Caleo: Gothenburg’s caliente café
It’s a tribute to the current international buzz surrounding Spanish cuisine that everyone from the Guardian to the UK-edition of Conde Nast Traveller is documenting its apparently unstoppable rise. Which would go some way to explaining Caleo, a white-hot tapas bar and restaurant taking up a prime corner spot in the heart of Gothenburg. Targeting the city’s fashion-forward crowd, the womb-like interior is all mood lighting and smooth edges, dominated by a corner bar that gets crazier as the night wears on. But in the middle of a mild Scandinavian summer it’s the outdoor tables that see the most action. Pulling up a granite-look stool, we vacillated between delectable, Spanish-style tapas and the meaty, Med-meets-Swede main plates. (Apparently in Gothenburg, Spanish cuisine is only welcomed so far.) The verdict? In spite of the restaurant’s split culinary personality, food is memorable: honey grilled veal and truffle sauce is tender and rich, while horseradish risotto gives a piece of lightly seared tuna a little kick. The only glitch, here, could be scoring a table in the first place. As is the want of this über spot, reservations are not taken. Come prepared for a decent wait.
Details:
Caleo - www.caleo.se