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The Nordics

The Nordic hot list
Summer 2026

Every season, a few Nordic openings and projects land before the wider hype catches up. The Nordic hot list is our seasonal dossier of what’s shaping the cultural and creative landscape across the Nordics, from design-forward launches and smart new addresses to exhibitions and events that are actually worth planning around. Everything here is filtered hard, with the names and details that matter.
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Top photography courtesy of Mads Smidstrup and Aros

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19/6

The Dome

Aarhus, Denmark

In Aarhus, ARoS is already known to the visually curious for Your rainbow panorama, Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson’s circular rooftop walkway that makes the city part of the museum. The Dome gives it a darker, stranger counterweight below ground. American light artist James Turrell’s As Seen Below is a 40-metre-wide Skyspace, a domed chamber with an open oculus and controlled colour that makes the sky feel edited in real time. It anchors The Next Level, ARoS’ underground expansion by Danish studio Schmidt Hammer Lassen. Book the Twilight session. Daylight is good; dusk is where your eyes start misbehaving.

The Dome
Aros Allé 2
Aarhus
Denmark

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Photography courtesy of Mads Smidstrup and ARoS

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23/4

Alma

Træna, Norway

Part of Ytri Island Retreat on Husøy in the Træna archipelago, Alma keeps dinner tied tightly to the island. The setting is 60 kilometres off Norway’s coast, and the kitchen uses that distance well: a four-course dinner built around fresh local fish and seafood, plus a 12-course Chef’s Table using seafood from nearby waters and produce from Ytri’s kitchen garden. Vardehaugen Architects shaped the buildings, with interiors by Bonaparte Interiør: pale timber, woven chairs, hand-drawn porcelain and green ceramic wall pieces. Go for shellfish, sea air and cooking that feels precise without losing the weather outside.

Alma
Fløholmen 8
Træna
Norway

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Photography courtesy of Alma
Adam Albin Stockholm Sweden restaurant review
Adam Albin Stockholm Sweden restaurant review

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10/4

Adam Albin

Stockholm, Sweden

In Stockholm’s historic centre, adam albin is the long-game dining room from chef Adam Dahlberg and restaurateur-CEO Albin Wessman – the duo behind Solen and Misshumasshu, now pushing their universe into a more formal, three-floor setting. The cooking is contemporary with global references, anchored in a Nordic sensibility with a clear classical French backbone, built around restraint and raw material over tricks. The restaurant spans three floors and roughly five hundred and fifty square metres, with views towards the Royal Palace, the Royal Swedish Opera and the Riksdag. Interiors are by Halleroed, their first restaurant project, with classic proportions and a 1960s edge in the details.

Adam Albin
Regeringsgatan 2
Stockholm
Sweden

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Photography courtesy of Adam Albin
Magny Copenhagen Denmark restaurant review
Magny Copenhagen Denmark restaurant review

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22/4

Magny

Copenhagen, Denmark

Sixteen seats, one counter and none of the usual distance between kitchen and guest – Magny is chef Jonas Mikkelsen’s close-up follow-up to his years at Michelin-starred Frederiksminde in Præstø. Tucked into Ny Adelgade in central Copenhagen, the restaurant runs on a seasonal set menu and a stripped-back format that puts the cooking right in front of you. The name comes from Mikkelsen’s grandmother, which says something about the place too: personal, not polished into anonymity. Rasmus Mørch, formerly of Frederiksminde, Meyers, Fasangården and Brasserie Post, handles the room and the bottles, which matters here just as much as the food.

Magny
Ny Adelgade 3
Copenhagen
Denmark

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Photography courtesy of Magny
Slussporten Stockholm Sweden restaurant review
Slussporten Stockholm Sweden restaurant review

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11/2

Slussporten

Stockholm, Sweden

At Slussen, Slussporten is Nobis Restaurant Division’s biggest restaurant bet in years, built to become a future Stockholm institution. The dining room seats 95, the bar 76, with an outdoor terrace at Vattentorget adding 125 when open. The kitchen is led by head chef Jacob Davidsson and starts from Swedish cooking, then pulls in flavours that reflect Slussen’s constant movement. Techniques stay classic, with the menu shifting with the seasons. The bar plays the same game, using Nordic ingredients when they fit and borrowing ideas from further afield, keeping cocktails in active rotation. Music rises as the evening settles in.

Slussporten
Slussplan 10
Stockholm
Sweden

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Photography courtesy of Slussporten

00

1/6

Barr

Copenhagen, Denmark

On Copenhagen harbour in Christianshavn, Barr still carries the baggage of the former home of Noma, the Copenhagen restaurant that turned New Nordic cooking into a global reference. The Spacon-designed room helps: old beams, pale timber, mixed chairs, soft pendant light and tables that invite lunch to stretch. The kitchen stays rooted in the Nordic Sea region, meaning the food cultures around the North Sea and Baltic, with beer, butter and proper appetite doing the work. Yes, the schnitzel is still there after the 2026 refurb: free-range pork with Brussels sprout, horseradish cream and Barr’s anchovy butter sauce.

Barr
Strandgade 93
Copenhagen
Denmark

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Photography courtesy of Barr

00

24/3

Johanna

Gothenburg, Sweden

Above central Gothenburg, Johanna brings back one of the city’s classic restaurant names with a seventh-floor steakhouse built around open-fire cooking, rooftop views and a bar that knows its martinis. The name nods to the original Johanna, once associated with chefs Leif Mannerström and Crister Svantesson, while the current version belongs to the Stureplansgruppen Göteborg restaurant group. Go for grilled meat, fish, seafood and greens, then stay close to the bar for a Vesper Martini or the rooftop terrace when the weather behaves. It suits Gothenburg nights that need city-centre energy, proper grill work and a view over the tramlines.

Johanna
Södra Hamngatan 49
Gothenburg
Sweden

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Photography courtesy of Johanna
Simone Book Services Copenhagen Denmark book store review

00

28/1

Simone Book Services

Copenhagen, Denmark

Some Copenhagen shops sell books; this one treats them like atmosphere, research material and visual ammunition. In central Copenhagen, Simone Book Services is a bookstore with a consultancy brain, stocking rare and independent books and magazines while also building libraries, book branding, exhibitions and moodboards for brands and cultural projects. The edit moves through design, fashion, interiors, art, photography and print culture without feeling like a museum shelf. Go when you want the book nobody else has on display, or when a room, campaign or idea needs sharper references than another Pinterest board in book form.

Simone Book Services
Vester Voldgade 106
Copenhagen
Denmark

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Photography courtesy of Simone Book Services
Umenoyo Malmö Skåne Sweden restaurant review
Umenoyo Malmö Skåne Sweden restaurant review

00

18/2

Umenoya

Malmö, Sweden

With fifteen seats and eleven courses, this omakase counter in Malmö neighbourhood Gamla Väster keeps the focus on craft, pace and the pleasure of watching dinner take shape. Umenoya is chef Takao Fujii’s set menu, shaped by his grandmother’s izakaya recipes and a fixation on tsukemono, Japanese pickles paired with seasonal local produce for bite and texture. Fujii grew up on a small island near Hiroshima, worked in Paris for Comme des Garçons, then moved into kitchens including Nobu Milan. The space is designed by Malmö architect Jonas Lindvall, with stone, wood and ceramics keeping the mood calm. Drinks run champagne, wine, sake, shōchū and thoughtful non-alcoholic pairings.

Umenoya
Västergatan 18A
Malmö
Sweden

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Photography courtesy of Per-Anders Jörgensen and Umenoya
Slvrbrgs Malmö Skåne Sweden shop review
Slvrbrgs Malmö Skåne Sweden shop review

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10/4

Slvrbrgs

Malmö, Sweden

Concept store Slvrbrgs picks up the thread from Silverbergs, the Malmö design store that shaped local taste for decades before closing in 1995. The new version comes from David Carlson, founder of David Design and former creative director at Orrefors Kosta Boda, together with Anders Sjöstedt, whose background runs through Minc and Hyper Island in New York. Set across 400 square metres, it folds fashion, interiors, books, music, art, gourmet finds and café life into one stop. Watch for names such as local designers and artists Kajsa Willner, Lab La Bla and Andréason & Leibel, as well as perfume brands 19-69 and Art Brüt. Another payoff is downstairs, in the tucked-away basement gallery space.

Slvrbrgs
Skomakaregatan 9
Malmö
Sweden

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Photography courtesy of The Nordic Nomad

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