Bastard

Bastard’s head chef, Andreas Dahlberg (aka Andy Bastard), describes Malmö, Sweden as a “workers’ town". This has made it hard for fine dining restaurants to stay afloat, he tells us over a glass of red wine in Bastard’s courtyard. So when he and his business partner decided to open their own place just over two years ago, they wanted to create an environment that was stylish and contemporary, but also well-suited to its surroundings. Since day one, they have attracted attention from all over Sweden, and increasingly from across Europe and internationally, turning this unprepossessing coastal city into a new culinary destination.

Tall, built, and tattooed, Dahlberg (who plays guitar with country punk band the Southern Hostiles, and was previously a member of Death by Brutal Slaughter), embodies the tough kitchen aesthetic, yet he steers clear of a chef’s swagger and his menu is testament to straightforward, honest cooking. The recipes are simple and seasonal, using regional produce whenever possible and offcuts of meat to keep creativity up and prices down. The result is an unpretentious array of expertly-made comfort food. “I hate that term… comfort food,” Dahlberg grimaces.  “But yeah, it is…”

"The recipes are simple and seasonal, using regional produce whenever possible and offcuts of meat to keep creativity up and prices down"

As further proof of his humble approach, Dahlberg constantly credits his sous chef, Wade Brown, and the rest of his team. “I get my inspiration from my chefs,” he explains. “I bring in the produce and we all come up with new dishes day by day. Everybody in the kitchen has a good palate, and we’re not aiming for perfection, we're aiming to please people.”

For our starters we have Bastard’s famous cold meat platter – the Bastardplanka which comes with a specially-designed knife sticking out of it – and lamb’s tongue with potatoes and egg, a dish that shows off Dahlberg’s ability to work with offcuts and innards. As does our warming and hearty main of pork neck with cannellini beans and greens, while the more refined grilled mackerel and mussels is also perfectly cooked – especially the fish’s crispy skin.

Located in one of the old city’s tall red brick buildings, with high ceilings, an open kitchen and a low-lit dining room, Bastard is full of art, music and conversation – which is just how Dahlberg likes it. He says in Swedish this is described as god stämning (which loosely translates as "good atmosphere"), and it refers to an all-around mood created by bringing together the right elements. “Saturday is the most boring night of all,” he jokes. “All the couples come, sit and talk very quietly, I think I'm going to close Saturdays and open Mondays instead!”

Since the building of the Oresund bridge connecting Denmark and Sweden, it takes just over half an hour to get to Bastard from central Copenhagen, which has created a link between that city’s ever-burgeoning gastronomic scene and Malmö. Indeed the evening we visit, James Lowe and Isaac Mchale from British cooking collective The Young Turks (who held a residency at Bastard a few months later) are enjoying dinner with photographer PA Jorgensen, who is known for his exceptional food photography and  portraits of chefs (including Dahlberg). Bastard’s success with diners from all over is a sign of a kind of local internationalism, practised by a new generation of chefs such as Dahlberg and the Young Turks, who work with concepts that are broad in reach, but strongly connected to place in execution, and who are determined to keep quality high and costs low – whether they be in London, Barcelona, or Malmö.

Text by Ananda Pellerin

Ananda and Neil visited Pizarro on Saturday, January 28 at 2pm. Ananda Pellerin is a London-based writer and Neil Wissink is a visual artist also based in London. More from The Hunger here, and contact The Hunger here.