Köket

When Funkis turned 20 in 2017 it didn’t have a party. Instead, the Swedish brand opened a cafe. Köket is hidden at the back of the Funkis shop in Paddington, in an alley-like space that spills out onto a grey and green sunlit courtyard. The space used to be a storeroom.

Like the concept behind Funkis, the cafe’s mission is to share Swedish culture. It’s specifically inspired by what’s happening in Gotland, an island in the Baltic sea that's very different from the mainland. Köket is based on both the natural aesthetic of the island, which is rocky, grey and covered in greenery, and the trend in cafes there; they have particularly beautiful fit-outs and serve modern Swedish dishes.

You won’t find any Swedish-style drip coffee or meatballs here. Instead there’s espresso (by Allpress), Swedish dishes and Scandinavian products with a modern twist.

The counter is adorned with kanelbulle (cinnamon buns), pretzels and sandwiches stuffed with Feather and Bone meat. To order, there’s dark rye skagen (open-faced sandwiches); traditionally, they’re topped with pickled herring, but here they come with house gravlax and pickles, or pumpkin and eggs. There’s muesli with honeyed lingonberry compote and pyttipanna-inspired baked eggs with Tasmanian Dutch cream potatoes, garlic and mushrooms. “Pyttipanna” means ‘little bits in a pan’ and is usually a home-style dish of leftover vegetables or meat.