Oaxen Krog - Oaxen, Sweden

Oaxen Krog is located on the small island of Oaxen, about an hour outside of Stockholm. By the time we made it to the island (via ferry), it was already getting dark and the view from the front porch was rather limited - even with minimal natural light, it was a stunning view across the water with a full sky of stars overhead. The interior of the restaurant is what I would describe as both elegant and rustic.

Throughout the meal, it came out that the restaurant has its own herb and produce gardens, features ingredients harvested wild from the island, and generally aims to do everything by hand and source everything as locally as possible. From various greens ("I can't remember what it's called, but chef collects them down by the water's edge") to local cheese ripened in hollowed out local spruce logs. The hyper-local focus in an area with such short growing seasons is laudable, and came through clearly in a meal that felt like Fall.

Oaxen Krog was about to close for the season the week we were there and I'm glad we caught them before they did. Apparently they re-open briefly for Julbord around Christmas, with all of the staff returning for a week or two of solid prep beforehand. Next season will apparently be their last, before Oaxen Krog closes down. Our lovely waitress told us that the owners just felt the time had come for a change, and that they plan on opening a restaurant in Stockholm.

Crisps


While we read over the menus, a variety of crisps was brought to the table. I wish I had taken better notes, but one was definitely a mushroom crisp (with the texture of a shrimp cracker), and another was a thin, crispy sliver of pigs ear. The others I can't quite remember.

Butters

Bread service was four different rolls served at different points in the meal, with my personal favorite being a brown bread made with local beer. Two butters were served, a local one and a house-made one with pumpkin seeds, along with a dish of flaky sea salt.

Amuse

Four small bites were brought out next. The small dishes on the right held a mushroom cream, moss, and fried onions. My next bite was shaved breast of veal, with a dab of mushroom cream under it. My friend, a pescatarian, got some replacement bite on the white spoon. Next was a layered bite of halibut and black radish, and finally a small shot of sea water.

Smoked lardo

Next up for me was smoked lardo with chickpea puree. Lightly smoky and melted perfectly against my tongue.

Lovage granita with crispy rye

Steve was served a lovage granita with crispy bits of dark rye bread. This was refreshing and savory at the same time, and one of my favorite flavors of the evening. Ultra-crispy bits of bread and puffed grains made several appearances throughout the meal and I really enjoyed all of them.

Venison tartar

My first official course was venison tartar, briefly smoked over juniper, served with juniper branch shavings, bleak roe, pickled fennel and chanterelle mayonnaise.

Cod cheek and salt-cured herring

This was Steve's first course which I didn't manage to try, but looked fantastic. The birch twig-baked cod cheek and salt-cured herring were served in a broad bean soup with trout roe and egg butter on bread crisps.

Wild salmon with oregano, spider crab in bladderwrack broth

This was Steve's second course. I had never had, or even heard of, bladderwrack, which apparently is a seaweed and a good source of iodine. The crab was sitting on top of a seafood cream, surrounded by the bladderwrack broth and topped with bladderwrack ash.

Wild duck breast with hanging mushroom consommé

Possibly the least attractive plating of the night, but I really enjoyed the flavors of this dish. The duck breast was served without skin, unfortunately, but was rich and gamey, backed by a deep mushroom consommé and earthy sunchoke puree.

Zucchini

Wowzers! Steve's final savory course was zucchini, which when placed on the table made me pity his pescatarian ways. When the waitress poured vinegar aged with charred juniper branches over it, I became more curious. When I tasted it, it was the richest, most intense zucchini I've ever had. Stellar dish.

Pork cheek with liver and parsley Root

This was my final meat course and a decadently-rich culmination to the savory portion of the meal. The poppy seed praline that ran along the base of the dish was unexpected and fantastic. The crispy, slow-cooked cheek was as rich and porky as it gets. The small disk of fried pork liver was intense, but welcome and perfectly-portioned.

Local cheese

The main cheese element here was a local cheese that the kitchen apparently had "disassembled and recomposed with bay leaves". I found the bay flavor overwhelming and the recomposed texture unpleasant. The dollop of soft-ripened cheese on the far right, which apparently was ripened in a spruce log, was fantastic and made up for any disappointment. Continuing the spruce theme, spruce oil dotted the plate along with the puffed grains. Ribbons of cranberry jam, nasturtium leaves and blossoms, and compressed celery completed the composed cheese course.

Cherry, carrot and ginger sorbet

Steve's desert was sorbet, served with local honey fudge, "almond snow" and some sort of tea, poured table-side.

Cloudberry compote and vanilla cream under cream cheese

This was a layer of cloudberry compote and vanilla cream, nestled under a sheet of cream cheese. A thick smear of praline ran underneath. Delicious, but finished too quickly in order to catch the ferry.

Mignardises

By the tail end of the meal, my friend Steve was fading fast (we had flown in on a red eye that morning) and we made the decision to catch the early ferry instead of lingering another hour and a half until the next one would depart. As a result, we had to bail before having coffee and mignardises. They sent us home with the chocolates and pate de fruit in the nicest to-go box I've ever seen.

When we ate at Oaxen Krog, we had been in Sweden for less than 12 hours, but I can honestly say that the meal intensely reflected Fall in Sweden, without ever forcing the point. An experience to be sure, and one I'd strongly recommend, before Oaxen Krog closes its doors for good next Fall.

-Dan

Breathtaking, dansch! Thanks for the expert documentation of what looks to be a stunning meal.

The cost and location have kept Oaxen off of my limits but thanks to your post, I may just need to find a means to get there before they close.