Stockholm has seen a notable surge in Italian restaurant openings over the past two years, with new addresses continuing to appear across the city. Here are five of the latest, spanning everything from neighbourhood trattorias to wine-driven spots with a more contemporary edge.
At the recently reopened Bio Skandia on Drottninggatan in central Stockholm, Bar Lido is the iconic cinema’s new bar, pairing Italian small plates with a carefully curated wine list focused on artisanal producers. The name nods both to the Stockholm International Film Festival’s original film club and to the Lido di Venezia, long associated with the world’s oldest film festival. The fact that the historic cinema, designed by renowned architect Gunnar Asplund in the 1920s, also carries traces of that same legacy adds an extra layer of resonance. The result is a new hangout that works just as well before or after a screening as it does for a drink in its own right.
On Karlavägen in Östermalm, Sessanta takes Italy as its point of departure without tying itself to any rigid idea of what that should look like. Best friends and founders Lucas Allskog and Erto Abbassoy instead let Swedish flavours slip into the Italian framework. Take the use of Västerbotten cheese — Sweden’s famously full-flavoured hard cow’s milk cheese, prized for its nutty, tangy depth — in both the pizza Bianco la Svezia with vendace roe, crème fraîche, red onion and kale crisps, and the pappardelle with black truffle and butter-fried beef. The wine list travels the length of Italy, from Piedmont to Sicily. Sessanta lands somewhere between a wine bar and a snack bar, with an approach that favours playful cross-pollination over rule-following.
Tavino, found on Nytorget square in the heart of Södermalm, leans into a familiar Italian proposition: a dining table at the centre, and an evening allowed to unfold at its own pace. The menu moves through antipasti, sharing plates, pasta, pizza, mains and dolci, while the wine list spans several Italian regions and the bar mixes well-known aperitivi. Spread across split levels and filled with plants, paintings and bottle-lined shelves, the venue feels very generous. Standouts include a cornetto with whipped ricotta, truffle honey, rosemary and hazelnuts, as well as fettuccine al tartufo with beef fillet, baby spinach, truffle, Parmigiano Reggiano and cream.
When Robert “Boban” Rudinski opens Tripletta at Åsögatan 163, he is returning to familiar ground. Those who have followed Södermalm’s Italian restaurant scene may remember this as the original home of Lo Scudetto, before the space continued under a different name. Now Rudinski is back for a third time, with a menu that leans rustic without tipping into nostalgia. Halibut carpaccio, beef cheek ragù with tagliatelle, and agnolotti with corn-fed chicken and black trumpet mushrooms, finished with crisp sage, set the tone. This is a neighbourhood restaurant in the truest sense, even as the level of ambition remains high.
Sicily is the clear point of departure at Bonaccorso, where siblings Oliver and Felicia Bonaccorso draw directly on family background and regional references. Oliver, meanwhile, is no newcomer, with experience from places including Trattoria Montanari, something reflected in a kitchen that moves confidently between tradition and a more personal expression. The menu includes maccheroni al pomodoro with fried aubergine and salted ricotta, alongside polpette alla Giacomina, the family’s take on nonna-style meatballs, and busiate al ragù di salsiccia, the twisted Sicilian pasta served with a rich pork sausage ragù. Together, the dishes bring the Sicilian story into sharp focus. The overall impression is warm, direct and firmly rooted in a specific corner of Italy.
