Totally Stockholm 1
His incredibly thought-through compositions, usua
lly created with a story as the starting point, plus obviously just being very good at his craft, have given Emil Åreng a reputation as one of Sweden’s premier bartenders, and won him a role as ambassador for both Swedish gin success Hernö Gin and whisky brand Mackmyra. A couple of years back, he made a roadtrip through his native northern Sweden to meet personalities and places, after which he dedicated a cocktail to every encounter. That led to his cocktail book Salongs i Norrland, which was a winner in the cocktail book of the year section of the Gourmand World Cook Book Awards. But on a normal day you’ll find him behind the bar at Grand Hotel’s Cadier Bar, where this creative force of nature runs a drinks menu that is as tasty as it is exciting. Perhaps he could tempt you with a Scandinavian Mountain Breeze – with Ice cider, cloudberries and Västerbotten cheese? How have things worked out in the Cadier Bar during this Corona situation? Are we seeing any progress and a mild return to normality? Just like everyone else, we have struggled, but now it’s beginning to look better, especially on the weekends. It has always been very spacious in between the tables here, but what we can’t have now are all the standing guests dotted around the whole Cadier Bar, and I suspect it will take some time before that returns to normal. Since we have to try and look at things positively, what has been the best byproduct of this crisis, any silver lining, both for your own boozy life and possibly for the drinks industry or the especially-suffering bar industry? From a personal perspective, I haven’t really been affected that much. There’s been less travelling and less work in general, but then focus has been on home and doing things that in the long run affect you positively, both work-wise and on a personal level. The bar industry has, in the end, done reasonably well, but a lot of people have lost their jobs and we have to try and get those people back into work as quickly as possible. But we don’t have to feel sorry for the drinks industry, since they do well in any case. People drink regardless of feeling good or bad. To help people who are much more vulnerable in our society is considerably more important. If we look at this from a long-term perspective, even if we hopefully overcome the pandemic and the immediate troubles, what do you think might be the long-lasting effects on the bar industry? We will always have pandemics in the backs of our minds from now on, and business owners will surely structure their business differently, but since I have as high a university degree as Pippi Longstocking I’m not really the person to come up with proposals. Doing as Wimbledon did, and having insurance against pandemics will probably be an obvious choice in the future, even if that will cost a lot. Expertise and qualifications will be the absolute most important thing for a while, and the people who really go all in to succeed in the bar business will remain to do their thing. Those cool people who have made it just by being friendly to their clique, while having a bit of an attitude towards normal guests, will disappear. Probably as quickly as the restaurants that still serve dubious meat dishes for 350 kronor in Gamla Stan, and I couldn’t possibly care less. The restaurant business needs all kinds of different restaurants at various pricing levels, but there really is no need for anyone to trick tourists and serve some rubbish on a plate. We need restaurateurs who think about the future and the next generation, who buy locally and minimise transport, and we need to get people to be able to eat better without going bankrupt. Good food that has less impact on the environment is a human right, and our business could be a source of inspiration when it comes to those important issues. I remember that you’re already a brand ambassador for Hernö Gin, but a few months ago you were also named Mackmyra’s Global Ambassador. How did that come about and what does the role entail? That’s correct! Mackmyra got in touch and wondered if I would want to meet up, to sample all the whiskeys and gins they’ve created. I am a big fan of many of their products, so one thing led to another and they created a role that would suit me and my everyday life. So in March I became their Global Bar Ambassador. The role is all about spreading the word about Mackmyra to bars across the world, it has obviously been a tough start since 13