Totally Stockholm 1
Food, food and more food is what’s on the agenda
when Niklas Ekstedt arranges food festival Foodstock at Fjäderholmarna over the last few days of summer. The festival has an artisanal theme and is a tribute to the international artisanal food movement, plus also to the incredible journey of wild Nordic gastronomy. Words: Sara Jones At the end of August Fjäderholmarna, in the inner archipelago, will go through a transformation into a food Mecca when the first instalment of gastronomy festival Foodstock goes ahead. Behind the initiative we find Niklas Ekstedt who runs Michelin-starred restaurant Ekstedt, wine café Tyge & Sessil as well as the Hillenberg restaurant. “The inspiration comes mainly from food festivals in other countries that I have visited. And I felt it would be fun to arrange a festival in Stockholm. We were looking at a few different options but agreed it would be fun to do it in the archipelago. I think it could be a magic place to be,” Niklas Ekstedt says. He goes on to explain who the festival is aimed at. “We target everyone. The festival is very broad, there is something for everyone, so both other chefs as well as anyone else with an interest in food.” The festival is a tribute to both national and international food artisans. And the purpose is to highlight the journey behind that finished dish you eventually find on your plate. Through the concept Four Hands Menu, a term within the gastronomic world, visitors are treated to a mix of Swedish and foreign food cultures when two chefs from different restaurants meet up in the kitchen to create a lunch and dinner menu together. “It will be the most exclusive experience on the island. The idea is to create a meeting between a Swedish and an international chef, who together will create new dishes,” explains Niklas Ekstedt. 14 The first pair out on the Saturday is Stockholm-based restaurant Gastrologik and Berlin restaurant Ernst. Both restaurants have their respective Michelin stars to show off. Together they are going to create their very own Four Hands Menu. Gastrologik, run by Anton Bjuhr and Jacob Holmström, has for several years been at the forefront of the Nordic restaurant scene. Berlin restaurant Ernst opened their doors in 2017, spearheaded by chefs Dylan Watson-Brawn and Spencer Christenson, and is currently the hardest restaurant in Berlin to book a table at. “We wanted to include the most exciting names to create the most interesting meetings,” says Ekstedt. On the Sunday it’s Daniel Berlin from restaurant Berlin in Skåne that guests Foodstock’s Four Hands Menu together with chef Mehmet Gürs from the Mikla restaurant in Istanbul. Daniel Berlin’s restaurant has two Michelin stars and has multiple times been heralded for its new thinking within Nordic food’s craft movement. Star chef Mehmet Gürs has a long and illustrious career behind him, with his restaurant Mikla being listed among the top 50 in the world. Apart from the Four Hands Menu-concept, what will you be offering? So many different things. It will be lots of different people with different ideas. For example Olivier Campardou from Atelier Soba in Paris. He will show off the whole process with his famous soba noodles. And then there will also be some people coming who do other things than cook. For example, Julia Kalthof who make axes,” says Niklas Ekstedt. Among other guest appearances at the festival we find food blogger Zeina Mourtada from Zeinas Kitchen, the Garba restaurant project with chefs Marion Ringborg and Linn Söderberg, plus passionate ‘fermentista’ Jenny Neikell, known as Surtanten and for her sour vegetables. What does Foodstock stand for? Something completely new. But the actual name is of course a reference to the Woodstock festival in the 60s. We suppose Foodstock is a tad calmer than that famous music festival, but we know the commitment is just as strong. Apart from the Four Hands Menu, pop-ups and guest appearances from other restaurants Foodstock will during the weekend also offer two larger banquets. On the Saturday it’s Niklas himself who will treat people to lunch and dinner together with the British chef Tomos Parry, owner of the Brat restaurant in London. And on the Sunday it’s time for Paul Svensson who will share his food philosophy with us by creating a menu together with Ruth Osborne and Christoffer Ekman from the pop-up restaurant Retaste. Foodstock goes ahead on 31 Aug and 1 Sept. The easiest way to get there is by ferry from Slussen, Nybrokajen or Nacka Strand. Photo: Linus Sundahl Djerf