Totally Stockholm 1
Niklas tells me that after having done Niklas Mat
(Niklas’ Food) for six seasons, and having met chefs from all around the world he felt it was time for an international format. Then came the idea of bringing together chefs from his web of contacts – “like a Tinder date, but with chefs”. “It was a long process of about two years before the format was decided on,” he says. I gathered it was time to drop everything and fly over.” The same producer who had previously produced Masterchef UK was now in charge of Mary Berry’s upcoming season, and had persuaded the rest of the production team to invite Niklas as a guest in the first episode. At first, that didn’t sit well with the cooking icon. “Mary didn’t have a clue who I was, and she was, to put it mildly, sceptical at first, even sulky.” Did you feel a bit cheated when the Chef’s Table TV-series arrived? You can probably figure that out. How did you make the chefs agree to participate? The trouble was never making them want to be involved in it, but more the logistics with finding a time that suited everyone involved. It also felt really important to have a balance between female and male chefs in the series. Which markets is this programme aiming for, and where will it be released? It’s for international platforms. Sweden is first but then it will be sold internationally. I’m hoping a British platform will pick it up. Yeah, you have become quite big news in Britain. How so? Party because I was on Masterchef UK a couple of years ago, when they had their semi-final here at Ekstedt, where the task was to cook over the open fire. You can imagine four amateurs cooking over birchwood, everything was on fire and it was total chaos. But it was a great episode and it had a strong impact when it was screened. I was on the BBC, on morning shows and all kinds of media. After the success with Masterchef UK Niklas was asked to come on Mary Berry’s cooking show Classic Mary Berry, a show that captivates millions of viewers every week. “When my British agent called to tell me, I could hear it immediately in the voice that it was special. She’s like England’s Oprah Winfrey, or if Malou von Sivers cooked. The producer came out and told him the lay of the land, that the star was a bit grumpy but that it would be fine as soon as they got to know each other a little first. They opened a bottle of champagne and sat down out in the garden. “I felt it was time to dial up for the charm as good as I could, and it worked. And then it was almost like she had a bad conscience and went from one extreme to the opposite.” When he got home to Stockholm they called from the BBC to warn him that the episode would be edited, so it seemed like Mary was almost is in love and flirting with him: “I was in a hardware store and just told them to go for it.” The episode was screened on a Thursday night and the next day everyone was talking about it in England. Morning TV, panel discussions and the gossip pages were all over the two of them. “It was my 15 minutes, but they have gone on for quite some time now. It’s still made fun of whenever I go over to England. The last time I was there someone gave me the wolf-whistle when I entered a pub.” When you sit here and tell me stuff like this, it sounds like a lot is happening by chance, and that your career to a certain degree has depended on luck. These last years, I have decided to not turn down much, and just do things. Obviously just things I can stand for, I wouldn’t put my name on a laser cannon. But I think success has a lot to do with your attitude. Four Hands Menu is on Viaplay now. Ekstedt, Hillenberg and Tyge & Sessil await your visit. 9 Photo Lennox Hastie