Dinner in a 17th century former home, now restaurant, in the Old Town. The run-of-the-mill décor included stone floors, candles on the tables and cream colored linen napkins. The service, though, was exceptional. The wine list shocked both Jim and me since it was much more expensive than New York. Two French wines that we adore cost US$130 and US$200 and in New York, they would go for US$70 and US$140, respectively. Supposedly, there is no tariff on products from France since both Sweden and France are members of the Common Market. We decided on a nice Australian cabernet that was overpriced but not as absurdly as the French options. Dinner too was costly after the 25% VAT was tacked onto the total.

Still, dinner was delicious. I began with Swedish style marinated salmon, which was simple smoked salmon with a sweet marinade (with mustard seeds for punch) spread lightly on the plate with the salmon and a bed of lettuce resting on top with a lemon slice for garnish. Jim ordered spring rolls filled with marinated salmon with a horseradish cream sauce. At first I was envious over Jim’s choice since his was truly delicious, but my salmon was superb – so fresh and perfect with the added lemon juice. For dinner we both ate fillet of reindeer, which was cooked flawlessly, a bit rare. If reindeer is overcooked it tastes strong (I call this horsy taste). On the plate with the reindeer were morels in a light cream sauce and mashed potatoes made with butter and scallions. The meal was an absolute delight.