Restaurants | 2 December 2006

First off, I should say I’m no great expert when it comes to Swedish food.

First off, I should say I’m no great expert when it comes to Swedish food. Yes, I’ve been to Ikea — so many veneers, so little time! — and, yes, I’ve had the meatballs in the café but, judging by the taste and texture, I think even they were MDF with a meatball veneer. I probably should have opted for the mushroom umlaut, but there you have it.

However, having figured it might be silly to judge all Swedish food by Ikea meatballs and the sad little herrings in the refrigerated display, I think it might be worth giving Upper Glas a go. Upper Glas describes itself as ‘the premiere Swedish restaurant in the UK’, having, I guess, fought off quite a lot of stiff competition. I am minded to try it because I like the sound of the woman behind it, Anna Mosesson, a Swedish cook, writer and broadcaster whose childhood is described in the restaurant’s bumf as follows: ‘Brought up in a castle in Scotland by her father Baron Karl Knutsson Bonde, whenever she found the house too big and too draughty she headed straight towards the kitchen and warm-hearted Fanny, the family’s Swedish-Finnish cook.’ Isn’t that cool? I wish I was the daughter of Baron Karl Knutsson Bonde and had a warm-hearted Fanny. The trouble with my parents is that they’ve never given me anything interesting to write about, which may be an act of cruelty in itself. How am I ever going to get a bestseller out of ‘How I survived my happy, abuse-starved, Hampstead Garden Suburb upbringing?’ The bastards.

Anyway, having been inspired to cook by her beloved Fanny, Ms Mosesson initially set up her own catering business selling Swedish delicacies to the likes of Harrods before opening a stall in Borough market, then a small, much-loved restaurant in Borough, before transferring to this location on Upper Street in Islington.