What early morning looks like at Aska
Chef Fredrik Berselius reveals how, in the quietest moments, a strange magic occurs. . .
Anyone who's spent any time hanging out with chefs knows that one thing they're good at - along with very late nights - is very early mornings. The successful chef has a capacity to exist - thrive, in fact - on just a few hours sleep a night. A state of affairs that places them precisely in the right frame of mind early morning to think deeply while they work the kitchen back to life. Here's Fredrik Berselius of Aska describing it in our new book, Aska.
"The time in the morning when I am the first person to enter the restaurant is magical. And strange. A restaurant is a place where there is noise and constant movement. As the day unfolds the tempo changes, starting off so very quietly, but swiftly ramping up to full speed.
"There is a rhythm and a heartbeat with a sense of anticipation and delivery that reaches a momentum, before it once again picks up to an even higher pace and then accelerates again. Then it slows down, drastically. Then it slows down a little more, and then again, before it all stops and repeats itself all over again.
"This time in the morning I know that exactly eight hours from now there will be bodies gracefully flying through the dining room on the other side of the big windows in front of me. I know that we will be in the middle of our organized chaos in our own little universe, and that in twenty-four hours from then we will be in the middle of that beautiful storm again."
if you want a taste of that beautiful storm and you're in Europe you might like to attend the dinners he's hosting. The 2-Michelin-starred chef is hosting 3 special dinner collaborations. On May 18 and 19 he’s cooking at Ekstedt in Stockholm with Niklas Ekstedt. Then on May 22 and 23 he will cook with James Lowe at Lyle’s in Shoreditch. He then heads to Amsterdam to cook with Joris Bijdendijk at RIJKS®, the Rijksmuseum’s restaurant, on May 26. Get tickets from the venue's websites and pre-order Aska in the store now to be among the first for a glimpse at just what it is that makes this New York restaurant so special.