Meet Elsa, Our New Sommelier

Hi! Who are you and how did you start working with us?
My name is Elsa, I’m 27 years old and have always worked in restaurants—most recently at Röda Huset. I think it’s such a fun job and honestly don’t understand why anyone would want to do anything else! You get to be part of the moments when people go out to enjoy themselves, and your main task is to make their fun evening even better. I’ve wanted to move on to a Michelin restaurant for a long time, so when Alma called me, it just felt right. The timing was perfect, and it was a fantastic opportunity to work with such talented people in this industry. It feels amazing to grow and develop together with them.

How would you describe your serving style and work approach?
My general approach is that I don’t want anything to feel stiff or uncomfortable for anyone. I think you can express yourself however you like, as long as you have all the knowledge the guest needs. Sometimes I describe a wine using sound effects—but only if I’m sure that my sounds actually reflect what’s in the glass. I don’t like throwing around overly technical terms; it’s more fun to speak a language everyone can understand. I think body language and sound effects feel very natural!

What do you do when you’re not working here?
I hang out with my dear friends and drink cheap beer and expensive beer, and cheap wine and expensive wine. Right now, I’m geeking out over sake, and I also run a bit.

What’s your best food memory?
One is the first time I had a yakitori skewer—WOW. I was ten years old and probably ate twenty of them! But one moment I remember especially well, when I thought “this is insanely good,” was when I was around 19, having dinner at Hantverket with my mom. We were sitting at the food bar, ordering lots of dishes along with two different glasses of red and two of white. I had just started getting into wine and how food affects wine and vice versa. I think the staff found us kind of charming, which resulted in us getting all the evening’s misordered dishes. One of them was freshly smoked cod with mussel sauce and grilled cucumber—at the time, it was the best thing I had ever eaten.

Thank you, Elsa, and welcome!