Totally Stockholm 1
GASTRO Less punk, more royale Two years ago resta
urateur Joakim Almqvist, well-known-slash-infamous through cigarette ash and horse heads at Stockholm’s rowdiest restaurant Punk Royale, and his entourage took over the reins at Princess Lillian’s favourite restaurant Coco & Carmen on Banérgatan. Very little has stayed the same since then, though only food wise - the premises are all very recognisable. Almqvist and friends’ ambition with Coco & Carmen was initially to make it “a little less punk and a bit more royale” than the other restaurants within their restaurant group. It’s all about the tasting menu, both at lunch and dinner. For 700 kronor during the week, and 1,000 on weekends, your taste buds and overall senses will be steamrolled, something we’re looking forward to as we enter the door on a late Saturday night. We kick off proceedings with a Malt Royale, the restaurant’s own lager, while we wait for the rest of our group to arrive. After that it’s time to buckle up, and take a headlong dive into the traditional opener of black caviar and ice-cold vodka. The difference here compared to Punk Royale is that the caviar is eaten with a spoon and not directly from your hand. As mentioned before - a little less punk, a little more royale. Gone also are the gimmicky plate arrangements like duck liver smileys and so on. Here they’re substituted for elegantly prepared food presentations, made with good, and expensive, produce. We’re talking lobster, more caviar, even more caviar and even finger lime. This tiny and really juicy citrus fruit has a pulp made up of small pearls of juice that more or less explode in your mouth as you chew it - one of many thought-through touches that 18 brighten up the whole dining experience. Accompanying us all through the evening are various red wines. We’re, among other things, served various vintages of Roc d’Anglade – each better than the last - plus a Chinon from Olga Raffault. Both are priced at around 1,000 kronor per bottle, which is palatable in light of their quality. The dinner seemingly never ends – the next dish follow the last like a decadent parade of goodies. But after three full hours we reach the finish, and if we hadn’t been so incredibly full we would have stood up to give them an ovation. Instead we tip our cap and humbly thank them for providing us with a dinner worthy of royalty. Open for lunch, Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11:45-14:00, dinner Wednesday-Saturday, 17:00-00:00. Coco & Carmen Banérgatan 7 cococarmen.se