Restaurant Spesso

I went out to dinner this past weekend with some visiting friends and had the opportunity to try a relatively new restaurant: Spesso. Spesso, which means "often" in Italian, is a modern Milanese-Italian restaurant located in the downtown area, and opened almost two years ago. With an elegant and sleek design, this rooftop restaurant has panoramic views of the central commercial district of Stockholm.

Dining room

Just a stone's throw away from the NK department store (which you can see from the bar), this is about as central as you can get. What makes it interesting is that this area has been recently gentrified and spruced up. For many decades, this was a no-man's land between major streets with mainly office buildings. The area was lively during the days with businessmen and women but pretty dead n the evenings. But, with the recent gentrification, more life has come to the area in the evenings with restaurants and shopping centers.

I have to say that the restaurant isn't super easy to find as there isn't any large sign at the entrance (of what looks like a regular office building). Having the address, Malmskillnadsgatan 38b, helps! Once indoors, you take the elevator up to the restaurant. Thankfully, the restaurant location is well marked inside the elevator. Spesso takes up most of the top floor of the building, with a large part of it being an outdoor, rooftop terrace (closed during the winter).

Lounge

The design of the restaurant is very modern... sleek, minimalistic with the dark colors, high ceilings and large windows looking out over the rooftops. They had a DJ in the bar playing chill, lounge music. Speaking of which, they have a nice bar with lounge area right as you enter the restaurant. It all had a very cosmopolitan feel. And as I mentioned, they also have a large rooftop terrace which I am sure will be popular this summer. I definitely will have to come back and check that out. 

Grilled venison

The cuisine is Milanese. Modern Italian dining with great seasonal produce. The food was delicious and the wine pairings were spot on! We started out with some truffle bignés and then I had the grilled venison with lightly smoked point cabbage while my friends opted for the wild boar ragu with fresh ricotta cannellonis. For dessert, we all had the Italian meringue with blood orange mousse and rose hip sauce. We then moved to the lounge area for some after dinner cocktails.

Italian meringue

The restaurant was pretty full, even on a Sunday evening. Therefore, I would definitely recommend that you book a table in advance. The easiest way to get there from the Hotel Rival is by subway... it is just three stations away on the red line to T-Centralen. Exit to Sergelstorg. From there it is just a 10 minute walk to the restaurant. 

View from the rooftop terrace

Street level entrance

Signage in the elevator