Our Scandinavian identity is founded on values and driven by storytelling. Together with the Swedish menswear magazine Scandinavian MAN, we've gathered eight personalities that innovate our times within music, movies, food, and interiors.

Meet Niklas Eksted, Swedish chef and a restauranteur.

Photography Dan Sjölund.

Niklas Ekstedt is a Swedish chef and restauranteur who runs the restaurants ’Hillenberg’, ’Tyge & Sessil' and his namesake, ’Ekstedt’, which, since 2013, has one star in the Michelin Guide. Other than running successful restaurants, Niklas is also famous in Sweden as a TV-chefand author of several cookbooks. Niklas grew up in a small village called Järpen in the Swedish mountains and he was trained at the hotel and restaurant high-school in Åre, not far away. It's a background which has influenced him in many ways and which has been fundamental in his old-fashioned way of cooking.

What do you do and what have you done?

I’m a chef and a restauranteur. I’m running restaurants in Stockholm and always trying to inspire people to cook better food – everything I do is always related to food.

What’s going on for you right now?

Right now, I’m recording a TV-show, which will be running on Viaplay. The show is about my themes in cooking and what I do at the restaurant ’Ekstedt’ on Humlegårdsgatan in Stockholm where I cook with fire, charcoal and smoke… and also analogue methods of cooking, in general.

In what situations do you feel the most inspired?

It's when I’m talking to people who belong to another culture, but who use similar ways of cooking as me. For example, when I meet people who are cooking with the help of old techniques, they’re from a completely different country or part of the world. That is very exciting and inspiring for me. For example, Entxebarri in Basque or Central in Lima, Peru.

What does your background mean for you as a chef and creator?

My background means very much, that’s the core of everything I do. Especially technically, I’m trying to use it. For example, I’m using a technique which would be more suitable for the forest than in a restaurant kitchen. Then I’m trying to usethe way you cook outdoors or in an old bread cottage.

Does Scandinavian nature influence you in any way? If so, how? 

It does more and more, actually. When I was younger I wanted to distance myself from it more and cook French and Spanish cuisine, and so on. I tried to be as little Swedish as possible in my way of cooking. But as older I got, I got more and more interested in going back to the roots.

What values do you most value in others?

I would say humanity… to help each other.

What is your next step as a chef or entrepreneur?

I would like to work more with questions regarding sustainability… and to work more with nature and the forest.

shop the style: