Dining at Bloom in the Park in Malmö is just full of surprises. It is situated in a lovely park with a lake in the centre of Malmö, but when you find the restaurant it is just a simple wooden building on the outside, but inside it is something else. Inside you enter a golden corridor with the lake beaconing at the end. Then you enter a beautiful and cool dining room designed by the architect Jonas Lindvall.

It is an intimate place with about 32 seats, but also very spacious and airy. The whole intention of the place is like the food, surprising and enjoyable – and from some angles fantastic.

The kitchen is run by talented Head Chef and partner Titti Qvarnström. She was supported by her husband André Qvarnström, but he has left the restaurant. The dining room is managed by Chef Patron Igi Vidal and Sommelier Miguel Maksymowicz. Before working at Bloom, Titti trained in Copenhagen and worked in top rated restaurants in Germany. All you need to know about Chef Patron Igi Vidal is that his energy will not leave you unaffected; he wants to surprise and challenge you.

This tight crew and their staff really make a tremendous effort of doing something else while having fun. Just look at the photos of the crew, they just did not want their photo taken, but had a thought behind it to make it interesting, surprising and fun. The crew is very international so English is the language in the dining room.

It is a no menu restaurant which means you have to sit back and trust the establishment. The standard is a five course, but you can ask for a seven course and on weekdays a three course. There is also no wine list to choose from, but they have a wide and interesting selection mostly from the Old World, but again not only the traditional stuff. You will not know what you eat and drink beforehand, but afterwards they will ask you first and then tell you after some discussion.

The no menu concept works rather well, but is not perfect. It is different and in one way makes you focus and discuss the food, but sometimes maybe too much so you forget to enjoy it. Or it just shows how hard it is to break out of the mould and do something different. One advantage is that it gives the chef freedom to alternate according to season and produce.

In the end it comes down to the food and here the kitchen delivers. A start can be a glass of champagne served in nice weather on the terrace by the lake. Some highlights afterwards can be the langoustines with fried head cheese or the duck with salsify and beet root. The duck is excellent with the indigenous grape prieto picudo from a Gordonzello 2007. The cheese is excellent and surprising, a Saint-Marcellin cheese tart with some caramelised sugar (looks like a crème brulée) with green tomato marmalade and Jack Daniel smoke, wonderful. Marinated grapes, rose ice cream, foie gras and xmas breadcrumbs also work surprisingly well. Some things are more fun and spectacular such as vitamin c marshmallows or the ice tea concoction in a test tube. Some dishes can be a bit overworked with too many ingredients and flavours, but the base is always excellent cooking matched with interesting wines.

Having no menu also gives the chef the possibility to change and follow the season or inspiration. Bloom takes advantage of this and you will not encounter the same dishes one week from another, the menu is in constant change. To end it there is a good selection of coffee and tea which is not surprising since they have afternoon tea on Sundays.

Written by Joakim