Totally Stockholm 1
Blå Porten’s comeback Blå Porten restaurant has b
een on Djurgården for over 100 years, and for the last ten it’s been under the direction of Boqueriagruppen. For the last three, it’s been closed for renovations, but now they’re reopening later this summer. The former head chef, and now restaurant manager Thomas Dahlgren has worked at Blå Porten since 1999, and he’s looking forward to the reopening a great deal. ”After the renovations everything will be in great shape, but we have also made a few changes, to further take advantage of the incredible location that Blå Porten actually has. More than anything we wanted to bring the feeling of the fantastic garden into the rooms by opening up the windows and creating an outdoorsy feel, even indoors.” Foodwise, Thomas says that the Swedish food tradition husmanskost will continue to play a large role, but apart from that, inspiration from the Mediterranean has also made its way onto the menu. ”And if you come here for a fika, you won’t be disappointed either, we’ll be putting a great effort into traditional baking and pastries, like carrot cake, lingonberry cake and the cinnamon buns. All of this can be enjoyed out on the ’60s style terrace. Blå Porten, Djurgårdsvägen 64, reopening July/August La Olita at Nytorget From food truck to pop-up and on to a proper restaurant at Nytorget. Now La Olitas restaurant is opening up for the second time during the pandemic. The restaurant’s story began during chef Kareem El Rafieäs travells around Mexico. ”I was surfing at a place called Puerto Escondido, when some guys tried to steal my surfboards. A random guy on street helped me get them back,” Kareem tells us. And this random guy on the street not only happened to run his own restaurant, he also proved to be a very helpful person. ”We began talking and then kept in touch. When I decided to invest in a food truck, he came to Sweden and helped me get going. I had been interested in Mexican food for a long time, but here in Sweden we have mainly had the fast food version of tex mex. La Olita now resides at Skånegatan 87 and the restaurant is initially open from Tuesdays through to Sundays between 11:30 and 20:30. Beer brand Åbro takes over The Flying Elk The Flying Elk in Gamla Stan has been shut for a while now, but looks to be opening very soon after a change in ownership. The new publicans, backed by Åbro, have the ambition of moving the focus away from food, and making the elk into more of a pub, but are quick to add that there won’t be too much change to the previous concept. ”We will try to carry on all of the good bits from The Flying Elk and try to improve the parts we didn’t like that much. We will pubify The Flying Elk while Gaston Vin and the cocktail section of it will be kept just as it was previously,” says Andreaz Norén at Axel Herman Invest. A large part of the beer will naturally be sourced from Åbro, but other beer brands will also be available. ”It would be foolish to say that we won’t serve lager from Åbro, but at all of our restaurants and bars we also stock external brands. Sour beers and New England IPAs are not Åbro’s strong points, and so it takes a broad selection to reach everyone, from the real beer nerds to your casual lager drinker,” Andreaz continues. 21