Stefan Ekengren opens "EKEN"—a tribute to Sweden’s sandwich culture

In our interview, Ekengren is quick to frame EKEN as a return to everyday Swedish bread and baking, but with a pointed edit. “We simply craved a café with good, traditional breads,” he says. That means Swedish, almost old-fashioned classics: tekaka, soft, slightly sweet wheat rounds; kavring, the dark sweet rye bread many Swedes grew up with; and limpa, aromatic rye loaves often scented with caraway and fennel. As well as less of what has come to dominate modern bakeries: hard crusts and sourdough as default. The pastries stay close to the classics, too.