Restaurant Festival: Smaka På Stockholm!

Tomorrow (Wednesday, June 4th) is the first day of one of my favorite summer festivals... Smaka På Stockholm (A Taste of Stockholm). This restaurant/food festival is celebrating its 23rd year this year! The festival continues for 5 days until Sunday and is a great way to sample what Stockholm has to offer in the way of culinary delights. Keep in mind that Friday, June 6th, is the National Holiday for Sweden... so Swedes are off  work and the festival should be extra busy.

Photo: Gunilla Sikström, Smaka på Stockholm

The festival is held in the park Kungsträdgården, located in downtown Stockholm. It has proven to be very popular and attracts about 500,000 visitors annually. The festival is open for lunch and dinner all five days... closing at 11:30pm, except on Sunday when they close at 10pm. The festival is changing a bit this year. Stockholm has become quite the culinary mecca in recent years and the festival has decided to reflect this by inviting in some fine dining restaurants like Jonas and Farang (two personal favorites of mine). Otherwise there are about 25 restaurants partaking in the festival representing a wide range of cuisine... taste of Vietnam, Bouqueria, Flippin' Burgers, Indian Garden, Cevicheria Aji & Ajo, Speceriet and Nam Kang to name a few. Something for every taste!

Chef Johan Jureskog. Photo: Peter Backman, Smaka på Stockholm

Something else that is new this year is the addition of Food Trucks to the festival. I recently wrote about the hot trend of food trucks coming to Stockholm. This festival is a nice way of trying them out without having to track them down! Another new addition is the Salutorget (food market) where you can taste and/or purchase different culinary delicacies... everything from luxury ice cream from Hawaii to oysters to freshly baked sourdough bread.

Photo: Peter Backman, Smaka på Stockholm

Food isn't everything. You have to have entertainment as well! And the festival has plenty of this on the schedule. There will be artists performing on the main stage all afternoon and evening every day. Jazz, Rock, Pop, Soul, Gospel and more. And, keeping with the culinary theme of the festival, there will also be chef duels, cook-alongs and culinary theatre. Entrance to the festival is free of charge! To get there from the Rival Hotel, it is either a pleasant 25 minute walk through the old town (Gamla Stan) or else a quick bus/subway trip. The closest subway stop is Kungsträdgården on the blue line. Talk to me directly at the hotel for more specific directions.