Kulinariet in Stora Skedvi in southern Dalarna is a place full of surprises. You have no idea what you’re up for until you enter. This is a culinary experience out of this world. Here you can eat some incredible dishes. You can also stock up on local delicacies and see how they make crispbread. But most of all – this place has such a rich history and you need to learn more about it!

Kulinariet in Stora Skedvi – our first thoughts

The saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover” has never been more right than now. We are looking at our schedule (made by Visit Dalarna). It says that we are supposed to eat lunch at Kulinariet. We parked outside and we were both surprised. Sure, the building looks cool but at the same time, where are we? Why have we stopped in what feels like the middle of nowhere? Why would Visit Dalarna want us to have lunch here?

As soon as we enter, we know exactly why we are here. We are in the right place and I get super excited. We have entered into a modern kind of farmers market (covered market) with some really high-end local delicacies and things that we have never seen before. It’s like we stepped into a completely new world. But there’s more to come…

The mastermind and owner – Anders Akerberg

We are greeted by the owner, Anders Åkerberg. He finds us outside of the restaurant (that’s located inside the same building). I feel the urge to ask him lots of questions. How did he come up with the idea of opening this place? What is this place? How come he opened it here? The questions just keep coming and Anders is kind enough to answer them all.

It turns out that there’s a super interesting story. This is the result of the fight between David and Goliath. This is proof that the small guy can make it, battling the huge guys. And as we talk, Anders says that there’s a book that explains the story even better. I got a book about this place and how it came to be what it is today. I can’t wait for it to become evening so that I can read the book!

There’s a book about the history

The book is written by Malin Floridan. She is the co-creator of this magical place (no longer in the business) and you can pick up your copy in the store. It’s not a thick book (unfortunately) but it tells such an inspirational story. A story about two entrepreneurs who wanted more for themselves, more for the city, and most of all – to keep an old tradition alive.

The book is called “Historien om Skedvi Bröd” and I read it from cover to cover. After finishing the book, I wrote a message inside and left it for someone else to read. Their story is really good and more people need to hear about it. It would be awesome if the person who picked up the book wrote to us and gave us their opinion. The book is in Swedish and I don’t think that there’s a translation in English.

How it all started

People that are creative tend to find opportunities in everything. They see options everywhere and they know when to do something great with an idea. So while visiting some friends, they heard of the “dinner delivery bag”. People living in big cities get their groceries and ingredients so that they can cook their dinner with ease. In Sweden, this is a huge thing and has been for years.

The year was 2010 ( I think) and they decided to start that in their hometown (Stora Skedvi). They would focus on making dinners that were locally grown and use meat from local farmers. With that in mind – “Dalakassen” was born. A dinner-service that gave the people in town and surroundings, fresh food with new recipes, and without the hustle of going to the store.

Dalakassen – Getting your food bag delivered

Dalakassen was born and everything was great – at first. However, soon they found that there was a huge problem. Some parts of the meat were easy to put inside the dinner bags. But other parts of the meat caused a problem. There was not enough to distribute to all customers. Their freezers were filled with amazing and locally produced quality meat but they didn’t know what to do with it.

It quickly became a problem and they knew that something had to change to be able to continue their business idea. In the end, Dalakassen ended up closing down and they knew that this was the only thing to do. But that also sparked a new idea – what if they opened a store where they could sell high-quality products? And then the idea of opening a farmers market (indoors) or food hall (covered market) was born.

Visthusboden – A covered market with delicacies

When you enter Kulinariet, you step into a new world. To get to the restaurant, you have to pass through the store and that is a treat itself. Here, you can buy different delicacies that are mainly locally produced but also things from all over Sweden. This was the second time that we found the excellent mustard from LissEllas and it sparked my interest even more (our first time was at dinner in nature in Kloster and husbyringen). We ended up walking around inside the store for quite some time.

In Sweden, there’s a monopoly on selling alcohol. This means that only certain stores that are government-owned are allowed to sell alcohol. However, at Kulinariet, you can buy alcohol-free beer from different local producers. You can also buy meat, snacks, candies, and everything in between. I would love to go nuts here and shop for days but we ended up with mustard (of course), gingerbread cookies, and the famous crispbread (the crispbread was a gift from Anders).

Crispbread – The Brief History of Skedvi Brod

The book that I read was mainly focused on the story of Skedvi Bröd and the story behind it. Crispbread is a Swedish thing that dates back a long way. It’s a hard bread that you can buy in any store all over the country. However, there used to be a crispbread called Vikabröd. The story is long and complicated but I will try to give you guys a quick brief of how it became Skedvi Bröd.

Vikabröd was sold to Leksands Knäckebröd (knäckebröd meaning crispbread). After some time, they moved the production to Stora Skedvi and they were making the bread there. Time went by and then Leksands Knäckebröd decided to stop producing the crispbread. When Anders wanted to buy it from them – several different problems came and restrictions that ended up making the buying of the factory impossible.

Skedvi Brod was born due to crowdfunding

In the end, Leksands Knäckebröd ended up selling the building to Anders but they destroyed all the ovens and machines for making the crispbread. When that happened, the people in Stora Skedvi started to protest against the big company and they wanted to get the factory going again. Anders and his partner started crowdfunding and they ended up getting enough money to be able to start their own crispbread factory.

They rehired the same people that had been laid off and the story of Skedvi Bröd was born. Today it’s one of the huge tourist attractions for people passing the town. After walking past the store, you enter right into the factory that produces the crispbread. You can see the process of how it’s done and you can buy the bread straight from the factory.

Skedvi brod is a big tourist attraction

There’s a store in Leksand where you can buy Leksands Knäckebröd. However, that’s “just a store”. In Stora Skedvi, you can see the whole process. They started up the company in 2014 and they are going stronger than ever. There are different kinds of crispbread that you can buy here – four different kinds. We ended up trying them all and they make good bread. What makes it even better is knowing the history and struggles of the bread.

Their crispbread is harder than a lot of other producers. It’s up to you to what you prefer – really hard bread or “regular” crispbread. If you find yourself in Dalarna, we recommend you try it out and find which one you prefer. It is a special feeling to see the bread being baked in ovens – all handmade. And if you look at the wall, you will find some famous Swedish people (like our prince and his wife) crispbreads that they have made during a visit to the factory.

Make your own crispbread

Just to be clear here – this is not a recipe that we got from Skedvi Bröd. This is just a “regular” recipe for crispbread and nothing that we have gotten from the company itself. I also want to point out that we have not made the crispbread that is in the recipe. Ok, we have never made our crispbread period.

It’s not that it’s an expensive thing to buy in Sweden and since we live in a motorhome, this is not something that we feel the need to be making ourselves but someday we might try it out. This is a typical bread that is well-known in Sweden and that is good. My favorite is to eat it with just butter. Mini likes some cheese too!

Recipe Swedish crispbread

Ingredients for 20 slices of bread:

• 50 grams yeast.
• 5 deciliters of room-temperature water.
• 2 tablespoons of oil.
• 1 teaspoon of salt.
• 10 deciliters of rye flour.
• 3 deciliters of flour.
• Flour for kneading the dough.

This is how you do it:

1. Crumble the yeast in a bowl. Add the water and mix it until the yeast is dissolved.
2. Add the oil and then add all the flour and salt. Mix it all and leave it to rise for 30 minutes.
3. Start the oven (250 degrees Celsius). Work the dough and separate it into 20 pieces.
4. Roll out each piece of dough into the size of a small plate.
5. Prick the bread with a fork.
6. Place the dough in the oven (2 at a time) and bake them for 7 to 8 minutes.
7. Let them cool off on a grate.
8. Enjoy!

Kulinariet offers an amazing lunch

After you pass the breadmaking factory, you have arrived at Kulinariet – the restaurant. The whole interior and ambiance are so right that you know straight away that you won’t be disappointed with whatever you order. We had our lunch here and the expectations were through the roof. It turned out that we were right to have such high expectations and we weren’t disappointed.

All the interior is handpicked by Anders and we fell in love with the rustic and industrial look. The restaurant is run by Emma Bergqvist and Linus Andersson and they know how to create magic. I had the hamburger and Mini had a salad with roast beef. It was incredible! Even the water with lingonberries was good. You can sit either inside or outside and because the weather was nice, we ended up sitting outside.

Kulinariet is serving lunches and dinners

As I mentioned before, we went to Kulinariet to have lunch. We also got their crispbread with whipped butter and boy, that was good. The only (if we need to say one thing) downside about Kulinariet is that their prices are a bit steep for a lunch. You have to pay about 20 euros for a meal and that’s without drinks included. At the same time, this place is more than a restaurant.

This is an attraction and it’s great to come here and celebrate something. And a tip is that you make a reservation because this place gets crowded real quick. Located in the middle of nowhere (feels like it) but with such a paradise inside the building.

Our visit to Kulinariet

We ended up spending about two hours here. And I could have spent several hours more if it wasn’t for the fact that we had a schedule to keep up with, we would have stayed longer. Kulinariet has everything “culinary” you might need. Go there to buy a meal. Or why not go there to do your grocery shopping. Or maybe – go there to buy someone you like a gift. If you want to try out their Crispbread, you can also order it online. Knackebrodonline is selling different crispbreads and Skedvi Bröd is one of them.

And they ship to several different countries which is great. Visiting Kulinariet, Skedvi Bröd, and Visthusboden is an adventure and an experience that you don’t want to miss. It is so impressive that an idea ended up being this great place. The next time we are in Dalarna, we will be sure to visit Kulinariet again!

Information about Kulinariet in Stora Skedvi

Address: Landsvägen 38, 783 92 Stora Skedvi.
Opening hours: Check out Kulinariet website for opening hours for the different parts of the place. The restaurant might have different opening hours than the store and crispbread making.
Parking: There’s a big parking space right outside of the restaurant. They also have room for motorhomes if you are traveling that way and want something stronger to drink.

If you want to read more articles from Dalarna check out the links below.
Dinner in nature in Kloster and Husbyringen.
Verket avesta art museum and gallery in Dalarna.
What to do in Hedemora Dalarnas only medival town.
Biking in Dalarna during summer a true biking paradise.

Disclaimer: Our visit to Kulinariet was part of a press trip that was arranged by Visit Dalarna. All the thoughts and opinions are our own!