100% passion at Dahlboms

"It may sound strange, but what others might need or want wasn't even on our agenda," says Pia Dahlbom. “It would only have created uncertainty and made our concept unclear, both for our team and the guests. Instead, we have constantly turned the mirror inward, towards ourselves. If we are going to spend all this time here, then it must be a place where we really want to be. It’s like, ‘welcome to our home and if it’s not your thing, well, there are other restaurants’.”

“If that’s brave or just bloody-minded, you tell us,” she adds, “but since the opening night almost two years ago, there has rarely been an empty seat at Dahlboms.”

Happy and well-heeled clientele

The bookings come in a never-ending stream, even for the exclusive Chef's Table. That surprised Jonas Dahlbom a little at first.

"We were told that the people of Linköping could be a little difficult,” he says. “We were even warned not to aim too high, that people wouldn’t get it. But I think that’s to underestimate the guest, and maybe even the city as a whole. It’s turned out to be the complete opposite. The people we meet are simple, cheerful and open. And they do have deep pockets. Our guests treat themselves once they are here, which generates good margins.”

A life worth living

For Jonas and Pia, the commercial side of the business is not the driving force. They also claim to have no long-term goals, either financially or status-wise.

"We are one hundred percent driven by our passion. All the decisions we make are really about how we can have as much fun as possible along the way. If someone were to ask us how to create a successful restaurant, we'd just go uh... huh?," Pia laughs. “This is simply the life we want to live. The day it's not fun anymore, then Dahlboms won’t be here. Somewhere you just have to decide, should we have fun or should we be bored?”

A complete team

They may not call themselves entrepreneurs, but they certainly seem to know what they’re doing. Over the years, Jonas has made a name for himself in several well-known restaurants and in 1996 was crowned Chef of the Year in Sweden. He has competed himself, and coached other participants, in the prestigious Bocuse d'Or. Pia is a trained bartender and restaurant manager and has worked at various restaurants in Sweden almost all her professional life. And they complement each other perfectly in running their business. If one of them runs a mile from some business chore, the other is happy enough to pick it up.

"But in the end, we always have the same vision. We could never have done this without each other,” says Pia.

Foodies not farmers

That they’ve both ended up in Linköping felt quite natural, they say. Neither of them are big city people. Jonas comes from Halmstad. Pia grew up and has her family here in Linköping. When their daughter, Liv, was born three and a half years ago, getting home to Linköping suddenly felt more important.

"We both felt that we could give her a safer upbringing here," says Jonas. “In addition, we had begun to fantasise about opening a farm restaurant in the barn at Pia's childhood home in Kaga.”

Unfortunately, that plan would prove to be too complicated and expensive. Instead, they got wind of Aphrodite's old premises on Nygatan. There it stood, an empty shell, but the pair immediately saw the potential.

"We decided in like thirty seconds,” says Pia. “The location was fantastic – central but away from the nightclubs at Ågatan. And we realised that the city suited us better than the countryside. After all, we’re not exactly farmers.”

Trustworthy and relaxed

Dahlboms has become a mix of everything Jonas and Pia love in terms of flavours, smells, decor, colours and music. They have thought a lot about their own favourite places, what it is that makes them constantly return to them. Then it was a matter of creating the same atmosphere.

"Above all, it's about that genuinely familiar feeling," says Pia. “You should be able to be yourself, whether you’re having a beer after hockey, a business meeting, or celebrating your wedding anniversary. I usually say that you can do what you like, as long as you are kind.”

The couple is also careful that this easy-going culture extends to how the staff feel in their work.

"They have a tough job already, without having to assume a role that does not feel right to them. It wouldn’t be real or sustainable in the long run,” says Pia. “That would suck energy and eat away at their social reserves. We want them to feel relaxed and genuine by finding their own way of being.”

Good is good

Jonas admits that his background does lead some guests to expect a formal fine dining experience.

"But our delivery is always super professional, so it doesn't matter if Kiss is playing in the speakers and there’s graffiti on the walls,” he says, “or if the wine happens to be served from the wrong side.”

And the food has to be good, which for Jonas means just that. Good, not complicated or decadent.

"For a while, there was a trend for the weirder the better,” he says. “but the pendulum has swung back, I think. Deep-fried lichen probably wasn’t so tasty in any case,” he laughs.

He doesn’t hesitate to put a dish back on the menu, though typically it will have a new twist.

"If it was good then, it's good now. And our concept is my 35 years as a chef on a plate.”

Creating memories

Jonas and Pia's sources of inspiration and role models are many, from Jonas' older brother Anders, and mentor Leif Mannerström, to Pia’s mother Lisa, and Frantzéns in Stockholm. And they remember their best restaurant experiences down to the smallest detail.

"We knew we could do something really great too,” says Pia, “but when you're standing there in the construction chaos and concrete, it still feels scary," she remembers. ”Even in my wildest imagination, I couldn't believe we would get this huge response and so much love from our guests. Almost every night someone says the food was their best meal ever. Imagine someone saying that about us, about Dahlboms! To make that impression in someone’s life – it's just so damn cool!”

Text: Lena Tedebro Palmér
Photo: Petter Mild