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Q: What is it? A: Hands down the best bistro in Stockholm at the moment!

Nice menu. Nice handwriting. However, don't look too closely – it's being changed every day.

I believe it's one of their standard appetizers. Ham with egg. Or egg with ham. Quite potent.

Grilled monkfish served with hake, mussles and a dollop of aioli.
Simply the best prepared fish I've had in Stockholm in a long, long time!

Sure, I have had many more exciting wines but this dry riesling entered the marriage with the monkfish with a lot of grace.

Sweet stuff. Soon, there will be songs written about this tarte tatin.
Feels like going on a trip to Sologne region with someone you love.

Not exactly shouting 'Here we are!' to passers-by. No neon sign. Not even the name on
the window. Just a small street talker and two candles. But now you're in the know...

It happened where you’d least expected it…
I know the surroundings quite well. Not because there’s a well-known strip club nearby but because my brother live kitty-corner to this place. This is a rather remote corner of Stockholm. The city sort of ends at the end of the next block. In this unlikely place, Linus Ahlstedt and Mikael Gröndal created a different kind of bistro. Or maybe it’s not that different. The difference is that this is your quintessential, simple, local bistro where everything is better executed than you’d expect.

It’s in the details.
The tiny establishment have room for some 25 guests seated around six tables. The menu is changed daily and you will be carefully informed that there are only three plɑː də ˈʒʊə remaining (this evening it’s the monkfish). A choice of beef will always be available, says Linus: ”You can’t run a place like this without it”.
Water is served in tiny Tintin glasses. Meat knifes are from Laguiole and the wine is selected with fingerspitzengefühl. The restaurant is manned by just Linus and Mikael. They work hard and their care and good spirits are all around this establishment.

It’s in the kick-ass monkfish.
Ordering the egg with ham meant that I soon had quite potent appetizer in front of me. My friends were full of praise for the grilled mussels and the anchovies. Myself, I wasn’t at all disappointed, but the next time I’ll go for a slightly lighter starter.
Enter the grilled monkfish. Almost lobster-like in texture, it proved to be the perfect match for the light hake and the mussles, with the aioli adding the subtle edge and acting as a nod to the Provencale restaurants where the owners obviously gathered loads of inspiration. The perfect balance between lightness and taste.
Some of my friends ordered the pizza, baked in the massive wood burning stove, and there were zero complaints, but I suppose they all wanted my monkfish. Together with a dry riesling, it was my ticket to the feelgood zone.

It’s in the tarte tatin.
Weight watchers, beware! Having a tarte tatin at Chez Betty means that you will be attacking an apple tarte where the apples have been caramelized slowly in an ocean of butter and sugar later to be baked upside down in the wood burning stove covered by puff pastry. An orgasm for dessert lovers. The vanilla sauce also played its part remarkably well.
So, looking for a non-pretentious bistro experience in Stockholm? Then you’ve found it. In my opinion it will be very hard for anyone aspiring to enter the category to top this. However, I’ll wait with the 5th star until a few more visits.

Note to the owners: Just remember to fix the hasp on the door to the restroom, OK?

Chez Betty
Roslagsgatan 43
S-113 54 Stockholm

+46-8-292293
restaurant@chezbetty.se

Opening hours: Tuesday-Saturday 6 PM to 10 PM.

Q: What is it? A: Picture for yourself a modern riad – you’ll probably end up with something like this!

Here's where everything begins – the mandatory little fountain around which the world revolves.

Quite minimalistic. Quite nice. The Talaa 12 is a pretty good representative of the modern riad. However, expect no such things as TV or mini bar. More importantly, the AC was very good. And the room had a fan in the ceiling as well.

A rather modern-looking and spacious bathroom but it also has some room
for improvement: When you take a shower, you're flooding the area. Not cool.

Clean and stylish. The balcony on the 1st floor of the Talaa 12

Rooftop comfort: Under this Berber tent you may sip on a... lemonade or similar while watching the sun set in the west. This was windy evening which meant that the rooftop was empty.

Talaa 12 may sound like a rather small riad with only 8 guestrooms. But compared to other riads and ordinary hotel rooms your living space at the Talaa 12 is either size large or x-large.

The driver created a mess for himself…
I blame it all on him. While trying to get his car through the narrow, winding streets of the Marrakech medina, he simply got stuck between a stone wall and a shop, turning a short taxi-ride into an unwanted tourist attraction. It costed him his right rear mirror. Therefore, arriving to the Talaa 12 was an even bigger relief. It’s located next to the souk and just an olive’s throw from the Ben Youssef Madrasa, the former theological college in Marrakech. This riad isn’t exactly yelling ”Here I am”, so drivers don’t know about it. Not many folks in the neighbourhood were able to just point it out.

With just 8 rooms the service level is the expected.
You WILL be well taken care of at the Talaa 12. When asking Ibrahim, the manager on duty, how to get to Café Arabe, he just said ”Come on… follow me!” The followed a 10-minute guided tour through the souk. What Hilton hotel manager would personally walk you through this maze to make sure that you arrive to your restaurant? I suppose that would be impossible at any larger establishment, but this was probably just another day at work at the Talaa 12 with only 8 rooms, (and maximum 18 guests).

A traditional riad that is not very traditional.
This is not the place for those who want to take the time machine a few centuries back in time. Rooms and public spaces are furnished in a rather contemporary fashion. Quite minimalistic but yet not 100% functional. Taking a shower that lasts more than 2 minutes means the bathroom floor gets flooded. Also rooms come with no keys. ”This is such a small place”, was the explanation. And true enough, it is impossible to get inside without the staff admitting you in.

It should be awarded with more stars…
It certainly has its qualities – the staff being the most outstanding one. I’d recommend the Talaa 12 if you want something that doesn’t feel like a hotel but more like a very well run B&B. I’d also recommend it for anybody who doesn’t want their piggy bank smashed.
Also, before coming here, call the riad and ask them to arrange with porters bringing your luggage to the door. On departure, they did just that and the system worked like a charm although Obi-Wan Kenobi spent an eternity pushing a cart with my heavy bags to the waiting car. Make that a 70-year old Obi-Wan with bad shoes and a severe back problem. Or maybe not. He got an hefty tip and danced away. Maybe he was just a good actor?

Talaa 12
N° 12 Talaa Ben Youssef
40000 Medina Marrakech
Morocco

+212-524-429-045

Click here to book Talaa 12 through TabletHotels.com!

Tags: Ben Youssef Medersa, Berber-tent, Marrakech, Medina, modern, riad, rooftop, service-minded, souk, spacious, Talaa 12

Q: What is it? A: A quite traditional but well managed riad, only an olive’s throw from the royal palace and its nesting storks. And in case you wondered; ‘Cigogne’ is the French name for these big birds.

The entire Dar Les Cigognes revolves around the funky fountain in the courtyard. On the whyteboard: Tonight's 4-course menu.

This photo doesn't lie: The bed takes up most of the main room in the suite.

It's not a temple or a house of worship. It's a bathroom. There's also a hammam in the riad, (which I didn't try).

This, I dubbed 'The Useless Room'. It has a so-so-functional place for reading and a fireplace. The latter should come in handy on winter nights. Friendly note to management: New carpet needed!

I suppose that this is exactly how you'd picture a riad in the old Medina. In this case the brochures and websites told the truth.

Dar Les Cigognes means 'the House of Storks'. Views from this rooftop terrace made it quite clear why, (see image below). Wasn't able to catch any of them while they were swooping in, though.

Wanna do some birdwatching from the rooftop? Sometimes you're successful, sometimes you're not. When bringing my camera to the rooftop, the storks weren't too eager to put on a show.

Riads normally don't have windows facing outwards. Instead, they have a courtyard facing inwards. Traditionally, you'll there find four orange trees, (or lemon), and possibly a fountain.

Now, listen class: Cigogne is French. It translates to stork.
Location: The rooftop of Dar Les Cigognes. There are quite a few white storks (Ciconia ciconia) nesting on the walls of the royal palace, which is across the street. Big birds they are, with a wingspan of 200 cm (79 in.). If air-traffic control gives them an OK for a final approach from northeast, you hear them swoop in, their necks stretched in flight. When I bring my camera upstairs no swooping is taking place. I return from the rooftop with a pic of one taking a stroll on top of his nest. Poor show!

This is a riad that comes with a few advantages.
It’s possible to get to its doorstep by car. This may sound like one of the lesser advantages for a better hotel, but now you’re in the Medina which dates back to the year 1071 – more or less the antidote of modern urban planning. At other riads, elderly men have pulled hand-drawn carts with my baggage to a waiting car through this maze of alleys and walkways.
More importantly, the Dar Les Cigognes itself is a very well managed riad with a very helpful staff. Miss Hayat, who is in charge during my visit, is a real gem, making you feel extremely well taken care of. Under her supervision, restaurants get booked, cars are ordered and everything, including the time for meals, feels tailored to suit your needs. She’s like a Swiss watch with a warm heart.

It looks quite good! Somebody must have called in an architect.
Even though it consists of two houses connected with a walkway over a narrow alleyway, the Dar Les Cigognes has only 11 rooms. This means you won’t have a problem finding yourself private spaces for meals, work or contemplation. The tadelakt plaster walls also makes it feel quite stylish. A tadelakt mixture typically includes pulverized marble, which is then polished by hand, making the surface is smooth as Teflon. Charles Boccara, a French Tunisian-born architect, have added his quite classical touch of style to the riad, which means that it is not suffering from minimalistic design.

You may put your trust in the restaurant as well…
Dinner at the hotel means that you’ll be served a pre-ordered menu of four different courses. This is common practice for most riads. Served on the rooftop, everything tastes great; the chicken tagine in particular. Just have realistic expectations on the wine list, which is quite short. It should be mentioned that despite being a Muslim country, wines of quite decent quality have been produced in Morocco since the mid-90s, (and they’re getting better every year).
The Dar Les Cigognes has one foot in the medieval Marrakech and the other in the tourist industry of the 21st century. In this reviewer’s opinion, it’s a very well working combination. Recommended. Four stars. Oh, yes.

Dar Les Cigognes
108 rue de Berima
Marrakech 40 000
Morocco

+212-524-38-27-40

Click here to book the Dar Les Cigognes at TabletHotels.com!

Tags: courtyard, Dar Les Cigognes, Marrakech, Medina, palace, riad, rooftop, Royal Palace, Sanssouci Collection, storks

Q: What is it? A: The former residence of an Italian artist, discovered by Sir Richard Branson’s mother, bought by her son and converted into a rather luxurious outpost at the foot of the High Atlas Mountains.

In the foreground: The Ouirgane valley and Kasbah Tamadot. The backdrop: Adrar N'Dern or Jemal Toubkal (4,167 m). Google that, kids! It's a two day hike to the top.

This is part of my room, #31, named "Tarrat" which means Virgin. Of course, it wasn't named after a virgin but after Sir Richard's business empire.

The crime scene in the room that has been named 'Tarrat'. That's Berber. For the translation, see caption underneath the picture above.

Ideal for an afternoon drink with 15 or so friends. We're still in room # 31. Or rather; we're outside 'Tarrat', on my private terrace.

My temple. My bathroom. I suppose that this is the first place where Sir Richard shat after buying the place from Luciano Tempo in 1998.

The High Atlas aside, I have to say that the biggest attraction at the Kasbah Tamadot is... (drumroll!) the Kasbah Tamadot

The rooftop. When the winds are not too strong, you may have dinner here; or book it for a private dinner; or have a drink; or just watch the stars through the telescope.

Note to self: If you want to survive the summer in the dry climate of the Atlas Mountains, always book a place with a pool. For winter travellers, there's one indoors as well.

I always wanted to know what it is like…
…to be a globe-trotting billionaire with a preference for neatly ironed denim shirts and wavy hair. My visit to Kasbah Tamadot in the High Atlas Mountains gave me a tiny glimpse of the life of Sir Richard Branson, (no, he wasn’t around). But I slept in the room where he first slept after his mother talked him into going up the dry Ouirgane valley to buy this place. Sir Richard was in these hoods to do a little balloon flying when Eve Branson found this kasbah. Originally built in the 1940s, it now belonged to the Californian artist and antique dealer Luciano Tempo who had modernized it. She convinced her boy to present the cash and the rest is, as they say, hotel history. I guess it sometimes comes in handy having a son who is a globe-trotting billionaire.

It doesn’t fit into any known category.
Is luxurious but it’s not glitzy. In many ways it’s modern but it’s certainly more traditionally Berber than hi-tech. Sir Wavy Hair obviously preserved a lot of what Signore Luciano Tempo had created. As you’ve probably already figured, this is not a place created by some kind of ‘agency’ and presented in PowerPoints. It’s the result of a creative relay-race involving some extraordinary minds. Apart from the magnificent backdrop formed by the High Atlas, the most obvious attraction around here, is, (drumroll… fireworks!), the Kasbah Tamadot itself.

Among the most friendly and hospitable people I’ve ever met…
Those who’ve been following this page for a while, know that I’m always ranting about the importance of the staff. In the case of the Kasbah Tamadot, some 90% of the staff members have been reqruited locally from the surrounding Berber villages. The hotel management proudly tell you that they have been trained by the Kasbah Tamadot ”…in all aspects of hotel operations” as well as in the English language. A very clever move as hospitality must be in the DNA of the Berber people. This goes for everybody I met during my three-night stay, from the concierge to housekeeping. You will be extremely well taken care of.

I say, anyone for ping-pong?
With only 18 bedrooms and suites plus six Berber tented suites you’d expect the service level to be nothing but top-notch. It is. The remote location also means that the kitchen must be amazing from breakfast to late night dinner. It is too. Executive chef Lee Cowie, (a Kiwi), knows his game and – I shit you not – his interpretation of tagine is a serious challenge to even the best local chefs. Another honorable mention goes out to Navindran Sukumaran, the super-friendly restaurant manager. But it’s the local Berber waiters who really deliver throughout the entire stay. Also, on a concrete platform, under a shading roof, stands something that says a lot about this hotel. It’s a table; a blue ping-pong table! What other luxury resort will you offer you that?

Yes, I hereby award it the expected five stars.
Expectations on this place were very high. Not being a badass guest but a critical minded guest, I’ve been scanning everywhere for imperfection. I didn’t find any. This is by no means a cheap place to stay at, but the fantastic staff make you feel a little like, well… a globe-trotting billionaire. I’m glad that my hair is still intact.

Kasbah Tamadot
BP 67
Asni 042150
Morocco

Reservations: Virgin Limited Edition (UK)
T: +44 (0)208 600 0430

Tags: Asni, Atlas Mountains, Berber, Eve Branson, High Atlas, Jemal Toubkal, kasbah, Kasbah Tamadot, Luciano Tempo, Marrakech, mountain, Ouirgane Valley, Sir Richard Branson, Virgin, Virgin Limited Edition

Q: What is it? A: A beautiful place in a beautiful setting with a less than beautiful kitchen.

Quite nice, eh? The buildings represent the traditional lafta style, meaning whole interwoven, crossing logs stacked by craftsmen. They look old but were built as late as 2007.

The day when I'll feel Hemingway-ish, I'll write my next trilogy here. Yes, I'll definitely consider it.

Even with a bed like this it was tough to sleep through one of those bright Norwegian summer nights. Oh, well... in the month of June it could have happened in any hotel on this latitude.

I don't want to go into details here and now, but some pretty deep thoughts emerged in this room.

This must be the wet dream of any local tourist office: Mirrorlike, deep fjords. Dramatic mountains with little speckles of snow, added for decoration.

Unfortunately the kitchen doesn't deliver what the impressive dining room interior promise.

In theory, it’s nothing but amazing.
Is it for real? Is it a shooting location? Is this something that the folks at Disney dreamed up? The nearby Sunnmøre Alps form an incredible backdrop with little speckles of snow garnishing the mountains. It feels like being trapped in the world’s largest screensaver with amazing views in every direction. The landscape looks like designed around this hotel. It’s built in the lafta technique, or handlaft to be more accurate, where whole crossing logs, as thick as underaged fashion models are stacked by craftsmen, interwoven and insulated with lambswool. Inside, the logs remain largely exposed. There’s actually nothing Disney-ish about it. It’s a traditional Scandinavian technique for house-building.

Let’s continue with the good stuff. Such as the rooms.
The Storfjord Hotel is probably one of the greatest matches of design, location and concept I’ve ever experienced. It’s comfortable. It feels genuine. Apparently, no expenses have been spared to create a cool, rural idyllic outpost. Rooms are spacious. Rooms come with a four-poster bed. Rooms come with a writer’s desk. Room must be some 40-45 square meters. At least.

There used to be only six guest rooms…
After the first step of the hotel’s expansion, there are now thirteen rooms and apparently the hotel has even more ambitious plans, including a large conference space and then additional rooms. I just hope that the homey feeling they provide today will not be lost in the developing process. Kristina is a gem. She spends more time with us than I think is written in her job description. I’m amazed. It was long ago since I felt this well taken care of at a hotel. She gets six stars out of five.

Room for improvement.
To put it bluntly, the kitchen is a problem. If present, Gordon Ramsay would let the f-words penetrate the room’s airspace like Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knives. Ordering a set-menu should give the kitchen a chance to shine, yes even to overperform. Not here. What’s on the plate makes me embarrassed. The Double Cheeseburger at that odd Denny’s joint in Parsippany, NJ, felt more inspiring. Also, the remote location of the Storfjord Hotel means that you have zero alternatives. The chef can simply not afford to have a bad day.

It feels strange to give out just three stars.
It’s not right that a place as remarkable as Storfjord Hotel should be awarded only three stars, but the ongoing construction works takes away some of the pristine feeling. Plus; more than anything else, the hotel should concentrate on finding a competent chef. Being served this boring excuse for a dinner in the magnificent dinner hall fills this reviewer with outright sadness.
So, please get your sh_t together, Storfjord – you are blessed with so many things that other hotels can only dream about!

Storfjord Hotel
Ovre Glomset
Skodje, Sunnmore Alps, 6260
Norway

+47-7027-4922

Coordinates:
Lat: 62.470256 Long: 6.625614

Click here to book Hotel Storfjord through TabletHotels.com

Tags: Ålesund, exclusive, handlafta, Møre og Romsdal, mountain top, scenic, secluded, Skodje, Sunnmøre Alps, timber, wood