The expectations were obviously high and it sort of lived up to that even though the first visit was a notch up on the whole.
Like our previous visit we were served a mini-pizza as an appetizer.
This time it was topped with mozzarella, foie gras and summer truffle. Nice start but the truffle was unfortunately tasteless. I don't see the point of using truffle that doesn't add any flavor to the dish. Not star quality.
A bottle of 2012 Loibner Loibenberg Grüner Veltliner Smaragd from F.X. Pichler in Wachau, Austria was my first choice from the wine list. Rich, young and powerful with flavors of the ripest yellow plums and smoke with a delicate bitterness at the end of this rich-textured wine. F.X. Pichler is rated as one of the top producers in Austria and I have drunk quite a few bottles from them over the years. Tonight I realized, actually it isn't my personal favorite. I would love to try something from F.X. Pichler with a bit of age as their young wines can be a bit too much and I find them a bit unbalanced in their youth.
Next we got, what has become their signature dish;
Lobster with chimney smoked tomato.
Once again a fantastic dish but it was even better on our last visit.
Octopus with chorizo, lemon cured herring and sweet bell pepper.
Lovely dish with intense, Spanish flavors.
The rich Grüner Veltliner that matched the food well so far, was now finished so we ordered a bottle of red for the two remaining meat dishes.
2005 Clos de L'Obac from the producer Costers del Siurana in Priorat, Spain.
The base material for this wine comes from old garancha vines that has been blended with cabernet sauvignon, syrah, merlot and cariñena.
Still youthful in the mouth with a round and sweet dried plum character mixed with mint-chocolate and backed up with silky tannins. It's been a while since I last tried this wine. Not bad at all.
The main protein, lamb ribeye, for the next dish was served on the side while the main plate contained of roasted eggplant, smoked tallow and sprouts.
Another tasty serving.
After a quick chat with Niklas Ekstedt himself we moved to the chefs table were we enjoyed the experience on our last visit.
Here we had the last savory dish which was a combination of hay baked pork with smoked cauliflower and truffle. A dish that was "right up my alley". The crispy pork skin that was sprinkled on the plate gave a nice crunchy contrast to the super soft pork meat. Once again the tasteless truffle added nothing to the dish.
The desserts at Ekstedt has so far not lived up to the standard of the savory dishes. A bit too heavy and oversimplified. After a heavy meal like this I prefer something lighter and more on the sour side. Anyhow, this is my personal feeling and I'm sure that most guests loved this sweet at the end.
Socca (an north Italian pancake) was meant to reflect the pizza in the beginning of the meal. It was served with rum raisins, nougat, hazelnuts and coffee ice cream.
Overall it was again an amazing dinner and I cant wait to go back.
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