I was so sad to read that Faviken is closing at the end of the year and so grateful I got to dine there this January. It’s been one of my favourite experiences so far and I was so looking forward to go back with the husband next year. It made January’s dinner all the more special.
The announcement was heartfelt and honest. I can imagine the burnout and fatigue in the high stress, high precision kitchen setting and I love how he is making such a humble exit, none of the PR madness like some restaurants pricing the last menus at insane prices to milk consumers for the last time.
There is zero ego in how chef Magnus announced the closing – and only after the last season was fully booked. He was clearly not a PR opportunist and just in it for the produce and cooking.
Closing the restaurant, Nilsson admits, is a “very selfish decision.” He thinks of Fäviken as the result of a particular set of circumstances that had to do with the people who came together to make a unique restaurant possible in the first place. It never ran on auto-pilot and he shudders at the idea of it turning into a museum.
Instead, he is looking forward to cooking through the central Swedish seasons one last time, and taking his time away from the restaurant to be with his family and continue to work on his new fruit orchard — that’s been largely unchanged since it was replanted with old varieties of apples and pears after World War II — down south.
Nilsson says he’ll plant more trees and intern with other gardeners to learn more about the craft. “I’m not exactly sure how it’s going to pay for itself,” he says of what he’s decided to do next.
The Scandinavian gastro girls trip was to celebrate my friend C’s birthday and she made all the bookings way ahead of time. Faviken was my favourite dinner out of the three we locked in.
I didn’t get the hype about Noma and I liked Geranium and the restaurant that overlooks the Copenhagen football stadium, but Faviken, in a hunting estate the middle of nowhere, silence, nature, snow and wild animals, serving pristine dishes with robust flavours and the best apple cidre I have ever had in my life. And then they also handle churn ice cream table side in this old school barrel cluncky contraption.
I don’t have much words to articulate the special experience at Faviken, so I leave you with plenty of photos. It was a superbe evening of food with soul, respecting the provenance of produce, the seasons and great company – we sat at the communal table downstairs.
Everyone raves about the home made breakfast served at Faviken – the tastiest freshes eggs, the porridge, and freshly fermented yogurt from the night before – along with the different berry jams and fish liver pate, duck pate and so on. It was special.
