Restaurant Taverna Brillo

And my adventure in new restaurants in Stockholm continues! This time I visited Taverna Brillo with a few friends. Taverna Brillo is part of a restaurant conglomerate that includes old favorites Sturehof and Riche. Brillo reminds me of Mario Batali's Eataly in NYC... both in the cuisine (Italian) and the concept. It is made up of a large dining room surrounded by a "market place" which includes a florist, bakery, pizzeria, gelateria and several bars. When it was first described to me, I thought it was all in one large locale... but actually the different parts are connected by a series of corridors. The restaurant is located in the fashionable Stureplan district, where many restaurants, bars and nightclubs are found.

Almost everything, except the menu, is similar to Brillo's sister restaurants (Sturehof & Riche)... from the interior design to the clientele to the staff. They have proven to be winning concepts, so why argue with that? Brillo is a restaurant you visit with friends or colleagues... it is a boisterous atmosphere with happy people straining to see and be seen. Not sure if this is the right restaurant for a romantic dinner (especially on the weekend) but, for a visitor, this is a great restaurant to see the locals in action. Also a nice place to take a break from shopping for lunch or a gelato and coffee.

Speaking of boisterous people... the bars seemed to be very popular and the Greenhouse Bar (Växthusbaren) in the back has DJ's playing on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. They are open until 2am every night of the week, except on Sundays when they close at midnight. As I mentioned, their location on Stureplan makes Brillo a perfect place to start an evening on the town.

The cuisine is Italian... with gourmet pizzas, pastas as well as fish & meat dishes. Some good vegetarian options. We started with grilled bread with different toppings (baked pumpkin, crab, steak tartare), followed by pasta (I had the rigatoni with crispy sweetbreads and pancetta... delicious!) and finally some classic Italian gelato (hazlenut & pistaccio for me). It was all very good. To get there from the Rival Hotel is easy... four stations on the subway (red line) to Östermalmstorg, exiting to Stureplan. Otherwise 7-8 minutes by taxi. Click here for more restaurant recommendations.