Arlas Golden Cow, part 2

I told you about Arlas Guldko the other day - now, let me tell you about the food! My pictures are not great, but I hope they can give you some idea of what it was like.

The dinner was composed by Swedish Chef of the Year Tommy Myllymäki, and Swedish Pastry Chef of the Year, Mattias Ljungberg. For starters, they served a herring with a vinaigrette with roasted tomatoes and various shellfish, with new potatoes. Definitely an interesting take on herring - it didn't completely wow me, as I'm not a huge herring fan, but it was nice. The wine for the first course was incredible though, I really enjoyed that: Dr Loosen bernkastler Lay Riesling Kabinett 2005, from Mosel.



The main course was a duo of lamb - one very slowly cooked for a long time, and so tender it literally melted in my mouth. The other piece of lamb was not as flavorful in comparison - that's the danger of doing a duo like that, you will of course compare and conrast. There was a nice potato goat's cheese terrine, topped with a baby carrot, baby leek, and on the side, a curry glazed piece of something we couldn't quite identify - sort of like swede, but something else. Not celeriac, either. Turnip, possibly? There was also a nice wedge of braised apple that went nicely with the lamb. I felt that there was a bit too many flavors going on - everything on the plate was super tasty, but I don't know if I really thought it went very well together. The wine, again, was delicious - but not a great choice for the dish in my opinion. It was very assertive, and sort of took over a little. But nice, nonetheless. Baltasar Garnacha 2003, from Catalunya, Spain.



We were then served a cheese course - Kvibille blue cheese on a piece of bacon toast, topped with a sliver of fig that had been cooked in a red wine caramel. Tasted as good as it sounds! I'll make this myself sometime - but I'll skip the toast, and go straight for crispy bacon bits instead.



And then the dessert. Oh. The dessert. Can you see how pretty it is? How it must have been airbrushed pink, on one end? That there's pulled sugar decor? I wish you could all taste it, it was so amazing. So, what is it? According to the menu, spiced spring rhubarb with a fresh cheese bavarois and lemon chibouste. What I'd describe it as? Well. Lemon and vanilla mousse, on some sort of cookie base, with a layer of rhubarb in between, with rhubarb and strawberry sauce, and topped with pistachios. Regardless of what it actually was, it was plain delicious. And so was the wine served with this - a very sweet German wine, called Moselland Brauneberger Mandelgraben 2000, Ortega Beerenauslese, from Mosel.

And after dinner, there was a surprise - Swedish artist Nanne Grönwall was on stage! Nanne is very well known, and very well liked, too. All in all, a wonderful evening! A big thank you to Arla - I'm glad you let me come! And a big thanks to Dagmar, too, for coming with me! :)