Aloe is a contemporary European restaurant in suburban Stockholm that serves a tasting menu and has been awarded two Michelin stars. The dining experience is amazing, lengthy, tasty and of course expensive, but well worth it. The restaurant is located outside Stockholm, far from the city centre in a residential neighbourhood. The outside of the building is labelled 'Living' for reasons that were unclear, and we were briefly suspicious that our Uber had dropped us in the wrong place, but in fact this was the restaurant and we were greeted outside by handshakes and welcome from senior staff members. The dining environment is compact, with only space for a few guests each evening. It is divided into two sections, a lounge area with living room chairs and small tables, and a traditional dining room. The experience begins and ends in the lounge, but moves to the dining room for the middle ~5 courses of the ~15 course meal. It seemed like this structure might be designed to make space for more people, but that wasn't the point - instead the goal was to create different ambience for different food. The menu called "Earthling" (picture attached of the summary and for each course) was diverse, eclectic, delicious and surprising. Several courses contained ingredients that I have previously found unappealing but which were delicious in this context. Each course was impeccably prepared and presented, small in size (to allow for the 15 courses), and quite different from each other. While there are many things to recommend about this experience, the food is the core of what makes it great. As you would expect, service was top notch at all time, with a team providing flawless service and assistance. Each dish was described at delivery and the whole experience was consistently and calmly delivered in a friendly, informal environment. If you can afford this kind of luxury, I strongly recommend this amazing experience. Great! read more

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This place is a jam. They are doing something truly special. They are reinventing what it means to be a fine dining establishment. Tucked away in the "suburbs" of Stockholm. No you didn't hear me wrong...the suburbs. In a normal house, where you may watch the neighbor kids playing in the back yard while you eat. The fantastic staff greets you as you arrive. Ushering you up the driveway like an old friend. As you enter the house you quickly realize this is much more than just another "suburban house." This is a refined and polished fine dining establishment. You start in the main room for dinner. The young and eager staff is ready to cater to whatever you need. Chef Daniel and Niclas are running this scrappy restaurant with a ton of heart. And even though they are head chefs they treat you like family. This menu reaches a lot further than Scandinavia. These young men are reinventing and innovating dishes from all over the globe. Broth with deer fallow you could slurp down daily. A crudo exploring Asian and American flavors. Squid noodles taking you to south east asia. And a lamb dish bringing you to North Africa! What's even more exciting is after dinner you get to retire to the parlor room and sip brandy and have dessert. You have to check this place out. read more

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In short, Aloë persuaded me that Stockholm (or more specifically, Älvsjö) is more gastronomically ambitious than New York City. Recommended to us by our hotel staff, Aloë is hidden out amongst the suburbs in a former grocery store, originally constructed as a state-directed neighborhood building program (for lack of a better term). Without the insight and preparation that this was a "hidden" restaurant literally off the tourist-traveled path, I would have never known about this revolutionary restaurant. Take the subway to the Telefonplan T-bana (or a taxi if you're less stingy than I am) and give yourself a half hour to walk through the neighborhood to the restaurant. I understand that sometimes the chefs/ownership send a car to pick up guests; I was not so lucky. When you arrive in front of what looks like a home goods store with suspicious grilling equipment outside (and maybe Chef Höglander tending to it), you'll know you're at the right place. You'll be lead through the store and behind a curtain, transforming your surroundings from a simple suburban store to a temple of gastronomy. Now the tasting menu is long. VERY long. In fact, each tasting menu I tried in Stockholm lasted between 3.5 and 5 hours, so prepare yourself and plan accordingly. Likewise, due to word count limitations, I cannot possibly describe very dish in a meaningful way, so I'll hit the highlights. We started the meal seated in an anteroom before entering the dining area, decorated with various books and tourist guides that were food and Sweden focused. Beginning with a spiced apple juice and concentrated basil oil (I think) which constituted such an explosion of intense, focused flavor, I knew I was in for something special. This was paired with a Chanterelle pizza (topped with a play on that basil flavor) that was grilled on the grill noticed upon approaching the restaurant and a puff pastry (gougere) of parmesan. Guests continued to fill the anteroom as we were finishing up and we met our dining companions for the evening, who were also foodies from the American northeast, so we had plenty to talk about (note that these are shared tables, so unless you come as a group larger than four, you will likely be eating with other groups). Once we arrived at our shared table, which was situated in a large open room with other shared tables, with the entire kitchen in the corner and within clear sight, a few more bites were brought to the table, including a take on surf & turf with a beef tartare tart and a caviar blini. Delicately spiced gochujang pork broth and a gigantic herbaceous oyster was also served. The highlight of the appetizer was the decadent otoro (tuna belly) "make your own" taco, that was served in a seaweed "shell." I didn't know that fish could be fatty or flavorful until that bite. For the main courses, the caviar and coconut ice cream flavor combo was bold and experimental, combining that salty sweetness in a way I had not seen before (though it didn't suit all of my guests tastes). The highlight of the entrees was the dove dish, the funky gaminess of the meat melding brilliantly with the shiso and apple through its taste translator, the marockan onion. The shellfish were also naturally impressive with a size and cooking technique rarely seen so expertly applied. For dessert, the simplicity of the beet root (which was formed to look like a ravioli) was beautiful and the mignardise almost too numerous to try all of (my favorite being the classic, custardy, canele). We all left far too plump for comfort, but an indelible impression had been made on me, as each dish showed some level of creativity in flavor and presentation that city as comfortable in its food fame as New York lacks. As you're leaving (through yet another means of egress from this secretive building), you get a copy of your menu, which has beautiful artwork on the cover, memorializing these unforgettable flavors for posterity. Aloë was distinct every other Michelin restaurant in Stockholm and was a unique experience coming from NYC, where restaurants are comfortable to simply make you pay exorbitant prices for the food without a focus on presentation or experience, simply because it is NYC. Aloë felt like it knew it had to try not only to introduce people to new flavors, but to bring them out to the suburbs, and to Stockholm and Sweden more generally. They aren't in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, but should be, since they're better than the big names currently occupying that space. We will hear more from Aloë, I have no doubt. This is just the beginning. I hope we would be so lucky as to entice them to consider an NYC project. read more

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Restaurant Aloë @ Ålvsjö Michelin 2 Unconventionally located in a beautiful Swedish suburb. Great cuisine and even greater atmosphere read more

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In a very common swedish housing-area lies a store in a very common looking house. Inside however - there just happens to be one of the best modern restaurants in Stockholm. In a setting best described as someones large living room and kitchen is a place where true magic happens. You have a choice of a 4 course, or 7 course meny. But you get a couple of extra bites in addition as well! The wine package is very good, and is accompanied by a very thourough description of it's origin and makers - super nice! So all in all: a bit pricy but still worth it. Get ready to try completely new combinations and levels of tastes. You need to book VERY early for a table on the weekend! read more

Truthfully? I've never had the delicate predicament of writing a review when I'm truly, and utterly, lost for words. The concept of Aloë is as exciting and straightforward as it is quirky and faceted. To open a high end restaurant in the middle of a suburb (Älvsjö); the whole idea is so far out there that the only thing I can do is applaud the bravery (or admire the sheer stupidity, your choice). Whatever way you choose to look at it, the success can never be overlooked. Walking in through a patio door it's like taking a step through the wardrobe to Narnia. You arrive into something you never figured you'd find at this particular spot. There's wooden flooring with wooden ceiling and large skylights up way high. From there hangs several lamps in a wide variety of clear glass bowls emitting a warm dim light over the dining area. We are instantly greeted by the serving staff taking our coats and I almost excuse myself for being a bit early (about 20 minutes). But they make use for it, showing us to a lounge area with soft and deep sofas next to the completely open kitchen with its black-tiled walls and staff working with a precision and dedication seldom seen. We're asked if we want something to drink, and for such a joyous start to an evening I saw no other out than a glass of wonderous champagne. The whole place emitted a sort of easy-going exuberance. Style and flare but without the pretentiousness. A while later we were shown to our table, a stone marble table with contemporary and minimalistic decoration completely in line with the rest of the environment. I found the general art of the place to be in that perfect balance; slightly left of center but still on the right side of provocative. And to have a copy of the French cooking encyclopedia by Alain Ducasse as bathroom leisure reading is mind-blowingly humurous! Alas, having being seated at our table we were presented with the menu that is a fixed experience with a fixed price. And going over the whole 18 dishes I was going to get to sink all my senses into over the next couple of hours, the whole experience went to another level of exciting. Trying to explain each and every dish with words would be like describing a color palette to a blind man, it can't be done. What can be said is that all the dishes are intriguingly and intricately prepared without a single flaw. All the flavors are high, intensive, inventive, creative and breathtakingly perfect. Not to mention that they flow in a perfect pace. All the dishes are described with both passion and detail, not to mention the description of the wines and the particular grapes, the soil, the finish and what makes it go with the particular dish being served. I cannot count the number of times I just sighed, closed my eyes, and found myself dreaming. Some dishes felt like taking a bite out of the ocean, others like wandering in a forest, or at times like you were happy Charlie with a golden ticket in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. For me, from an emotional standpoint, this is culinary perfection. Best restaurant I've eaten at in years, and the first restaurant in Sweden to ever score a 5/5 star rating. And speaking of stars, this place should have a star in guide Michelin as well, it's just that fulfilling and rewarding for the mind, body and soul. read more

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My favourite restaurant in Stockholm by far. Impecable service, amazing flavours put together beautifully and great wine knowledge without pretentions. Keep it up guys! read more