News

THE LONG READ: No one knows if eating out will ever be the same again. But we do know that the restaurant community, while trying to stay afloat during this crisis, is doing everything in its power to find new, creative ways of offering delicious food and supporting organizations and individuals in need. This resilience bodes well for the future.

WHITE GUIDE NORDIC: Mountainous and narrow, with a deeply jagged coastline that stretches over 100,000 km – one of the world’s longest – Norway boasts a dramatic topography and challenging agricultural conditions that forced its scattered people to focus on survival rather than gastronomic finesse; their culinary mores were dictated by what the sea provided. Having endured both Danish and Swedish rule over the centuries, Norwegian identity was never a simple matter, and Norway’s self-esteem issues extended all the way to its cuisine. Not so much any longer.

WHITE GUIDE NORDIC: Throughout history, Denmark has been a bridge between continental Europe and the Nordics. Many fads and trends from the south, food-related and other, were tested here before eventually spreading north. However, a decade and a half ago, the roles were reversed as the ground-breaking New Nordic Cuisine was conceptualized in Denmark through its legendary Manifesto 2004 inspiring innovative and locavore gastronomy worldwide...

WHITE GUIDE NORDIC: An oblong, slender sliver of land, Sweden stretches from the barren artic to the “Bay of Plenty” where a bridge connects the country with Denmark and the rest of Europe. Anchoring this southern region is Malmö, a vibrant city that keeps a lively dialogue with Copenhagen and offers a smattering of similarly sculpted, small-scale eateries tucked into formerly sallow – now straight-up swish – industrial sites where micro-trends are born and spread nationwide, and where the creative set sips natural wine...

WHITE GUIDE NORDIC: Iceland is the cocky kid brother of the well-behaved Nordic family. Despite its population of a mere 360 000 people, it has attitude to match any of its Scandinavian peers and attractions that sometimes outshine the neighbors' offerings--not least when it comes to extraordinary hospitality experiences.

RESTAURANT NEWS: Noma and Geranium, both from Copenhagen, secure top positions – #2 and #5 respectively – on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list 2019. Noma is the fastest riser ever, after closing, relocating and reinventing itself as an urban farm. Further north, in Stockholm, Frantzén also made a hefty reentry at #21 - "back with a bang", having moved into a new, ultra-luxe space. 

WHITE GUIDE NORDIC: If Finland was a bit slow to embrace the New Nordic food movement, it's mostly because its main beliefs were Old Testament here. By and large, Finnish gastronomy has always relied on locavore principles, and what was partly lost and forgotten in the other Scandinavian countries survived here. The proximity to Russia and more than a hundred years of tsarist rule has left its culinary traces, adding a somewhat unique dimension. Today Finland has a thriving food scene, offering a rich spectrum of innovative and traditional food experiences.

WHITE GUIDE NORDIC: Starting now, we will unveil the best places to eat, drink and stay all over the Nordics. Our test team has worked its way through Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden - including the remote Faroe Islands, Greenland, Svalbard and Åland.