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 Located a hop and a skip from Finnish waters, Scandinavia's biggest city offers the fascinating sight of a town built on water and surrounded by forest... With the arrival of warmer days, Stockholm and its islands can be visited on foot, by bike or by boat. Apart from the sheer beauty of the site, you'll perhaps above all appreciate the 'Scandinavian spirit' of the inhabitants' lifestyle.
| Tourism and Gastronomy Stockholm, gourmand capital of Scandinavia By E. Tresmontant Contrary to popular belief, people here aren't content with just nibbling Wasas or Krissprolls with butter, gherkins and smoked herring. Since the past ten years, Stockholm has been infatuated with the art of cooking as evidenced by its 7 Michelin-starred restaurants (a fine performance for a city of 770,000 inhabitants!) and its selection of good addresses. Interestingly Sweden is also the country of cookbooks as it appears that a new book is published every day, a world record! Brief overview of Stockholm gastronomy Compared with other Scandinavian capitals, Stockholm appears to be something of a spoilt child gastronomically speaking, its restaurants being financially more accessible than in Copenhagen and Oslo and its cuisine more varied and creative than in Helsinki. Some restaurants are already renowned throughout Europe, such as the fine rustic auberge Edsbacka Krog whose chef Christer Lingström (2 stars in the Michelin Guide) has built his reputation on cooking only seasonal Scandinavian products. Fusion and avant-garde cuisine is also exciting, like that at Danyel Couet's F12. In any case, the harmony of the venues plays an essential role and homage must be paid (for once!) to the (good) taste of chefs who have created an understated and yet luxurious ambience in their establishments. In the 'low budget' category, you'll find quality restaurants generally proposing special set lunch menus. As the Swedes love living outside, most cafes feature terraces that are heated from autumn on. Two restaurants not to be missedLisa Elmqvist If you like Scandinavian products, don't fail to visit the big cast iron market hall located in the chic Östermalm district (Ostermalmstorg underground). This temple to food, restored to be a fully operating market, is open Monday to Saturday from 9:30 to 18:00, and is full of hustle and bustle. You'll find here, for instance, smoked or marinated Norwegian salmon, herring in all kinds of sauce, and superb smoked or dried reindeer meat usually served with horseradish cream or cranberry preserve.  We recommend you have lunch at least once at Lisa Elmqvist (something of an institution in Stockholm) which is both a fishmonger's and a restaurant. For a maximum of 450 kronas à la carte (£33), treat yourself to typical Swedish specialities such as prawns and oysters from the North Sea, toast with bleak caviar, herrings with warm potatoes and 'västerbotter' (a traditional yellow Swedish cheese) without forgetting, of course, the various smoked or marinated salmons, eel, trout roe, crayfish and the delicious saffron-flavoured fish soup topped with fresh cream. Since the 18th century, the Swedes have been accustomed to drinking a spirit (aquavit or snaps) while eating herring: try it, it'll put you on your feet! As for the local Eriksberg beer, it is stronger than the Danish Karlsberg. All of this is simple and unpretentious: Lisa Elmqvist, above all represents the pleasure of lunching in the heart of a magnificent traditional market! F12: excellent decor and cuisine Located in one of the wings of the Fine Arts Academy, near the historic centre of Stockholm, the F12 restaurant is currently one of the capital's hippest addresses. The reconstitution of 1970s Scandinavian design is a fine success, with Champagne-flute-glass style light fittings above the tables, long comfortable wall seats and soft lighting. At the stoves, the Franco-Swede Danyel Couet cooks up contemporary cuisine full of freshness and elegance. Apart from a very accessible lunch menu at £24, the F12 proposes a copious 'tasting menu' at £81 offering a choice of three starters, two mains, a cheese course and two desserts.  From his amazing 'glazed shrimps with iceberg lettuce and tapioca', 'tom kah gai' Norway lobster with coriander and chilli, lemon and squid-stuffed raviolis, to his turbot served with a Champagne aspic and a very tasty pigeon with apple and caviar, Danyel Couet highlights on each occasion the quintessence of the product's taste whether it comes from Sweden, France or Japan. Overall harmony is obtained with brio and without any artificial confusion of flavours. Turning to the wine menu, the selection is superb like the André Ostertag Riesling, the Thierry Allemand Cornas or the Alain Brumont Madiran vieilles vignes. Wines, you'll notice, are however very expensive in Scandinavia, the most affordable being the Didier Dagueneau Pouilly fumé at £53... Gourmet boutiquesAn extraordinary garden If you go to the green Djurgården Island, you absolutely must discover Rosendals Tradgard, a charming boutique and tearoom where you can buy and taste on the spot delicious jams such as the 'drottningsylt', the 'queen's jam' made of raspberries and blackcurrants. These fruits come from a vegetable garden alongside the establishment, tended to by the Frenchman Antoine Berthelin. Those in the know come here to buy seasonal fruit and vegetables. Chokladfabriken This chocolate workshop founded six years ago in the former working-class district of Södermalm, today very much in vogue, is one of Stockholm's very best addresses. The young Martin Isaksson, who trained in Switzerland and at the Maison du Chocolat in Paris, obtained in 2004 the gold medal of the Gastronomy Olympic Games, a competition in which 32 countries compete. He prefers dark chocolate from the best Venezuelan cocoa beans. His truffles and ganaches are exquisite, as is his hot chocolate flavoured with cardamom, but you should above all taste his creations - chocolates with a centre of wild blackberries and raspberries from the marshes. At the Chokladfabriken you'll also see original design with stepped benches at the back of the room where students like to come and revise after having taken their shoes off. In the meanwhile, mums give the breast to their babies with one hand and devour chocolates with the other!
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