Was it the Swedish tasting palette of Henrik’s mother which influenced him? Maybe. He is one of our best chefs serving guests near and far with fantastic food for two decades. Henrik Norström’s love of local products is legendary and a strong theme in his cuisine.

After 10 years with a fine-dining Michelin star at Restaurant Lux in Stockholm, rated one of the best in Sweden, it was a shock when the recession hit and half of the guests left overnight.

Henrik had a challenge to do something new and different. Lux Dag för Dag (English: Lux Day by Day) was born and has become very successful. The menu changes from day to day even several times a day. Henrik and his team always use high class products in their cooking, very tasty and different.

A map of Sweden hangs in the entrance showing where products mostly come from within a 100kms also from Gotland, an island off the east coast of Sweden. Wine and chocolate excepted. Even the interior tells a story. Henrik is an avid hunter. His trophies displayed with motives of vegetables on pictures, wallpaper with seasonal plants decorating the tables.

Lux together with “B.A.R.”, an unpretentious, pleasant, popular fish and seafood restaurant in the city of Stockholm is a family-run company. Henrik is the creative leader. All chefs, even the managers, spend time in the kitchen - Henrik is primarily at Lux. During oyster and champagne parties at B.A.R. he and most of his staff help out. During a busy evening they open thousands of oysters and hundreds of bottles of champagne.

Hunting season is between October and January. Henrik and Daniel Frick, Sweden Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs from 2004, are avid hunters. What is caught arrives on the menu delighting guests. Elk is Henrik’s favourite. All chefs are experts at cutting up whatever is hanging in the cold room. Everything is used!

After a particularly successful hunting expedition Henrik serves elk calf steak tartare, broth and mixed grill with wild boar and delicious side orders.

Cold cuts are made at Lux; farmers deliver lamb to the door; fish comes from local fisherman; cheese produced at a nearby farm’s dairy. Daniel’s farm delivers potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes sometimes grapes. Henrik picks apples, plums and herbs in his own garden at home.

I have often wondered how they manage, but they do! As a result we can enjoy delicious meals with fantastic products in pleasant surroundings.

And what does Henrik do in his free time? He is of course President of Sweden’s Bocuse d’Or team!

Catarina Offe
Conseiller Culinaire

Translation into English from the original Swedish by Chargée de Missions Honoraire Margareta Henry