SWEDEN AND CALIFORNIA ARE more than 5,000 miles apart, but in their San Francisco restaurant, Pläj (pronounced “play”), the husbandand-wife team of Roberth (the chef) and Andrea (the manager) Sundell brings the cuisine of these two foodcentric cultures together. “We take traditional family recipes from Sweden and present them in a new, modern way, highlighting California produce,” Roberth says. In reinventing these nostalgic dishes of his childhood, he’s made them lighter but also bolder, with more intense tastes.
“The true flavors and textures of the fresh vegetables and fish stand out; they’re not masked with heavy sauces,” Roberth says. It’s that focus on produce and seafood (along with vegetable-based oils, low-fat dairy, whole grains, lean meats, and fruit) that makes Nordic food so good—and so good for you.
(Previous page)…
