fire. Stoked, poked, fed and tamed into submission, fire’s unmistakable char, sear and smoky kiss applied to ingredients.

We were so doe-eyed when we had our first experience at Niklas Ekstedt’s eponymous, Michelin-starred restaurant on Humlegårdsgatan in the well-heeled district of Östermalm, where all the luxury boutiques are located in Stockholm. In our mid-twenties, we’d never really eaten at Michelin level before, certainly not New Nordic Michelin. When we think back this was really our first experience of one-star cooking… They must have sniffed our naïvety at the door.