Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the hospitality industry has had to make a total turnaround with its services. For many months, a lot of restaurants were completely shut down. When things allowed a measure of activity, some started operating through delivery, takeout, or direct-to-consumer sales.
It is remarkable that in a cue to fit present needs, restaurant owners have employed new concepts. One couple in Sweden, Rasmus Persson and Linda Karlsson, opened a one-table restaurant in May 2020, a setup fit for the Covid-19 times.
Table For One
The restaurant, Bord för en or, in other words, Table for One, is a one-person outdoor restaurant in Ransäter, Värmland, West Central Sweden. The couple came up with this idea while visiting and delivering food to Karlsson's parents amid the pandemic.
They came up with the idea of having one table and chair set up in a meadow just 50 yards away from their home. The restaurant has no servers, and only one guest is accepted per day. The food is cooked at their home and gets to the guest via a rope-operated basket from their kitchen window.
The guest does not come in direct contact with anyone. Any coronavirus paranoid person (which is really anyone of us) would love this setup. What makes it more unique are the dishes served.
What's on the menu
Persson is a trained chef who prepares the meals served. They rely on what is locally available since some ingredients are unavailable. They sometimes cook according to the season, utilizing what is common to each season. As a result, the menu changes daily.
For example, a typical menu includes Raraka, which is a Swedish-style hash brown, seaweed caviar, wood-plucked sorrel, and Smetana; Black & Yellow which consists of the yellow-carrot ginger puree, browned hazelnut, serpent root ash, and sweet croquettes; and Last Days of Summer which includes iced buttermilk, ginned blueberries, and viola sugar. Sounds sumptuous!
The menu comes with drinks curated by Joel Söderbäck, the founder of Linje Tio, now known as Tjoget, which made it to the list of 2019's World's Best Bars.
There Is No Pricelist
Each guest decides what price to pay for the menu. A voluntary fee. Wow!
When the guest leaves, no one touches the table and chair for six hours. After six hours, they come out to sanitize them. The dishes left by the guest in a specified container are washed twice.
How To Get There
The meadow where the table for one is located is near a bus stop called Hembygsgården. The spot is reachable by foot, and you will see a rope to follow to reach the table. It opened in May 2020 and closed on August 1.
It is a restaurant for one with no other guest, a dedicated menu, no price list, some of the best drinks, and little Covid worries? What else could one ask for? It must have been such a unique experience.
