The NYT was just at Gothenburg’s Norda Bar & Grill: I was there

Well, I must say it’s a cool experience to be in a restaurant that’s hot-hot-hot across the globe. Norda Bar & Grill in Gothenburg, Sweden, is a creation of Chef Marcus Samuelsson — celebrity chef in Sweden and in New York. Why, you practically can’t turn to a society page in an American magazine without seeing Marcus Samuelsson, all up and coming. He owns Red Rooster in NYC. As for his Gothenburg, Sweden restaurant, the New York Times just wrote about it this week for their happy hour — why didn’t they stay for the food?! It was just announced today that Gothenburg will be the site of the 2013 World Food Summit. I was very glad to have been hosted to experience Norda Bar & Grill.

Norda Bar & Grill couldn’t possibly be more convenient. It’s in what was the main grand post office for Gothenburg, adjacent to the Central (train) Station. It’s on every tram line, too. The lit up busts in front of the building change colors, so you can’t miss it.

Inside, the post office has been allowed to retain all of its vintage charm and large scale. The walls are draped with dark red velvet curtains. Lighting is low. The teller cages have been retained. The hardwood floors are medium brown. There are some knick knacks and books on shelves, but there’s still lots of space and clean design. Glass panes allow one to look out on the Clarion Post Hotel, which the restaurant is a part of. The menu is available in English. I’d describe the dress as dressy to dressy-casual.

The menu itself combines local Swedish food products — there’s a whole wave now for highlighting the flavors of the area through the “Taste West Sweden” program — and American style. The menu has non-intimidating items on it like sliders. A fun way to approach the choices is through the chef’s tasting menu, which shows off a couple of entrees and desserts.

I started off the evening with a Fizzy Blackberry Sour, which was fresh blackberries shaken together with a Peruvian favorite — Pisco — freshly squeezed lemon, creme de mure, sugar, bitters and topped off with sparkling wine. It’s tangy, like a citrus meets dark fruit.

The next course was a deconstructed seafood plate, with trout, creme fraiche, marinated salmon roe, fresh dill, local seasonal chanterelles, pickled red onion. The trout’s assertive flavors — complete with crisped skin — were mellowed by the cream sauce. The plate had a palette waking-up effect like an amuse bouche.

Bread service included a variety of bread and Swedish crisps.

I promised myself that when going to Sweden, I would eat some “things with antlers”. To that end, I tried elk carpaccio with baked egg yolk, local Vasterbotten cheese and maple syrup. The elk was surprisingly mild, like rare beef. The cheese was more assertive than the meat. The soft egg yolk and an oyster mushroom slice added to the earthiness.

The next course was the pork belly “surf and turf”, with autumn cabbage, lobster, apple, glazed with a pork belly and lobster reduction. It’s a smoky, meaty pork belly with full pork flavor and a bit of salt. It both contrasts with lobster and compliments it. The caramelize apples and cabbage add a further seasonal touch.

I learned from the dedicated sommelier that the restaurant has an Oregon wine focus and carry more Oregon wines than anywhere outside of Oregon! They picked that region for several reasons: the cool climate is similar to Gothenburg’s. The two have some similar food profiles, including seafood.

Another entree I tasted was the corn-fed chicken with roasted corn, radish and pickled pumpkin. It had a sauce of chili and carrots. The chicken was tender, spicy and felt seasonal with the pumpkin. It was certainly a different take on what is a typically American dish with American ingredients.

The desserts really show off the advanced, international techniques of Pastry Sous Chef Jimmy Wigh. My first dessert was a pistachio brownie with cherry mousse glazed with cherries, dried cherry curd, cocoa powder, salted caramel ice cream, cherry créme, nougat cremaux, French Nougat with dried cherry, cherry marmalade in pistachio powder and pistachio créme.The different forms of the unifying flavors made you really appreciate all the aspects, all the nuances of the ingredients.

The second dessert was Autumn Cloud on the menu. It’s different variations of Swedish apples, which are very seasonal now. It’s made with apple mousse on apple mazarin (according to ecosalon.com, “Mazariner are the darling of Swedish cafes, a balance of buttery pastry and almond filling topped with a thin layer of icing.”), apple feuille de brick, apple chips, caramelized apples, sorbet of apple and sour cream, foam of cream cheese and cinnamon, apple purée, crumble, juice of apples in a shot glass and ginger, apple marengues. To top all that off, the dish is made with apples from Jimmy Wigh’s garden!

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