Lola A. Åkerström profiles Mother Restaurant – one of the newest innovative additions to Stockholm’s rapidly expanding culinary scene.
One culinary trend that is continually increasing is the proliferation of backpocket bistros in Stockholm which are more affordable sister restaurants to fine dining restaurants. Since the Swedish mentality is all about accessibility for everyone, these bistros serve up high quality food at much more affordable prices.
A part of the popular F12 group of restaurants including Miss Voon, Vigårda, Kött & Fiskbaren, Köttbaren, Smak och Publico, Mother is a trendy and relaxed watering hole focused on high quality healthy food.
Located across the street from MOOD department store in an open-floorplan former industrial space that seats 500 guests, its atrium-style with plants and flowers makes you feel like you’re sitting outdoors under a covered canopy. You immediately get the sense of walking into the future of dining which is heavily focused on your comfort and individuality as the customer as opposed to the restaurant and their offerings itself.
Opened in January 2016, behind Mother are acclaimed Swedish chefs and restaurateurs Melker Andersson, Danyel Couet, Jonas Svensson, and Martin Vall. Their primary goal behind Mother was to not only cook high quality, flavorful meals, but to do it in a sustainable way which respects “Mother Earth” through care of its animals, plant life and people.
Mother serves up a wide range of organic meats and vegetables such as slow-cooked cuts of beef and pork alongside roasted root vegetables. It also has broad options for vegetarians, vegans, gluten-free, lactose-free, and other allergy sufferers.
The idea is that you do not feel disgustingly full and heavy afterwards, but rather, fueled because you have eaten healthy and very well. “Instead you will feel that your body got well balanced food that is created in a sustainable way. When choosing food, you also see how it is composed,” shares its owners.
How Mother works
You order everything from an in-built tablet on your table. Your drinks (and meals during dinner) are then served at the table by staff “runners”. During lunch, you pick up your meals along with salads from one of seven open kitchens with names like “Roti (Fire)”, “Greens”, “Bowl, “Crispy Wok”, “Wrap”, and “Steam”, where you can watch how food is being prepared, including a huge juice bar.
The whole system offers a quick ordering and payment structure where you can also complete payment through the tablet when you’re ready or walk up to the sole cashier to get it done the traditional way.
This also means you’re not waiting for the bill, and it gives you more time with your dining partner(s).
“We have spent months to find out more about nutrition, how our bodies work, what it wants, and what it would rather not have. We have listened to the most talented in the area. The knowledge we now have has been added to our overall experience of gastronomic quality. In addition, we have added sensible and (we hope) realistic sustainability.”
