Totally Stockholm 1
BAR NÎMES After ten years with Farang, Kim Öhman
has set out to create a restaurant of his own. Words: Pelle Tamleht Nîmes is the capital of the French department Gard. The city is known as one of the most Roman cities outside of Italy, with a history dating back to the ancient Empire. Nîmes also happens to be where chef and restaurateur Kim Öhman’s wife is from. Hence the name of Öhman’s first restaurant of his own, after 20 years in the business. Back in 2013, the Helsinki restaurant Farang opened a branch in Stockholm. Since then, they have won awards, gone through a pandemic and opened and closed a little sister restaurant. Öhman was in their kitchen all throughout this period, but now it’s time for something new. I meet him at what is meant to be Rådmansgatan’s new neighbourhood restaurant. What is Nîmes? The inspiration mainly comes from travels to France and Italy. I have always liked the taverna atmosphere and it’s something along those lines we are creating here. A specific restaurant I really like, and perhaps have been a little inspired by, is Brat in London. On the menu Kim will have French and Italian cuisine. More olive oil than butter and clean flavours. The premises also have a pizza oven at its disposal so there will surely be some tarte flambé on the menu. Will it become harder to cook when you don’t have as many spices to hide behind, compared to Farang? Haha, that’s one way of looking at it I suppose. But this is the food that I have cooked at home for the last ten years. And before that I did it at a string of restaurants so I know I can do it. How will you divide your time between Nîmes and Farang? In the beginning I will be here for the most part. We do evenings Tuesdays through to Saturdays, but the ambition is to eventually be open every night of the week. Weekdays we close at 23:00 and on weekends we’re open until 01:00. So I’ll be working a lot of nights. But that’s also the appeal of working in the restaurant trade for me. Sitting in an office all day is not for me. The biggest challenge for me is that I have a two week-old baby at home. You have great support from home I understand. It didn’t do any harm that I named the restaurant with a nod to my wife. Nîmes will have about 60 seats, the bar included. The interiors have been designed by Mattias Rubin de Lima, who has also shaped the wine bar Alba on Skånegatan, among other things. ”The watchword has been patina, a weathered look and feel. I mean the overall impression shouldn’t change if a wall gets scratched or a table gets a dent, rather the opposite. I want it to feel like it’s always looked like this. What will be on offer in the bar? The focus will be on wine but we will have some simpler cocktails too. Think aperitivo and dry martini. We won’t have a bartender, but we will try and accommodate people, if they have particular wishes. I call it a yes-restaurant. We’d rather say yes than no to an order. 15