Saaremaa Food Festival 2016 was held from 5th to 11th September.

Mosaiik Cafe lunch - chanterelles and pork cheek, apple and hazelnut dessert.

Mosaiik Cafe roast beef and mash ; Retro Cafe lamb burgers with mash, cabbage and chanterelles.
The lamb was underseasoned but their soup was super spicy.

La Perla chicken with apples, carrots and Cheddar.

GO Spa strawberry and rhubarb dessert.


Naturally, the festival ended with a day full of pop-up Apple cafes.
Originally, the idea behind it was for the locals to open up their garden gates and back yards for visitors, setting up outdoor cafes for a day, offering goodies baked/cooked using local apples.

The event is becoming more commercial with the participation fee shooting for the stars, it has gone from 5 euros three years ago to 32 euros this year. And the number of professional businesses participating is rising as well.

The weather was not too charming, there was some sort of mist coming down all day.
But still, I visited six cafes out of seventeen. Browsed by three more but didn't photograph.
Here are photos from the ones that caught my eye the most.

First cafe, Õunamaius, was close to home, just one block away. The choices here could make you blind! Literally too, as it was very brightly coloured. I bought little apple fritters, a slice of pastry cream torte, two slices of Swiss roll and meat pasties. All tasty. And I knew it would be as Luule is known for her baking.
Luule and Lea took part last year as well, see their apple trail here.

Next up was Akord. This took us to the other side of town. Area where I usually never go to.

I went to this place, Ladvaõun, with a mission. In the local newspaper they claimed they were serving Tarte Tatin. I definitely wanted to try it. I baked more than a dozen Tarte Tatins during the first day of Apple Cafes three years ago. Small ones like this and larger ones.
But this cake did not resemble the plump and buttery pastry I was expecting to see. I was confused.
Mission aborted.

Ristorante La Perla has been participating three years in a row. Their selection of goodies was almost as extensive as Luule's. I got a strawberry muffin with a burnt edge and a chicken salad sandwich. Too bad I didn't photograph the sandwich, it was really good, I would buy that again, many times over.

Next up was Saaremaakera with their wacky but awesome truck / pizza oven. They also had some doughnuts on the counter but I don't think anyone had eyes for them. There was this great cheesy pizza smell all over the yard. The menu, so to say, was scribbled on the back of a pizza box and that was it. 8 euros, four toppings of your choice.

Last place was a hole in the wall - Õunakoda. I had a chicken wrap there which was tasty. But the place was so windy and chilly. Otherwise I would've tried their pancakes.

Better luck with weather next year.

Last week saw the arrival of the second Saaremaa Food Festival.
Restaurant Week was part of the festival. Most of the cafes and restaurants created special menus for this week with fixed prices. Two course lunches for 10€ and three course dinners for 15€. My intention was to try five different restaurants, but I had to go with four.

Mosaiik Cafe lunch offer on the left, BBQ beef fillet. Saaremaa Veski pan bread with pork and cabbage on the right. Veski dessert was a classical floating islands.

Retro Cafe kama dessert.
Retro lunch menu also included pork chop with roast potatoes and coleslaw. The pork chop was thick, big chunk. The sauce and coleslaw were awesome.

La Perla dinner menu: three aubergine bruschetti, whole baby trout a la Meuniere, panna cotta with spiced plums

I'm not a fan of aubergines, it was ok I guess, the tomato salad on top was tasty. Trout was flaky and moist with a superb crispy skin. I ate all of that trout skin! Usually I wouldn't eat fish with tomatoes but this tomato salad was very citrusy, making it an ideal companion. The panna cotta wasn't too photogenic but it was seriously tasty with the right amount of melt-in-your-mouth softness. They should add it to their regular menu. Mmm.

I also wanted to try out Chameleon as I've never eaten there but they insisted that I either have to book days in advance or buy a load of booze. Their dining room was practically empty. I opted for the third variant - big fat PASS! Won't be going back.

Another exciting event, and probably my favourite of the week, was the day of pop-up apple cafes.

Õunõu.
Three chefs with a food truck. Same as last year. Simple three item menu:
pulled pork bun, chickpea coconut ramen, apple crumble with ice cream.

Sisters Luule and Lea set their cafe near the post office. Every local knows that these sisters can bake! The trail with little apples was so sweet.

Ristorante La Perla had an extensive menu with apple themed cocktails. I tried their tiramisu.

Suur õun.

Altogether there were ten cafes. I did not photograph them all.
Though the idea is that these cafes should be homey little pop-up cafes in peoples' gardens, a third or more of the cafes have professional chefs or caterers. It's good to have some professionals in the mix but I hope it will not start to dominate. That would kill the fun factor.

Looking forward to next year's event already!

A couple Stockholm photos. The ones that didn't make it into the original post, mostly because they just didn't fit into the story, but they are good in their own right.

Longans and Yakult, from the Thai shop.

Two other completely new flavours I sampled on my trip were fresh longans, the hairless relatives of the litchis and rambutans, and Yakult, the Asian version of Actimel. I'd seen the Yakult commercials on German sky channels before so I knew right away what it was. It's taste resembles a soda-pop, kind of like a mixture of lime lemonade and yogurt, very tasty. I went back a few days later and bought a whole load to take back home.

Breakfast snaps. With plenty of löjrom, vendace roe, and artisan yogurt. Somehow, foods seem to become tastier when packed into cute little jars. Right?

Although I have been to Sweden many times my last trip up there was exactly ten years ago. When I read the Stockholm city guide in one of Jamie Oliver's mags I was amazed by what the city had to offer. I started planning the trip in my mind and after a while I had all the restaurants and sights sorted and listed on a Google map. The Google map is very handy, I printed some of it out on A4 sheets with all the sights dotted and finding my way around town was a breeze. I could fold it into the size of my palm and just stick it in my pocket. Brilliant. I'm never buying a map again.

It was raining on the day that we arrived. Just a wee bit but still enough to give my photos that uniform grey sky. We were up in the Kaknästornet (Stockholm TV tower) looking down on the city covered with a veil of rain. Needless to say the photos were just so-so, and it didn't help either that the viewpoint is guarded by an ugly grid.

Bergianska trädgard (Bergius Botanic Garden) is definitely worth a visit. There are two greenhouses of which the larger, Edvard Andersons växthus, holds an impressive collection of plants, trees and flowers from the Mediterranean, Australia and South Africa. But there are also cacti, orchids (including vanilla), tropical fruit trees such as passion fruit, jack fruit etc.

The oranges had just mellowed with some of them dropping on the ground. I picked one up and ate it! Shhh!!

The smaller domed greenhouse, Victoria växthus, is home to the world's largest water lily Victoria amazonica.
The garden also contains a Japanese pond complete with a little bridge, a kitchen garden, a herb garden and an orchard. Possibly even much more but since the garden is really humongous, I could not browse through all of it in one go.

I loved all the little boutiques and specialist shops on the streets around Kungsgatan, Olof Palmes Gata and the whole area. I found two adorable Thai grocery stores not far from each other on the corner of Olof Palmes Gata. Visited two Japanese shops four streets further north where I could've stayed for hours. Now I regret not buying more ceramics.

A shop I can easily recommend anyone is Iris Hantwerk on Kungsgatan. They have the loveliest handmade objects, many of which have been crafted by blind people. The brushes were so sweet and soft I could've bought them all! Seems like everyone in Sweden is design-conscious.

Of course Sthlm also has its department stores, like any big city, but these do not tower above the block. They go underground. I visited NK (for the food hall), PUB and Gallerian but I didn't get the same emotional lift as from the smaller places.

Food in Sthlm is fantastic as can be expected, after all, they have won 5 medals in the Bocuse d'Or in the last twenty years. Superseded only by the Frenchmen and Norwegians. It's quite an achievement, considering that the competition is biannual, so that makes five medals out of ten competitions.
Scandinavians seem to rule the food world right now.

I didn't have enough days to visit all the restaurants and cafés on my list but everything I ate was incredible.

I would instantly dine at B.A.R. again. I loved everything about it - the decor, the super energetic staff, the food, the buzz. I'm still raving about the starter, gratinated scallops (I was practically licking the plate), and the strawberry-pistachio dessert (seen above).

I had my first experience with oysters and have to say I liked it. Served with a red onion vinaigrette and it was very lovely. I'd do it again! An oyster tastes like the most tender smooth piece of meat you could ever imagine, swimming in a drop of seawater. Unlike mussels. I never really did understand the fuss about mussels, those are tough little muscles that you really need to chew on, kind of like eyeballs. Uh.

Our waiter was a cheery and attentive chap who ran the show very smoothly. The service was spot on, we didn't have to wait for anything. He was so quick on his feet that sadly I didn't manage to snap his photo.
The place seems to be very popular, I was first in, having arrived ten minutes before opening, mind you, but it was full just half an hour later.

I would also suggest checking out Berns Salonger where Sthlm Fashion Week was in full swing at the time with groups of slender models of both sexes hanging about. The posh decor alone will make people turn heads. But the best part is, together with afternoon tea they serve a dessert buffet where you can nibble and sample as much as you please. I must say I was too full after having eaten seven mini-desserts that I didn't manage to taste everything on offer. Seriously! They had everything from crème brûlée and tiramisù to rabarbersoppa and various chocolate cakes.

Somehow, I should've found the will and strength to quaff it all down. I should've tried everything.

Rather high on the agenda were cafés and chocolate shops. Sweden is known for its good buns and coffee. Might as well use the chance and have as many fika breaks as you can possibly fit in your busy schedule.

Chokladfabriken, run by Martin and Ellinor Isaksson, has four shops around town. They offer a wide selection of chocolates and truffles. Choose and select your favourites to compose your own personal box of chocolates. There are about 20 to 30 different varieties to choose from, depending on the day. Sometimes certain flavours just run out.
They also serve some very good macarons, muffins, brioche and desserts.
Being part of the Swedish National Culinary Team, Martin Isaksson won gold at the 2005 Culinary Olympics.

Per Olsson Choklad och Konditori is a tiny but oh so wonderful place in the slightly quirky Södermalm district. Lovely funky decor, a good selection of macarons, chocolates and truly delicious desserts.
Per Olsson took bronze at the 2008 Culinary Olympics as the Swedish team came in third. Roy Fares was behind the counter while we stopped by.

Xoko is truly fascinating. Hip, modish decor and a very wide selection of dishes from bread and sandwiches to buns, cakes, desserts, smoothies and macarons. Be prepared as the place can be jam-packed! I was lucky to grab the last table. No surprise, Magnus Johansson, who runs the place, has prepared desserts for the Nobel Prize gala dinner for the last six years.

The one flavour seen everywhere in Sthlm, next to all the hjortron, lingon and blåbär, is lakrits - licorice. So if you happen to be a fan, scoot right over because it's everywhere! I brought back a couple bags of licorice powder for a friend. I imagine it would be good for making mousses or baking a fluffy licorice cake.

In fact I managed to cart back quite a number of items, mostly edible though. Some of which can be seen below.
In the picture - jams from Bergianska and Xoko, cordials from PO and Granit, juices from a Thai shop, XO sauce, Pockys and Japanese teaware, bamboo steamer (was dead cheap, less than 3€, and I was planning on buying one over here which cost like 12€), macarons from PO, Xoko and Chokladfabriken and a Mademoiselle Oiseau cup and saucer set, designed by Lovisa Burfitt.
Naturally, macarons are all gone by now and I'm halfway through the Pockys as well. I'm crazy in love with that strawberry-shaped tea infuser! I've been using it every day, it's such a joy.

If you travel to Sweden between August and September, you just might be lucky enough to take part in the big crayfish feast - kräftskiva. Many places have special crayfish menus during that period.


I want to go back, even if just to dine at B.A.R. again, oh and of course PO and Xoko...
Until then, Stockholm!