| It wasn´t clear from the outset that I would become a chef and restaurateur. My father and grandfather before me were both architects. But one day at the end of the 1960s, fate conspired to get me a job as a porter at the legendary Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. And from that day on, there was no turning back. |
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| When I got back to Stockholm I immediately enrolled at Hasselbackens Restaurangskola. And in 1973, Urban Standar and I took over Gerdas Fisk in Östermalmshallen. I was 27 and absolutely sure of the world I wanted to inhabit. |
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| A few years later I met Leif Mannerström and Christer Svantesson, the owners of the Johanna restaurant in Göteborg. They gave me the inspiration I needed to open a place that was truly my own. |
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| I opted for a boat on Strandvägskajen that I christened Eriks, plain and simple. My aim was to serve top class traditional Swedish dishes. But along with many others, I was influenced by the fashions of the time: onto the plates, French style food found its way instead. Nouvelle Cuisine had hit Stockholm. |
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| It was fun, things went well, and in 1984 we were one of the first restaurants in Sweden to be awarded a Michelin star. I felt immensely proud. |
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| Just three years later we moved ashore. Restaurant Eriks opened in Gamla Stan. There too, we earned a Michelin star, and were elected to join the highly prestigious restaurant chain Les Grandes Tables du Monde. I stayed for 12 years in Gamla Stan, after which I let my head chef Pontus Frithiof take the helm. |
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| I like to turn my thoughts and ideas into reality, and this has given me a rich and varied life. I´ve had the privilege of meeting interesting and inspiring people, and in addition to the many restaurants I´ve created, I´ve been involved in many exciting enterprises. Everything from breeding crayfish, buying ingredients in rural China and running a sauce factory, to wine imports and prestigious engagements, such as advisor to the Nobel Prize committee for their gala dinners. I´ve also been a board member of several companies. |
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| I´m also extremely proud of the public recognition I have received, such as the Royal Swedish Gold Medal and the Gold Medal from the Swedish Gastronomic Academy. |
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| But restaurant life is my first love. And for that reason I´m especially happy to be running Erik Gondolen and Eriks Bakficka. |
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