We Dine in Essex

Keeping the non-stop pace up, the day after we got back from Sweden, Joe and I headed to Essex to have dinner at Neil and Dan's house. We'd had, had them over for dinner in May and it was their turn to return the hospitality.

The train ride was nice and gave us a chance to see a part of the country we hadn't been to yet. Neil and Dan have a great house with a really nice garden. It's all very relaxed and welcoming. We had cocktails in the garden before heading inside for dinner. Soup, which was full of Fall was the first course. There were so many courses it's hard to recall them all now, but the centerpiece was the best vegetarian paella I've ever had with a seaweed side (I can't recall the exact name) that was surprisingly sweet and crisp. I'd had it before as a garnish, but never by the fork full. I was disappointed to be so full by the time we got to the entree. For dessert we had dueling chocolate and regular cheesecakes.

Time and conversation flew by and we had to end the evening just to make sure we got the train back in time. Joe and I are up next for Thanksgiving dinner. Dan's sourcing an organic turkey for me.

A Week in Stockholm

Joe had a week of meetings in Stockholm, so a few days after we got back from the States we jumped a flight to Stockholm for a week. We got in on Saturday afternoon so we would have some time to tour before the work week started.

On Sunday we went to the Hallwykska Museet. The owner of the home had been a forest baron heiress who made arrangements for the house to be preserved as a museum in its exact state at the time of her death so people could see how see how people lived at the end of the 19th century. A beautiful home, with intriguing collections from all over the world, it was really interesting to see the every day things...the kitchen and its utensils, the telephones, the bathrooms. Make sure to take the tour and plan on spending some time with the tapestries.

We stayed at the Adlon Hotel, just a couple of blocks from the train station. Extremely tiny rooms, at least that's my guess since we were supposed to be in one of the larger rooms. Nothing fancy by any means, but serviceable. The only real negative is that our room had a lovely view of the street, but was really loud at night. And, since there was no aircon and it was warm, the window needed to be open.

Monday was officially a bank holiday in the UK so I was off, though Joe had to work. I took the opportunity to just walk around and enjoy a day of nice weather and take in some of the city. It being Monday museums were closed. After visiting the sculpture garden at the Modern Art Museum, I had a nice walk along a marina and eventually ended up for a sunset cocktail at Gondolen. One of Stockholm's hottest restaurants, I went for the view, which I highly recommend. I'd also recommend eating there too, as the food going past the bar to the dining room looked very enticing. Afterwards I did some walking around the neighborhood near the Slussen subway stop. Definitely a happening neighborhood that is almost exclusively locals.

One night after work, Joe and I headed out to a neighborhood far outside the tourist area in search of a restaurant called Portofino on the island of Soldermalm. Before heading toward the restaurant we went to SOFO (south of Folkungagatan) to check out the neighborhood. It's full of trendy stores and restaurants. If I get back to Stockholm, I definitely want to spend more time getting to know this neighborhood.

We did make it to Portofino and it was an excellent restaurant. Great service and an amazing menu. We were expecting something a little more casual, not that the restaurant was stuffy, but the menu and food were very high end. Joe had the lobster ravioli, which were amazing. They had a great wine list too.

Thursday night we had reservations at F12, perhaps the best restaurant in Stockholm. Short for Fredsgatan 12, the address of the restaurant, this was a dining experience that will stand out for years to come. We both had the tasting menu with wine pairings, Joe had the meat and I had the vegetarian version. The first four wine pairings are served "blind". Poured from a decanted bottle you get a chance to banter your guesses with your server after each glass. I recommend you just surrender. While we were able to get some parts right, the wines themselves were so special and rare you'll never get them unless you are a serious expert with a deep knowledge of wines, especially those of Austria, Germany and France. The executive chef is Sweden's Chef of the Year 2009 and his cuisine showed why he had received the honor. Service was impeccable and the decor worthy of attention without being distracting. The other clear distinction for F12 is that they served me the most expensive meal I have ever eaten.

The cost of the meal at F12 was more a function of the cost of eating in Sweden than of the superlative experience. You will find that many very nice places in Sweden are self service. This is because the tax on self service is about 12%, whereas if someone waits on you it's 25%. This on top of the fact that many things are imported because of Sweden's short growing season and limited farm land and, well, you get the picture...be prepared for the cost of eating to shock, even at McDonald's.

On Friday, our last night in town, we dove head first into tourist cliche and had a drink at the Absolute Ice Bar. Book your visit online in advance and you'll save a bundle. It was interesting and I'm glad we satisfied our curiosity, but the interest didn't even manage to last though the length of the one shot sized cocktail served in a block of ice that you carefully drank with your gloves. Fun, but it definitely falls into the never need to repeat experience category.

From the Ice Bar we went to Kungliga Operan Gustav Adolfs Torg, the Royal Opera House, to see Spader Dam, or the Queen of Spades, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky based on a story by Alexander Pushkin. We were able to get great tickets the week before the show at the box office. Even if you don't go to the ballet or opera, the theatre is worth a visit. It's a beautiful building. The opera itself was great. We had a really good time.

We had an early evening flight on Saturday so we checked out and headed over to De Kungliga Slotten, The Royal Palaces, for the full tour. The combination ticket includes The Royal Aparments (a must see), The Treasury (also a must see), the Tre Kronor Museum which explores the history of the Palace's construction can be easily skipped and Gustav III's Antikmuseuem, which other than the view of the adjacent garden is an easy skip, especially if you've been to the Vatican Museum in the last year. We also took time out that day to drop in to several churches and wander the streets of Gamla Stan before heading to the airport.

Consistent with our Sweden tour in July, I found eating and alcohol to be expensive, hotels and transit to be the same as any big city, English to be spoken everywhere - with no one hinting that you're rude for not knowing or attempting the language, though we did try - and to make a sweeping generalization, the Swedish people are the friendliest people I've ever met.