Brutalisten, Stockholm
I was surprised to hear that one of my favourite restaurants in Stockholm is closing at the end of 2025, as I planned to go back for the next summer season. If you are up for an food adventure and have the chance to go, go now!
Let me introduce you to Brutalisten, a small restaurant located in the heart of Norrmalm in Stockholm. When you walk in, you are greeted by a steel counter, a view of the kitchen, and lamps that resemble mushrooms. What makes this place different is that it adheres to the brutalist manifesto by Carsten Höller, who with his team, is also behind this restaurant. Inspired by brutalist art style, the idea is that dishes are made up of one ingredient only, with possibly the addition of salt and water. For semi-brutalist cuisine, a few additional ingredients may be used (the most common of which is some type of fat or sugar). The full manifesto can be found here. Guests can combine dishes and enjoy interesting drinks or wine with them, e.g. one of those was smoked apple juice with the scallops and the pumpkin dish. It was a very good match.
Is it food? Is it art? Is it food inspired by art or art inspired by food? Yes to all.
On the left the dessert made out of a chicken, including egg whites and sweet chicken stock and custard (2024). On the right the artwork Division Square as the inspiration.
I found it pretty much by chance while travelling in Stockholm at the end of 2022. It was listed in the newcomer category on the Visit Stockholm website. One day, I just walked in, also after reading the review I mentioned int the how to find spots post, sat at the stainless steel counter and enjoyed my first Brutalist meal. While using local ingredients is now pretty common, reducing the number of ingredients to one, or maybe four, is unique to this place. Is every dish in the classical sense refined, tasty and balanced? Not always, but you are up definitely for an awesome adventure, where an ingredient is often taken apart and put back together or served with minimal changes.
What you can probably call one of the signature dishes of the SRB Dairy Cow, where the raw beef of an dairy cow is served with yoghourt, caramelized cream, and stock.
Besides the pumpkin dish, the other dish that combined a lot of things from the same plant was the yellow pea dish. I never thought that such a complex dish could be made with only peas.
Another dish from the 2022 menu that stood out to me was a serving of pork crackling seasoned with a powder made from pork and lard, smoked potato chips and lightly grilled hamachi. Interestingly from the November 2022 menu compared to 2024, you do not find orthodox brutalist dishes in the 2024.
It was the first time I had seen miso made from bread. At that time, they used to use leftover bread for it. I have seen this a couple of times now; the last time was from Mimiferments. It was always great to see how they used different techniques to push a single ingredient to its limit.
Although the restaurant in Stockholm is closing, the concept will live on. They have hinted at launching a new venture in Italy and a cookbook is planned for release in 2026. Thank you to everyone involved in the restaurant and the concept! I'm excited what the new endeavours bring.