- taste of Blekinge with Italian wine added to it
Right on the edge of the harbour pier in central Karlshamn, where the sea takes off and continues all the way to America (after all it is only a few hundred to the place where Karl-Oscar and Kristina stand statue) Fredrik Berg runs restaurant & wine. Sit at the table by the sea and enjoy the flavours of Blekinge. Cheeses from Orranäs Gårdsmejeri, lamb from the Riksdagsmannagården and tomatoes from Mörrum.
As a pub, Fredrik Berg is known far beyond Blekinge's borders. The family also runs some of the county's best restaurants, from well-visited Brasserie Fridolf to Gourmet Green and restaurant & wine.
- We have the ambition to serve local produce and make the farmer's efforts available to the guests who appreciate good food and drink. We cook with passion and heart and let the staff develop the flavours of the region without making the experience too expensive. For example, a 7-course tasting menu costs reasonable, says Fredrik Berg, who himself was born at Astensmåla farm just south of Olofström where the family still runs lamb breeding.
It's hard not to love the location at Restaurant & Wine. The proximity to the sea. The castle on one side of the inlet and the wall area on the other. The scents of the sea straight into the plate, with traces of the forest's greenery and open pastures in one and the same restaurant. The root celery soup with sooty leek and olive oil is a soft start to a variety of local flavours from the region, not necessarily from Blekinge but rather from farmers within a couple of hours drive from Karlshamn. Well-balanced wines are served to each dish, almost exclusively from Italy.
- I lived in Italy for three years and learned to love Italian wines. Most preferably wines from Tuscany or Castellina in Chianti in the middle of Florence and Siena says Fredrik Berg who apart from a year at the Brancaia vineyard also worked two years at Azienda Agricola Gaglioleoch read an Italian summer exam.
Lifting local flavours is now both desirable - and necessary - both in Sweden and in Italy. The craftsmanship (at the pots) is finally on its way back, and cooks of all ages dig deep into the family's family archive in search of old family recipes.
- Take, for example, a Wild Pig Rag in Italy, which is served together with a delicious Chiantivin, all sprung from centuries-old traditions aimed at making the most of the earth's flavours. We are striving to do just that at Restaurant & Wine.
With a vegetarian daughter, it is fun to taste two parallel servings of one and the same dish. While the daughter receives an Italian Burrata, tomato marmalade, roasted almonds and croutons on sourdough bread, the rest of the company "Tuppalever" in Genarp outside Lund is served on a roast on Ölandsvöd, roasted cucumber, pickled mustard seeds and apple cider vinegar. Which is best to say, but the hand on the heart, the flavours are delightful. Or as the daughter spontaneously erupts: It tastes just like in Italy.
It's easy to believe that Restaurant & Wine is an Italian tavern in Swedish packaging. That's not it at all. Instead, a Swedish bar where the chefs are entirely enthralled by Swedish raw materials grown, bred and fished with soul and heart. Without passionate farmers, fishermen and cheesemakers, it is impossible to serve flavours that the guests remember long afterwards. The Berg family knows that. This is also the reason why you do not want to leave the restaurant & wine despite the darkness lowering outside the panoramic window. Great food, excellent wines and the best views of the area. Sure, you love the restaurant & wine.
FACTS:
Restaurang & Vin is located on the harbour pier - Piren - in Karlshamn. Pirgatan 15, Karlshamn. GPS: N56 ° 09'48" E14 ° 52'00". Tel 0454-57 20 40. www.ochvin.se
