New year, new initiatives

On a late Sunday evening in the middle of December, the Nordic bar scene congregated at Stockholm’s Grand Hotel to celebrate the meteoric rise of Nordic bar culture, the best cocktails and bars of the year and perhaps even themselves for participating in the boom we have seen in the bar scene of late.

Winning the prize for being the best bartender in Sweden was Hampus Thunholm who has recently relocated back to Stockholm where he is now tending the wide bar of newly-opened Lucy’s Flower Shop. Located in Dr. Alban’s old studio in the cellar underneath the restaurant Arnold’s and club Spy Bar, Lucy’s Flower Shop is another welcome addition to our burgeoning bar scene. It’s been created by an all-star quartet of Stockholm bartenders – apart from Hampus, it’s Ola Carlson and Alex Skärlén, previously of Bar Hommage, plus Le Hibou’s Linn Sterling (no relation to Raheem, that we know of). A visit on an early Thursday evening during their first week open generated a two-page feature - gift-wrapped to all of you from all of us – along with this issue’s theme of new things to look for in 2020.

Apart from Lucy’s, we look forward to new live venue Fållan, aiming to host everything from live gigs, big and small, to clubs, events and food markets. We highlight restaurant Garba’s move from pop-up venture to full restaurant with a permanent address, Konstfack’s 175-year celebration – not particularly new for 2020 of course, but the book documenting it is – and Bio Valentino. American Valentino Foster’s effort to simultaneously create a space for all things film while, on a personal level, settle in Stockholm.

Peter Steen-Christensen