For the past few years, I have a been accumulating a compilation of very clear snapshots from my Swedish experiences. A constant of these visits is the presence of a neverending cerulean blue sky, purveyor of the lack of sleep I can’t help but experience….
24 hours in Malmö
I think about the night before our visit to Malmö, when I couldn’t fall asleep, then spent the long ride waking up intermittently to new passengers – the teens napping and clutching their snus as we chugged across the achipelago dotted with cozy red cottages. Arriving in this unassuming, small city was an understated surprise, packing a punch with some impressive antique stores [especially one of the coolest shops I have had the privilege of visiting – RåMå Antik & Design (Kärleksgatan 4)], followed by late afternoon fika, indulging in devilishly memorable chocolate cake at record store-cafe Folk å Rock, and staring across the street at the storybook landmark Casa “Ekströmska” (Skomakaregatan 11). Then spending a crisp night seeing Kings of Convenience at the hauntingly industrial venue Slagthuset (Erlend and Erik happened to be the catalyst of this trip), followed by inventive Nordic-Italian small plates at Ruths (Mäster Johansgatan 11), and finally putting ones feet up at the velvet-clad [courtest of House of Hackney] party hotel, MJ’s (Mäster Johansgatan 13).
Strawberry season in Stockholm
Apparently Swedes think their strawberries are the best in the world. Fact? I don’t know – but on a recent May 2023 visit, they were the sweetest I ever sampled and seemed to dollop and drizzle on bakers racks around town. More on the strawberries in a moment. I find that the recipe to visiting Stockholm is accepting that the reliable, longstanding spots overtake the new, and there is something nice about a city that, in this uncertain economic climate, manages to hold on to longstanding businesses that feel like they aren’t ever going away – especially coming from NYC where it feels like everything reliably classic is being demolished.
It feels like you can always dance Saturday night away to Euro classics after a slap-up traditional dinner at Kvarnen (Tjärhovsgatan 4) – then feel sorry for yourself on Sunday wandering the halls of the ABBA museum, as Waterloo and Gimme Gimme Gimme drive you mildly crazy. Or, you can always get your design fix in the same shops heaving with sedate and earthy ceramics from the likes of Gustavsberg/Rörstrand – Berndt Friberg, Gunnar Nylund, and Lisa Larson, to name a few. This and showstopping lighting/furniture can all be found the supreme antiques street – Upplandsgatan – especially at Bacchus Antik and Domino Antik. Neighboring Omega Records is worth a browse for local vinyl and random vintage sounds. There is also the mammoth, all-encompassing beauty of what is perhaps the most unique fabric and home furnishings store in existence, Svenskt Tenn (Strandvägen 5) – a welcoming haven to a plebiean design lover like myself or member of the neighboring Swedish Royal Court.
On this past visit, our friend the strawberry queen Amy joined us. Another lover of all things Scandinavian, I enjoyed seeing Stockholm through her eyes as she wandered the streets munching on crates of strawbs, toting her signature LV x YK Painted Dots bag. I think about all of the new spots she exposed us to: zipping through the ornately designed underground train system that borders on being a dark and creepy rabbit hole of terrazzo flooring…or sitting on an unassuming park bench while enjoying the most incredibly colorful box lunch of Danish-style smørrebrød from Nybroe Smörrebröd in Östermalms saluhall (Östermalmstorg 31). We laughed our way through a store that prides itself as the ‘best design store in the world, since 1912’ – Nordiska Galleriet 1912 (Nybrogatan 11) – as she dropped a bag of Kina chocolate rice puffs in her beloved Louis, and was then in need of an afternoon pickmeup, raiding mainstay licorice chain Lakritsroten with some creamy, salty soft serve in the coolest black waffle cone.
Amy also shares a mutual love of hot dogs, and in a matter of 3.5 days we paid many visits to – Oves (Kungsgatan 43) smack in the town center to satisfy those late afternoon cravings – nobody puts more love into dressing a dog than this man – and late night destination in Södermalm, Pölsemannen (Medborgarplatsen) – for post-party snacking. And finally, back to old reliabel Svenskt Tenn – but this time, discovering their magical cafe, and having a lunch that almost felt too pretty to be true, drooling over the branded space where we literally wanted to buy everything in sight – over a verdant springtime spread of blanched asparagus from Gotland, poached egg, and ramson butter – plus a Rhubarb-baba with rum, compote and cream that was a dream in a dish.
Amy noticed something that stuck with me. She observed a collection of apartment windows and said “what do they all have in common?” Because I had design on the brain, I immeditately said “stylish lamps” – and from then onwards all I could see is lighting in every residential window. Apparently this tradition was meant to help people that may be lost in blizzards – so those in peril would be guided by the collective light that framed the darkened streets. Such a small but touching tradition – like their practice of fika – can change your mindset, and even for 3 days, make you feel licensed to adopt these sweet cultural traits as your own.
Each time I return to New York, I always feel a little different. I am increasingly met with a sense of feeling satisfied with “enough”. I guess this is my incremental adoption of the lagom mindset, ingrained in the Swedish psyche of knowing when something is “not too much, not too little.” I accept that even if I am in this placid, dreamlike place for 3 days vs 30, I can return home grateful, that I barely slept and made every moment count, and that hopefully, the old reliables and new discoveries will be lighting my way back, soon.
elbows on the table 