I went to Essence in Stockholm for the second time yesterday and it really is a hidden gem deserving of much more attention.
This time, owner/chef Stefan worked alone – his assistant was on personal leave – but that didn’t affect the excellent quality of the food and service for the nine guests. Sure, your napkin is unlikely to be folded if you leave for the bathroom, so some of the details which come from having more staff aren’t there, but that is not really my focus when going to a fine dining restaurant anyway.
Guests are seated around a counter in front of the open kitchen where Stefan prepares the dishes in front of you. As someone who enjoys cooking, it is quite amazing to see how he is very well prepared with an efficient mise en place – obviously a necessity when working alone – and manages to serve ten courses without ever feeling rushed. He takes time to explain the dishes and how he made them, with a philosophy of using as much of each ingredient as possible. Somehow he manages to also have time for detailed questions about the dishes from nerds like myself!
I ended up talking quite a lot with two other groups of guests as we were all engaged in Stefan’s explanations of the techniques used, but the last group who were there to socialize among themselves could do so without interruption, so Essence manages to strike a good balance there.
On to the food: every single dish was a 5/5. At least. Some highlights:
The foie gras (ethical, non force fed) crème brulee dish was back and it deserves to be – the creamy texture coupled with a slightly tart shallot to balance, and topped with crispy kale, lichen and beetroots, and with shavings of smoked duck is an amazing dish. The Parmesan bread (made with water infused by Parmesan rinds) that went with it was in itself excellent and added a further level of flavor combination to the serving. When I complained (jokingly) that the only bad thing about the dish was that it was served in a plate that we too deep for me to lick the plate without looking completely silly – I was promptly handed a dough-scraper. 😄
The main course was a confit duck ravioli in a mushroom consommé and it was one of the best dishes I’ve had – 6/5. Even guests who said they weren’t normally such huge fans of duck loved it.
The first desert was a journey of flavours in itself. A browned butter oatmeal crumble as base, a tartlet with apples from the apple trees outside, macha and white chocolate mousse and strawberry sorbet. All parts were excellent alone and in combination with the respective other parts, but it all managed to come together exceptionally well when you went for a combined big bite. This is probably one of my top ten desserts of all time, I really loved it.
The wine pairing was excellent. I did almost wish I had tried the non-alcoholic pairing as well, as the person sitting next to me did and appeared very happy with it, despite initially complaining that he wished he could have had wine.
I really look forward to visiting again, hopefully shortly, as Essence to me stands out as excellent. I hope that the lack of support staff doesn’t decrease the chances of a well-deserved Michelin star – it sure didn’t affect my experience and in comparison with other starred Nordic restaurants, Essence really should have one in my view. A solid 5/5 experience.
by pongomanswe