Daniel Berlin in Skåne Tranås entered the Michelin Nordic Countries guide in 2016 with One Michelin Star and, two years later, on February 19th 2018, was promoted to Two Michelin Stars.
But what is it that makes Daniel Berlin so unique?
The answer lies in its honesty, intimacy and lack of pretension.
It’s housed in a delightful 150 year old former farmhouse in a quaint hamlet. Wood-burning braziers guide you up the path and Daniel and his friendly team will come outside to greet you in a warm and very personal manner.
The cosy room has an understated rustic style, with a wooden floor and modern art hanging on white walls, and while it is intimate and comprises just a handful of tables, the atmosphere is refreshingly relaxed and not overly formal.
Service is professional and attentive and both the dishes and wines are explained in depth by the charming team, who seem to do everything with a smile. The chefs deliver many of the dishes themselves – along with detailed explanations of their make-up – and some of the raw ingredients, maybe pheasant or venison, are presented at the table before being cooked and served.
In a unique approach, consommé is taken outside on the terrace mid-meal, when you have the opportunity to mingle with your fellow diners, and to end, coffee and petits-fours are served in the greenhouse.
Dinner is a 'surprise' of around 20 small dishes, with each dish comprising just 2-3 beautifully fresh ingredients. One of Daniel’s signatures is roasted celeriac, which he presents in the centre of the room as a rock hard sphere, before cracking it open to reveal a soft interior and then serving a spoonful to each diner.
Originality comes in the form of the superb balancing of ingredients, where the variety of stimulating texture and flavour combinations is simply wonderful. Cooking is refined and undertaken with great finesse, and while techniques have a subtle modernity to them, they are used sparingly, as the ethos is all about purity and respect for luxurious, top quality ingredients in their natural state. Much of the produce comes from their sizeable kitchen garden, and the surrounding woodland and countryside supplies everything from mushrooms to game birds – some of which Daniel shoots himself.
Its remote setting makes this a destination restaurant – you’d never just be ‘passing by’ – but it really is a place worth visiting, as a meal at this charmingly run Scandinavian gem will linger long in the memory.
