Fäviken Magasinet

Want to know what's inspiring Magnus Nilsson?

The colour blue, monastery life and lupin beans will inform the Swedish chef's menu next season

Ferran Adria, the founder and head chef of the late, great elBulli restaurant, is a remarkable pioneer in many respects. Yet, one of the smartest innovations he introduced to high end gastronomy was closing his restaurant on a regular basis. During these annual breaks, the staff would develop the following season’s menu, away from the daily grind of public cooking.

It’s a model many others have adopted. Mugaritz, the Spanish restaurant founded by chef Andoni Luis Aduriz is closed until 15 April, while René Redzepi’s Noma team return to Denmark next month, following their working vacation in Japan, running a five-week pop-up restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental in Tokyo.

Another great chef following this ‘break and create’ model is Magnus Nilsson, the brilliant young Swedish chef behind the remote, and exotic Fäviken. However, unlike Adria and co, the Faviken staff will conducting their creative research quite openly, thanks to the wonders of social media.

The restaurant closed a few days ago and will reopen on 1 July 2015. However, Magnus told its followers earlier today, “during our time of closure, the permanent staff will engage in several projects with the purpose of bringing new qualities to the experience we offer at Fäviken. We will keep you all up to date on what we work on via our Twitter account, @faviken, and our Instagram feed, instagram.com/faviken.” 

Where will the restaurant, which specializes in the local sourcing of ingredients, as well as traditional preperation methods – including pickling, fermenting and salting – find inspiration? Well, Nilsson and co already have a pretty good idea.

As they explained “Some of the themes we have designed projects around for this spring are: The colour blue in nature; monastery life in Finland; the Japanese mushroom garden; Lupin beans and the use of their proteins; Traditional and modern methods for extended storage of eggs; Swedish freshwater fish; The use of growing-beds heated with compost in a greenhouse.”

What’s more, Nilsson and co are looking for people to join them. As they say, “If you are considering trying for an internship here and if you have an idea for a research project that you would like to do in cooperation with us, please send in an application to peeter@favikenmagasinet.se.”

For a richer understanding of this wonderful chef buy a copy of Fäviken here.